Not to sound too weird but guys have these thoughts on occasion, and I have to assume women do too. We don’t admit to it, and talking about it out loud definitely shows a lack of self awareness and tact. But yeah I think it’s normal for some adults to see a good looking kid and know they’re gonna be a stunner when they grow up. But again, there isn’t really a good way to say that and not sound like a creep. And saying a kid is gonna be hot when they grow up is worse than saying “a stunner”, and better than saying sexy. So there’s a linguistic element to this which adds different degrees of creepiness, and hot is definitely beyond the line of creepy.

But that kind of thinking regardless of the wording is inherently sexualizing a child, and to say it out loud is to unintentionally promote the sexualization of children. So on one hand I empathize with your bf, but on the other hand, he’s using such poor language to describe a thought he shouldn’t even be saying out loud, it’s hard to defend him. I just wanted to mention the nuance involved in this situation.