My boy Ivan

My middle child Ivan.  He has rocket fuel for blood.  He is completely invincible.  He has crashed his bike and motorcycle countless times, and gets back on without a word.  He never walks- only runs.  On the day he turned 6 months old, he pulled himself up to standing.  At 9 months he didn't learn to walk, he learned to run.  At 2 years 7 months he could ride a bike without training wheels, and drop in off the biggest ramps at the skate park.  He usually only wears shorts, no matter how cold it is.  Now at age 5, he says he wants to be an Astronaut and a Rock Star.  Challenge him to a push-up contest... you will lose!

I'd like to be able to take credit for how bad ass he is, but in reality he was born that way.  He came out kicking and screaming and never calmed down.  So I can't offer any advice on how to turn a kid into a tough guy, but I can say this: if you have a wild kid, embrace it.  Channel it into something productive and fun.

It would break my heart to send him off to a public school where he'd be expected to sit quietly in a desk, raise his hand to speak, stand in lines, and get minimal amount of physical activity.  Ivan is very quick to learn reading and math, but it has to be interactive and engaging.  For every minute spent on a worksheet, he spends an hour playing Legos or making a complex train track system.  The result is a boy who can do math in his head, without counting fingers and toes, and apply it to building his own toys.  

Here's a video of him at age 2 riding...