Trying to be a BIG BOY

See this face?  Nothing cuter!  How could I not love it...it matches mine :)!  And his actions generally match that huge / sweet smile.

  

But sometimes he just wants to grow up...do things his big sisters do...and more! 

Graf holding bugs (like this stick bug we found camping) is a dicey ordeal...for the bug!  Ryan is our bug catcher and just can't stand it when she sees Graf mauling them!

So she finds ways to get even...he just doesn't know it yet!

A game only Lorin could come up with...everyone stand right here so that when I slide you all get drenched...of course Graf was DOWN with that just like Ryan and Izzy.

Graf applied his own makeup right along side Lorin getting ready for a Haloween party...she didn't stop him...they bonded!

The "and more" part comes at a price...a patience tax I might say.  For example....the time he pulled the fire alarm at Forestville Elementary School.  It involved all the kids getting out of school and a fire truck coming.  No, we did not get away without being spotted as the culprits!  And...

No, that's not just the camera causing a glare.  He cut his hair!  Down to the scalp.  Right in the front.  He got buzzed!  Then a couple of weeks later, while in a bath, he used my leg shaver to shave it down again...same spot.  Unfortunately no picture attached.

Don't let Izzy's pretended scream/smile fool you.  He tries to get plenty of this kind of action regardless of whether or not the girls are playing along.

Luckily they play along plenty.  Our team of Ninja Warriors like a good fight every now and again.

But at the end of the day he's still my little buddy who needs a 3 hour nap even when he's trying to stay awake and read! ;)

Here are a couple more cute stories:

1.  Graf sings his own theme song when he pretends to be a Super Hero (Batman, Superman, and Iron Man are some favs).  He'll say "Dad, you be the bad guy...Lorin, you be the good bad guy!"  (We've determined that the good bad guy is the one that helps him.)  Then he'll start singing "du..du du du...du du du...." while he runs away with his arms flying back like wings.  To attack he puts both hands straight out in front of him, palms forward and with intricate sound effects blasts his opponent via force field.

2.   While changing Graf's diaper one day he yawned really big.  I asked if he was still tired.  He said "Yeah," and then opened his mouth again to yawn, only to be thwarted this time.  "Uh!  My yawn won't work!"  Then he commenced to try until he got out a huge teary-eyed yawn and exclaimed "It works!"

3.  Our walks to the bus stop turned into daily shadow wars.  I can stump him by hiding in the shade of the trees...in the words of Jim Carrey on The Grinch..."I'm smarter!"  On overcast days he often asks where his shadow went.

4.  Graf LOVED pixie week with Grandma (sad I forgot to snap a pic of it...though you can see her feet at the bottom of the shot :).  But a week or more after she left he said, "I want to rub Grandma's feet!"  Here is a shot of he and Ryan giving Izzy one.

With the right perspective, I really can't get enough of this boy!