Things You Should Know About Walt

Back in the day, we used to do monthly updates (amid our regular posting of Walt doing exciting things like spitting up and cooing) of what Walt was up to/in to.  Now, it's more like just monthly posts.  It's not that Walt is less exciting than he was back then . . . on the contrary, I personally find him way more fun now.  But one, he's less cooperative with picture taking than he was before he became more kid-like and less baby-like, and two, he doesn't go to bed until close to nine most nights, leaving us with a precious hour or, at most, two before we both conk out.  After a solid twelve hours (no naps anymore, so I mean SOLID) of Waltiness, we're usually not chomping at the bit to rehash the day in print form. 

However, I know that one of these days I won't remember what made Walt tick at age 4.25 and I also know that I'll want to.  So, in that spirit, here's a list:

1.  He still carries "Slicky" (that shredded, grayish rag-looking thing in his hand) around wherever he goes.  And has no shame about it.  Occasionally, he will pick "her" up and squeeze her with all his might and say, "I just love Slicky SO much!".  She is on the verge of completely disintegrating and I'm not sure what will happen then. 

 
2.  Coming in right behind Slicky in the treasured belongings category is his collection of roughly two dozen toy NASCAR cars.  He knows the name of every one of their drivers, which almost earned him an invitation to Daddy's guys trip to Talledega last weekend.  Almost.  He stages races around the house every single day, and always comes to ask me who I want to win before they start.  Sometimes my pick does win, but when it doesn't, he actually seems kind of remorseful.

3.  He eats a (previously frozen) pancake with peanut butter and a touch of syrup almost every single morning for breakfast.

4.  Walt has quite the fascination with numbers these days.  I think it might have been prompted by the NASCAR thing.  In this picture, he is lining up the numbers to keep track of how many laps to go in his race.  He also uses the numbers to create pit areas for his cars, so they'll know where to pull in and refuel.  Then, yesterday, I came into his room and he was creating his very own leader board (or whatever you call it in racing) to show who was winning the race.  When one car pulled ahead, he would dutifully move that car's number to the front of the lineup.  His races transpire rather slowly, as you can imagine.  But apart from the NASCAR connection, he wants to know what numbers on anything he sees mean -- the car dashboard, telephone poles, measuring cups, etc.  MIT, here we come.

 

5.  It doesn't happen often, but he cleans up real nice.

 

6.  Walt hasn't yet met a sport he doesn't like.  He played soccer at a local church in the fall, basketball in March (pictured) and gets out in the yard with Daddy at every chance to swing for the fences with his new baseball bat.  I'm not even kidding when I say the kid hits better than I do.  Which is not saying a lot, I guess, but he can hit an overhand-pitched ball more often than not.  I find it pretty impressive.

7.  He makes a very effective security guard at yard sales.  We had no incidents.  (Okay, I might have just thrown this one in so I could post this hilarious picture.  Sue me.)

 

8.  Though he is capable of entertaining himself quite well, he really loves playing with his buds.  Luckily, our neighborhood is chock full of little boys.  I am scared for all of our windows as they get bigger and stronger.

9.  Walt likes to talk.  A lot.  (Not pictured.)

10.  If his baby brother is half as great of a kid as Walt, we will feel like the luckiest parents in the world.

(If not . . . well, one out of two ain't bad.)