The First Born - day three of bragging about my kids

Destroy is definitely our most challenging child. Between his eating habits, his strong-willed personality and the emotional roller-coasters that we frequently ride with him, he keeps us busy and tired. But he's very entertaining and adds some interesting dynamics to our family. So we'll keep him :)

1. He likes to make books. A lot of books. Popular topics include: Afrucu anumls, vehucls (vehicles), holudas (holidays), school, foods, frogs, and inseks. He will spend hours making books and when he's finished with all the pages he carefully aligns the pages and staples them. Yes, I let my children use a stapler. I figure that they'll learn the dangers once they staple their thumb. Just like I did. Except I was a junior in high school.

2. Destroy is the pickiest eater I have ever met. I think I could name the foods he eats in less than 10 words. But I won't. He won't touch vegetables and the only fruit he likes is apple (hopefully this is temporary). Which is why he's s STICK.

3. When it comes to socializing this kid takes the cake. He knows all of our neighbors by name and often is the one to introduce us. He knows their relatives' names who come on the 3rd sunday of the month for dinner. He is not afraid to talk to anyone and will not stop talking until someone tells him to. Despite numerous "stranger danger" talks we've had with him, it doesn't seem to make an impact.

4. He watches movies just to get more ideas of who he can dress up like. After we watched the Night at the Museum he was suddenly a security guard. After we watched the Princess Bride he was suddenly a black ninja guy. After we watched Pirates of the Caribbean he was suddenly Jack Sparrow. Not only does he dress up, but he gets into character and talks and acts like them. I love it.

5. He shows pre-law skills. Nana calls Destroy The Lawyer, and for good reason. He loves to argue and is freakishly good at it. The other day Destroy asked me to make pancakes for dinner. While making dinner, Destroy decides it a good time to have a monumental tantrum. I explain to him that when he acts like this he doesn't get things that he wants. He stops, looks at me and says, "Well, what are you doing right now?" with that snotty little tone and points to my pancakes. So I stopped making them. When we start arguing I have to remind myself that he's only 6 and that I'm arguing with a 6-year old.

6. He loves to cuddle. When he's sad or tired he always asks someone to cuddle with him. It surprises me a little that he still likes to cuddle as he's gotten older, but I hope he doesn't decide that it's not cool too soon :)

7. He ties his shoes. And his friend's shoes.

8. He's a smarty pants. He reads really well, and if he doesn't know a word he just makes it up. That way he still sounds smart and confident. That is the key after all, isn't it? He picks things up quickly and comprehends a lot. It's also problematic at times because his cleverness gets him into trouble at school (and at home).

9. Even though he's a STICK, he somehow has a pudgy tummy. I don't get it.

10. Destroy only does things on his terms. It was this way with potty training (holy nightmare!), with kindergarten and countless others. He had a really hard time with kindergarten for the first month. Then he decided that it would be in his best interest to listen and follow directions. After that, he's been a great student.

We love Wes and all of his talents and quirks. He's a great kid, a great brother and (most the time) a great friend. We love the spice he adds to our lives and wouldn't trade him for anything!