Boys' Updates

I know, I've been slacking in the Hunter update department. This past month has flown by as we worked our way into a regular schedule of play dates and busy things to do.
We took Hunter to a speech therapist and they do recommend we take him, if only to aid us in speeding him along to the vocal world. They see no other problems with him at all, they find him to be quite a joy, really.
Hunter can say please, uh hm (no), um hm (yes), mama, mom mom (Ama), Daddy, Day day (Darius), Uh Oh, Owweee, Ow, Wowee, Wow, Bob (Bob the Builder), BeeBah (A children's toy/show from PBS that Darius likes and has around the house), Ooo Ooo (monkey noises), and all vowel noises.
We're currently encouraging him to vocalize more consanat sounds, and so far I'm taking the same approach as I did with Darius...basically I elongate the word, saying each sound and pointing to my mouth so he knows where to focus to help him mimic the movements and then have him attempt the sounds himself.
He grown so much, you can tell he's sprouted up and leaned out cause he doesn't have that cute little pot belly hanging over his diaper anymore. He's got plenty of strength in all of his muscles, and he's terrifically agile. I think having a constant model of agility and strength is really helping him along that way though, thanks to Darius.
After being questioned by the Help Me grow ladies about his behaviour, I really am glad I'm the type of parent that I am.
Hunter shows emotion, and sometimes it's strong, but I don't really consider him to throw tantrums. I guess we pay close attention to his needs, and when he doesn't get what he wants he knows why, and we usually find a distraction for him as well. Though he has a terrific drive of determination and persistence.
He shows great empathy for others, and always tries to give a hug when he sees someone upset, hurt, or crying. Everytime Darius gets a boo boo, his brother kisses him and gives him a hug to help him feel better, and if it's him who does the hurting he apologizes through sign.
He's willing to share his toys if you ask him to, and ejoys it when you do things to surprise him, it always makes him giggle.
I think we'll be attempting potty training soon as he's expressed that he doesn't like wearing a diaper and goes and hides when has to poop, then indicates he has a dirty diaper as well (as if you couldn't smell it, Oi)
Hunter is truly an amazing personality all on his own, and a joy to watch.

Darius has calmed down a lot since being in town and settling in. He looks foreward to the play dates at the park, and enjoys the time he gets to romp at will. I think at 6 I can trust him to romp without getting into too much trouble while I trail after his brother. It makes me proud when I catch him warning another child not to do something because it's dangerous or could hurt them.
Darius is a truly fine individual. He's compassionate, and a little excitable at times, but he truly enjoys being social! He loves to please, and does a good job (compared to some I've seen) remembering his manners and treating those the way he'd like to be treated.
It's sad that some people don't grasp that simple concept with their parenting.
We went to the park on Friday and Darius packed his own backpack with toys he wanted to bring (even though I usually toss them into the bottom of the stroller) and carried them to the park on his own, without even being asked to. Afterwards we went to the grocery store to pick up stuff for the BBQ (Watermelon, Milk, Whipping Cream, Cantaloupe, Honey Dew) and he carried his toys all the way back since the stroller was full and even offered to help me push it (since it was so heavy) when he saw me struggling with it up the bumpy sidewalk hill. He was calm in the store, and was patient (though he did get a bit ahead of himself choosing his treat) and sat and ate and held a nice conversation with me about the people going in and leaving the store while we ate our treat of dippin dots.
He's so amazing to talk to sometimes, he shows such depth and understanding it's almost frightening. There's so much to him sometimes it's hard to comprehend that he is such a young age. He had so much to say about the buildings we walked by, the people and cars that passed us, and the people inside the buildings.
We walked past a Babershop, and when he seen the low window and a tv inside, he popped his face close to the window to see what they were watching. After I shooed him away he said, "there were people inside that Babershop (he seen the twirling pole outside and recognized what it was before I told him) and they saw me pop into the window like that mom, that was embaressing".
I chuckled at that.
When we walked past the firestation, the firemen were outside washing the windows, and Darius said Hi, then told me the story of the firestation in Kelowna that he went to with his Pre-School class, what he learned there, and what activities he got to do there as well.
He had an entertaining imagination the whole way, pretending to be dodging bullets, and grenades, and marching into battle, and hiking for his life like he was lost, and stopping to check out new leaves he found (he had a bug container with him with a huge white caterpillar in it, so he stopped to collect leaf food for it), picking up random twigs and turning them into wonderful feats of magic, or finding bugs to stare at, pretending he was all sorts of animals, imitating things he had seen on movies and wondering aloud why they did the things they did in movies.
A childs mind is truly an amazing thing to watch and wonder at.
He never once complained about being on a long walk (2.2 miles, not including the play time at the park).
It's truly enjoyable days like that that remind me what a joy it is to be a parent, and how much I want my children to be. I love relishing every detail that makes me proud of who they are developing themselves to be. I love my boys.