Kyle is my youngest child and only son. He’s currently 5 years old. I’m sure it’s hard being the only boy with three older sisters, but he seems to handle it well. He can be the sweetest child one moment and the next he will be running around like a terror. I will be the first to say that he is all boy too. He’s obsessed with lawn mowers, garbage trucks, construction equipment and “tow tow trucks”. He loves watching “Chuggington” on Netflix and “Mighty Machines” on YouTube. Give him a stick and watch his imagination run wild. One day it will be a gun, the next day a weed eater and lawn mower, another day that same stick will be a sword. Just whatever he feels like that day, that stick will become whatever he wants it to be.

Kyle was slow to start talking.  He started speech therapy with First Steps at 18 months old.  His speech therapist would work with him once a week, but he wasn’t the type to cooperate well.  If he was going to cooperate, it had to be on his terms.  One week, he would jabber away, the next, not one word would come out of his mouth.  His therapist would say it will come, but on his terms.  When he turned 3, he started preschool at the local public school so that his speech therapy could continue.  He still refused to talk unless he really felt like it, and when did come out no one could understand, but he always knew what he wanted to say.

Because of his speech issues, when no one could understand what he was saying, he would scream…loudly.  He would scream until someone could figure out what he was wanting.  It’s only been in the last 6 months or so, that he’s started speaking clearly enough for us to understand him, however, others who don’t know him can not yet understand him.  It’s a work in progress, but he is progressing slowly.

For as long as I can remember, Kyle has been completely obsessed with lawn mowers, which he calls mow mows.  He will sit watching the neighbors around us mow, he sees mowers everywhere we go.  If a truck drives past towing mowers, everyone knows it.  If there is a mower running, he won’t do anything for you.  He will just sit and watch.  It’s the only time that I’ve ever seen him sit completely still, completely focused on something.  Even at school, if they are mowing the school yard, she will sit and watch out the windows, nothing else exists as long as those mowers are out there.

He would much rather play outside than be in the house. If he can be outside, he will be. He loves to walk with me when I take the girls to school and loves hanging out at the park

He also loves sharks. He is always looking for pictures of sharks, sharks on clothing and books on sharks. I can’t say he’s as obsessed with sharks as Leslie is with dolphins, but it will be interesting to see if he remains interested in them as he gets older. He loves hammerhead sharks the best. When we go to the aquarium, if there are sharks there, he will sit and watch them for the longest time.

  Kyle is a daddy’s boy too. If Sean’s not home, he will beg to call him, watch for him and refuse to go to sleep until he gets home. If Sean’s home late, Kyle will lay in bed awake until he gets home, then a second later, once he’s seen that daddy’s home, he will be fast asleep. He is Sean’s shadow when he is home. Kyle follows him everywhere and wants to do whatever Sean is doing. “I help you?” has become a constant phrase in Kyle’s vocabulary. He won’t let me help him with anything if Sean’s home either. It’s always “daddy can do it”. So I’ve stopped trying to help him if Sean’s home.

If I’m feeling down or sad though, Kyle is right there to give me a hug or cuddle for a few minutes before going back to playing. I can’t wait to see what life has in store for this precious, stubborn and lovable child. He definitely keeps me on my toes.