Lucas at Five

Lucas. Lukeybear. Lukey-do. Lu. Lu-boo. Ka-boom.

My sweet boy. I believe you have really come into your own this year. Your Dad and I have so often commented on how crazy cute you are and how happy you seem. This brings the greatest joy into our hearts. I suspect that this satisfaction with life has something to do with your mouth finally catching up to your intellect. For the past year, you have pretty much not stopped talking, asking questions, offering opinions and giving directions. You appear to have such confidence – using a clear voice and easily commanding attention. I am in awe of the presence you have, given the fact that you are only five years old. Watch out world!

Your happiness has been revealed in other areas of your life. You wake up most mornings, come to Daddy and I in bed and ask “Can I come cuddle?” For all your independence and confidence, you still just love to snuggle up to us and be little, sucking your thumb and grasping your Abba. You also love the comfort of your stuffed animals, sleeping with herds of them and “playing stuffed animals” throughout the day.

You give them each their homes and always want me to play with you by picking and housing some of my own animals too. Your play is hysterical – these animals have some tricked out cribs! Personal jumpees, hot tubs, helicopters, and roller coasters adorn their estates. However, your play is not always the most cooperative. I try to engage you by suggesting that our animals play together, but your animals always tend to be asleep or having a party that girls can’t attend. You crack me up.

Currently, your world is all about superheroes. I mean ALL ABOUT them. We bought you a superhero catalog-type book for Christmas, and I don’t believe a day has yet gone by in which you have not read, studied or imitated these heroes and villains. Each and every day I am asked to play superheroes, in which we chase each other around shooting energy blasts at one another and try to take the other to jail. I have yet to complete an episode of this kind of play with you in my grasp or in my jail. You always creatively find a way to one up me when it comes to strength, speed or other powers. Amazing.

You absolutely love playing physical games and sports, but don’t care as much for walking and hiking. You like there to be some winning or losing - you winning and me losing – when it comes to being active. You love toast – even though yours has to be gluten-free. You don’t like a lot of what I cook, but your attitude has improved throughout the year, as you will try most everything once and have developed a pretty reasonable and healthy set of foods that you will resort to if you can’t stomach what I have made. You adore pasta, especially with pesto sauce, and you are the only five year old I know who asks for pesto sauce on his pizza. You definitely know how to enjoy a good sweet treat!

You are very stealthy about learning.  You won’t really demonstrate a skill until you think you have it mastered.  For instance, you would rarely give us a glimpse into your development as a reader.  You would rarely choose to read for us, but then one day you just picked up a letter someone wrote to you and read it, big words and all, without a stutter.  We never know what to expect from you!

Your favorite toys are your stuffed animals and superhero books.  You have an amazing imagination and always love to play out all sorts of dramas -  directing, acting, and producing every piece.

You are the first to lose a tooth, although not through natural causes. That poor tooth made contact with the ground or other people one too many times and the dentist had to yank it. You were so calm and brave about the whole thing, and now you have the cutest smile!

I love the fact that you are really great at pacing yourself throughout a day. You know when you are tired or in need of centering. You will just grab your Abba, suck your thumb, and lie down.

You can be satisfied simply being still and quiet, which is something I’m learning to be with you as my teacher. However, you still really want things to be “just so” and can struggle with a shirt that gets a little wet or a sock with a seam that is out of place. But you have come so far, and now cope so well.  You are finding so much enjoyment in life!.  We are so proud of you!

Lucas, you never cease to interest us, with your questions and comments on the world. You are so loving and kind to all of us and all of your extended family and friends. You think with intensity, love with intensity, and live with intensity. What a full, playful and fun life you provide for this family. We simply adore you and everything that you are.