Happy. Creative. Energetic. Giving. Compassionate. Kind-hearted.
All words to describe Lucas... yet it doesn't even seem to brush the surface of him. You just have to experience him for yourself. :) The objective of this post is to bottle up a little of what Lucas is like- now that he's a big 4-year old.
Favorite things to do:
**Pretend. Right now Lucas pretends all the time that he has football players with him. They eat with him, go to sleep in his room, play football with him (of course), and even go to the doctor's office with him. Yesterday I brought him a snack after school and he frowned at me when I gave him his frozen yogurt. He said, "But Mom, where's the football players' yogurt?" I said, "Oops, sorry. How many football players are here today?" He said 31. So I pretended to get out 31 yogurts and pass them out. I've heard this is very normal at this age. Please tell me it is?? Also, tonight he was pretending that he was teaching. Eric and I were his students. He told us, "Now put your right hand over your heart while I say the Pledge of Le'llegiance." He told Eric last night that he wants to be a teacher when he grows up... imagine that?! Is it possible to be a teacher-farmer? If it is, he can figure it out.
**Sports. Lucas is still very much into sports. Right now his clear favorite is football which is funny. Up until this FB season basketball as always been his favorite. Either way, it doesn't matter. He loves his sports and insists on wearing his Broncos and OSU jerseys EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. In fact, he cries when he finds out they're dirty and he can't wear them. As far as playing FB, he's satisfied playing in the "livering room" with his imaginary football players. He also has a set of plastic FB players that he sets up (with the goal posts) on our ottoman and has games (tackling, touchdowns, fumbles, the whole sha-bang.)
**Instruments. No, we never did find a small tuba to get him for his birthday. BUT... have no fear... we bought him a small drum set, and he also received a saxaphone and a guitar from his grandparents. He LOVES any kind of instrument. This past week Eric took him to a marching band concert and then later on in the week a drumming concert. Eric said he never took his eyes off of them... absolutely engrossed in the whole thing.
**Farming. Lucas still loves his tractors, combines, wagons, and animals. This week he and I built a tractor out of Legos. While we were doing it he was pointing out the duals, exhaust pipe, cab, and ladder. Our next project is the combine if we can find it. 
When we visit Grandpa and Grandma, Lucas asks first to ride in the combine or tractors. He genuinely loves it and would honestly ride all day long if he could. He asks great questions about what everything is and how it's used and listens to every word Grandpa says so intently. While at home he's often found plowing the fields (carpet) and harvesting the corn (linoleum) in the entryway.
Not-so-favorite things:
**Anything scary. We've just spent the last few weeks talking about Halloween and chatting about real vs. make-believe. This year it seems to be sinking in more than before, but Lucas still gets frightened at scary faces, movies/commercials, etc. While walking in Kroger the other day he spotted a display with a scary mask and for the entire rest of our visit there he had his eyes squeezed shut. The silly part is, often when he sees scary things he can't stop looking at them... like the ghost decoration that our neighbors have. He asks to drive out of our way to see it, but he doesn't like to look at it. Funny guy. Lucas also is afraid of a lot of movies that you wouldn't think a kid would get scared of. Like... Finding Nemo (the sharks), Toy Story (Zerg), and Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin (although this one is getting better...now that he watched it with his friends at school). Is it okay that I love the innocence in his fear, though?
**Television/Movies. I'll admit, when Sophie was first born, I'd allow Lucas to watch a few cartoons each morning just so I could get Sophie fed and ready for the day and not have to feel like I was losing my mind. But now, the TV is rarely on (except for pizza night every other week or so-- the only night we eat in front of the TV). Lucas rarely asks to watch anything! He's too busy playing!
Favorite books right now:
Curious George, "Pigeon" books (by Mo Willem), If you Give a Mouse a Cookie books, Richard Scarry word books, farming/construction truck books, football/basketball books
Routines:
School days: Dad fixes Lucas a piece of toast with jelly each morning and Lucas grabs a vanilla yogurt from the fridge. He eats his breakfast at school while the other kids are getting there. While at school he and his friends do "Circle Time" where they sing and talk about the calendar and read books. They also do crafts, play on the playground, and now that the colder weather has hit, head to the gym more to play. In the afternoon Lucas still takes a nap (yeah!!) which lasts from 1- 1 1/2 hours. We pick him and Sophie up around 4:30ish.
Other days: Pretty much the same except we're at home. He typically wakes up around 7:00 now. He can play by himself really well in the living room while one of us get to sleep more and the other gets Sophie up and ready. Naps in the afternoon are longer at home... sometimes lasting up to 3 hours. Most nights he's off to bed around 8:00. (2 books, 2 songs, and prayer)
The stats:
Lucas visited Dr. Harper today so these stats are hot off the press:
- 30 lb. 7 ozs. (Not quite ready for a booster seat in the car yet, but we were THRILLED that he's made it up to the 10th%!! He's always been hovering around 3-5%. Must be because he's started to like milk!)
- 4T clothes mostly
- size 9 kids' shoes
- Completely potty-trained!
- Other info: probably tree nut allergy. We're headed to the allergist soon to get this possiblity checked out. In the meantime we have an Epi-pen Jr. on hand in case there are any scares.
...don't let her looks deceive you... this little giant can play with the best of 'em... #2... Joe Johnson!!! 
...the glue that holds the team together...lucky #13... Dwayne Wade!!!
Last but not least... the giant that towers above them all... #11... Yao Ming!
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