Little Montague Boys: Porter bellow

Today my Porter-bellow turns 5. That seems very old to me.

Porter is such a great kid. We are lucky to have him. He is a smart kid with a good memory (sometimes too good. He won't let you forget anything).

He loves treats. He loves cake especially. He doesn't care for pie, considering it a lesser dessert to cake. He also loves ketchup on everything and I mean everything. He loves it on chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, apples, grapes . . . You name it, Porter will probably eat it with ketchup. He tries very hard to eat things that he doesn't like, in the hopes that it will make him big a strong. Once he told me, "I ate a carrot at daycare. It was disgusting. I will be as big as Uncle Jacob now." His ability to eat hated items usually only extends to one bite though, and sometimes ends in crying or throwing up. Porter also likes pizza, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and tacos just like most kids. (We discovered the love of tacos and nachos after they had them at daycare. He asked for sandwiches with skinny bread around them with cheese and brown stuff inside. I had to guess for a while until I figured out he was talking about tacos).

Porter is a devoted fan of whatever his current interest is. When he was young, he fell in love with Thomas the Train. We had to go to Target almost daily to check for new trains. The trains slept with him, ate with him, bathed with him. He would always check on the trains to make sure their coal cars were turned the right direction, that the right trains were hooked to each other, etc. When he first learned to talk, he called the trains "toots" and "chooka choos" He would talk to them and talk like them. (My favorite was when he sprinkled his floor with cheerios for them to eat). He has shown the same devotion to his love of dinosaurs, superheros, legos, etc. We go to the dinosaur museum at least monthly to look at the dinosaurs and collect new dinosaurs for his collection (he generally prefers predators). We also watch dinosaur train and read dinosaur books. He also has a Curious George that he sleeps with. For a while, George went everywhere with Porter. We even had to put him in a plastic bag and take him sledding.

Porter is my very shy child. Even as a baby, he didn't like people to look at him or hold him (except me or grandma and sometimes dad). He even gets nervous around family members he knows well and won't talk. He doesn't like to tell people things about himself and would rather say he doesn't know or nothing at all than have to answer questions. Along with being shy, he can get very anxious. He worries about being a good boy (sometimes) and gets really upset if he has done something wrong and has to tell us about it. He also worries about making a bad decision. He doesn't like to pick out clothes, toys, etc. himself. He prefers to select a couple of things and then have me or Joe decide which one is best. He is afraid of a lot of things. He especially doesn't like to be alone or be in the dark. Every night, he prays for help to be braver about things. He is getting braver though. He goes to daycare without getting upset. He goes outside by himself sometimes. He uses the toilet without worrying about how loudly it will flush. And he will even go into the basement sometimes (if Dallin comes with him).

Porter likes to play pretend with other people. It makes him happiest if he and I can each take one of his toy sharks or wolves and talk for them and play. He likes to play "tigers" with Dallin. They snarl at each other and jump on each other. He also likes to play Wii and X-box. I'm afraid he is a bit of video game addict. Luckily, he tempers it with a lot of physical activity. He likes all sports and is getting pretty good at gymnastics.

There's so much to love about Porter. All his funny little stories, his quick mind, his efforts to keep Dallin in line, etc. We are lucky to have him.

Porter at the fountains at the Gateway