The First One

In order to beat the Nat's-back-at-work blues I decided to pull myself out of the post snow storm haze and record a few things about this oldest boy of mine.

At almost 69 (!) months old Luke:

• loves to learn. He is starting to see exciting connections between what he learns at school and the rest of the world.
  
• is reading more and more each day. I can no longer spell things out when I don't want him to understand what I am saying because he can now decipher it. I guess I am limited to speaking in Spanish-- it won't be long until he has that figured out as well.
  
• still has the most incredible attention span for books. He can sit for HOURS and read or be read to.
  
• bounces constantly. When he isn't fully occupied or engaged he is bouncing. He even bounces during movies and sometimes books.
• runs errands all over the house for me.
  
• can now complete many meaningful household tasks. He is motivated to finish jobs and to do his best. This was a long time coming and I certainly don't take it for granted.
  
• loves the artist Claude Monet and impressionist art. They learned about him at school and was Luke was thrilled when I pulled out the art history text books with lots of his works.
  
• will always run and rescue Isaac when I need him to. Even if he is in the middle of something he runs to help him down off the kitchen table.
  
• is incredibly loyal to his family. Watch out if you say or do anything to his little brothers, you'll have Luke to deal with.
  
• relies on his little brother Noah in some pretty sweet ways. He is always trying to convince me that Noah can, in fact, attend kindergarten with him. He insists that there are others in his class who are even shorter than Noah.
  
• is still a problem solver. He loves to come up with solutions. I recently explained that we are working hard to save money for our upcoming move. He then came up with an elaborate plan to earn the money to buy a remote control R2D2 which he will then train to do elaborate tricks. He insists that people will be willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money to watch him perform. Then, he insists, we will have all the money we could possibly want and/or need. I hope that he never loses quality.
  
• still loves Star Wars.
  
• has an amazing mind for details. He remembers little facts from all the books I have ever read him.
  
• brings the energy level in our house to a whole new level. I am always amazed at how quiet it seems around here when he is at school.
  
• is a rule follower. This is sometimes stressful as he is reluctant to enter into situations where the rules are unknown. Recess was particularly stressful for him at the beginning of the school year. He was really worried that he would end up in the wrong line and wrong class. Once he got past his anxiety it quickly became his favorite part of the day.
  
• is a loyal friend. I wouldn't characterize him as outgoing, though he is plenty social. He is very content to play with one or two good friends and will defend them unendingly.
  
• still gets love letters from the girls in his class. In preschool he brought home letters (usually just hearts with his name written in the middle) nearly every day from two girls in his class. In kindergarten there are two or three girls who write to him as well. The letters are starting to get a little more elaborate, with sentences like "you look nice" and "I like your hair".
  
• is still the messiest eater in the family. I keep waiting for the magical day when I don't have to remind him to use his fork during our meals.
• never believes me. I have to prove everything to him. This is the analytical side of his brain that has to make everything line up right. "Because I said so" doesn't cut it for this logical little man. I am finding ways to make this work in our family. Today he wouldn't believe me when I told him that Fred Rogers was never the president of the United States.
  
• is very creative.
  
• loves nature and all of God's creations. He could probably live out of doors year round.
  
• needs regular alone time with his parents to fill his bucket. This is perhaps the best discipline technique I have. If he feels good about himself, the rest follows.
  
• is still my most cuddly boy. He is getting a little big but still likes to sit on my lap and receive kisses on his smooth creamy cheeks.
  
• is so tender and sensitive.
• is a wonderful big brother.

Luke, my first baby boy, has a corner of my heart all his own. I couldn't have started this adventure off better!