An appropriate name, indeed!
Sweet Hunter is 6 years old and I had the privilege of caring for him for most of his first three years of life while his parents worked. He had prayed and prayed for Iain and I to have a baby and was shocked and hugely delighted when we received Maddie (4) and Collin (2) three years ago. He had instant playmates and was so happy....until their stay with us abruptly ended. Hunter was devastated and he was pretty mad at me after that. (He couldn't understand what was happening and surmised that we just 'gave them away.') So sad.
He was equally excited when Gianna joined our family, but was a little put off that she couldn't play with him. Every time I talked with him on the phone, he would ask, "Hey ReRe, is Gianna a kid yet?" He was always exasperated by my answer.
This past week Gianna and I spent some time with Hunter while his mom had an appointment. He could not have been more precious and sweet to Gianna and was very attentive to her. He referred to himself as "Bubba" to her.
"Don't be afraid, Gianna, Bubba will help you."
It was really just the most precious thing to witness - and Gianna was in HEAVEN (although I'm pretty sure she was confused by the whole Bubba thing.)
When I mentioned to Hunter how special I thought it was that he treated Gianna so wonderfully, he replied, "Well, ReRe, that's cuz she's finally a KID!"
* * * * * * * *
Hunter is a lover of all things outdoors and since he was a baby loved catching any living amphibian or insect he would find outside. Anytime there was an intruding lizard in my sun room, I'd send 3 year old Hunter to fetch it and free it for me. (He wasn't big on freeing anything he caught but we convinced him that the captives really needed to go find there mommas.)
When he knew Gianna and I were coming to stay with him the other day, he made sure to catch a few creatures for Gianna to entertain and teach her. Even though I've managed to squelch my mini freak outs regarding lizards, frogs and the like - it is interesting to watch G's reactions to them. She's very much interested in seeing them and even wants to touch them, but when she gets close - she freaks out just like me.
He first caught these poor caterpillars to show us.
They didn't move much and he was certain they were sleeping.
I was certain rigamortis was in full swing!
Gianna got a kick out of the capture cage. She liked the idea of being close, but not too close.
And finally, Hunter had the idea of bringing G to go hunt for turtles. She squealed with delight and he quickly fetched 2 nets and headed up the street to a destination to which we never arrived.
I was so glad I had my phone on me to take this picture.
What a lovely memory.
Hunter...
....an appropriate name, indeed!
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