Our Big Boy!

This big boy turned TWO on December 1st!

Happily posing with his Elmo and Abby cake

Elmo was given to him by his birth mom, Haley, when she came for a visit around Mother's Day last year.  He didn't want anything to do with him for months, and then one day, he fell in love with his "Welmo!"

I made a bucket of soapy water to wash off the front door windows, set it down in the entry way and walked away for a couple of minutes.  When I came back, a little red head was poking out of my bucket with a proud little boy standing nearby.  "Luke?  What are you doing?"  "Welmo get bath!"  he gleefully exclaimed.

Techie Luke - keeping up with things on his tablet and phone!

I love little kids and their creativity!  He hijacked the babies bathtub from me to use it as a car.

We had some trees that had to be trimmed in the backyard . . . . . . .

. . . . . and Luke was ready to help!

Forget the contents!  Just give him the box!  Who knew a box could be so much fun?

This is how he came into my bathroom one morning - hilarious!

Helping momma with Benjamin


Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1
 Luke keeps us all laughing!  With his facial expressions, his eye rolls, and the crazy things that come out of his mouth, our family is in stitches on a daily basis.

Fact 2
Luke is a great big brother!  Things got off to a shaky start when he didn't want anything to do with the babies.  He didn't like daddy holding them, and he certainly didn't like mommy nursing them.  As the babies have gotten older and have begun interacting with him, he thinks they are great!  He loves to make them giggle and is quick to help when one of them is unhappy.

Fact 3
Luke has a great vocabulary!  We are amazed every day with the sentences he puts together!

Fact  4
Luke knows all of his colors.  This little guy soaks up information like a sponge!  He quickly learned the names of all the colors in his 8-count crayon box, and is now learning the more exotic color names as he has advanced to a 64-count crayon box.  

Fact 5
Luke knows his numbers up through 10 and is making quick progress on numbers up through 20.

Fact 6
Luke knows all of his letters.  Sometimes he confuses E and F, but he consistently knows all of them and loves to point out letters and numbers on signs and buildings wherever we go.

Fact 7
Luke has an ear for music!  He can match pitch when he hears a song being played.  During worship on Sundays, he stands on the pew and shares a hymnal with daddy and sings at the top of his lungs.  IT IS PRECIOUS!  His other favorite place to sing is in his bed.  After he goes down for his nap or for the night, he lays in bed singing songs that he makes up.  They only ever consist of a few words and have to do with whatever is on his mind at the time.  He has a tree song that he likes to sing, and the only word in the song is tree. This morning, I heard him singing "Mommy and Daddy."  He sings high, he sings low, and he even sustains notes for a few beats.  He does this all quite loudly!

Fact 8
A few of Luke's favorite things are his "gangey," his "Welmo," and his plaid hat.

We have four soft, blue and white, checked gangies that rotate through the wash each week.  This crazy little kid has decided that one of them is his favorite.  How he tells them apart, I don't know, but he is consistent with which one is his favorite.  On that blanket, he has a favorite corner that he clutches.  By the end of the day, that corner is nasty because he rubs his nose with it, he sucks on it and he rubs it with his fingers.  We have tried to direct him to love on a clean corner, but he always chooses the dirty one. 

I bought a plaid hat to match one of his little outfits and now it is his favorite hat.  He even wears it to bed.  Seeing Luke snuggled in his bed with Welmo, his gangkies, and his plaid hat on his head is a precious picture!

Fact 9

Luke's favorite book is Goodnight*Moon.  He has become quite the negotiator at night when it comes to how many times the book is read before he goes night night. 

Good Night Luke!

By Daddy

April 8, 2013

Luke had already astonished me yesterday morning when I greeted him in bed and he said, “Oh, hi dad,” as if he’d been doing it for the last 20 years.  He’s 28 months old!  Then he greeted his baby brothers with a great big loud, “Hi guys!”

Tonight I had quite a memorable time tucking Luke into bed.  He got all dried off following his bath and went right from the bathroom into his room.  I dressed him in the red pajamas with Elmo on them.

“Light on, light on!” said Luke.

“You want the closet light on?” I said.

“No, light on,” he said while pointing to the wall switch for the overhead light.

“No,” I said, “We have to go night-night.”

With just the night light for illumination, I put him in the crib that he sleeps in.  He arranged his “gangkies,” as he calls them, and "Welmo" just the way he likes them.

“Fold your hands, Luke, we’re going to pray,” I said.

I gave thanks for what a wonderful little boy I have spent the day with.  When I finally finished praying and said “Amen,” he looked up at me beaming with a great smile.  I said, “You know Luke, we cannot see God.  God made you, and Jonathan and Benjamin and Mommy, Daddy, and Christian, Andrew and Sarah.  He sees us, but you cannot see Him, and I cannot see Him.”

“Welmo see God?” he asked.

“No, Welmo cannot see God,” I told him.

“Gangkey see God?” he asked.

“No, gangkey cannot see God,” I said.  “But He sees you, and He has blessed you.”

“Cup, ma cup!” exclaimed Luke.

“Oh,” I said, looking back at where his cup had been.  “I thought you where finished, so I put it in the kitchen.”

With a little bit of gibberish mixed in, he continued with “My cup.” And softly adding, “It’s my cup.”

“Well, alright, how about if Daddy goes to the kitchen and gets it for you?  Would you like that?”

“Mmm-hmm,” said my 28 month old, now seeming quite a bit older!

When I brought it to him he enjoyed a nice long sip and smiled so sweetly when he handed it back.

“Diaper change?” asked Luke.

“No buddy, I really think you’re fine,” I said.

Then he added one little quip -- ”Moon.”

I knew what that meant -- read the story book Goodnight Moon, which has become a staple of our bedtime routine.

“Ok, so you want Daddy to read Goodnight Moon I guess?”

“Mmm-hmm”, came the little reply.

The book was close at hand and I brought it over while Luke smiled, wide-eyed with excitement.

“Ok, Luke, I can read this but it’s gonna have to be fast,” I said.

“Go swow,” Luke blurted out.

“I’m afraid Daddy’s gotta go fast Luke,” I said.

“Go swow! Go swow!” he said with a giggle.  I was laughing pretty hard and it was all I could do to keep from losing it as I struggled through the story.

“In the great green room 
There was a telephone 
And a red balloon 
And a picture of- (turn the page) 
The cow jumping over the moon, 
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs ………”

The light in the room was really dim with only the nightlight.  I struggled with the phrase “And a little….,”

“..toy house!” interjected Luke, seeing an obvious chance to help.

I burst out laughing as I turned on the closet light for some much needed brightness.

“No Luke, actually it’s ‘And two little kittens, And a pair of mittens, And a little toy house, And a young mouse.”

“Toy mouse!” corrected Luke.

“No actually, it says right here -- toy house and a young mouse.  This is actually going quite slow Luke!”

“Go FAST,” said Luke with a giggle and a grin.

Grinning and giggling with him, I continued and finally made it through.

“Four times!” he said holding up four digits.

“Wait a minute!” I said, while laughing some more.

“Ten times!” he persisted.

“Since when have you become a little negotiator?” I questioned.  I wonder if Moses was like this as a kid?

“I will be back to check on you,” I told him.  “Good night, I love you.”

He is in his bed singing at the top of his lungs as I write!