#4

Luke is such a fun kid.  As the youngest kid in the family, he has to deal with older kid stuff all the time.  He doesn't get to watch as many little-kid shows and movies as his siblings did at the age of 4; he has to entertain himself most of the time in the afternoons when I'm helping the other kids with homework and piano practice and I'm making dinner; he has to spend quite a bit of time in the car taking other kids to activities, and sometimes hanging out during soccer games or Pack meetings, etc.; and he sees the older kids doing exciting things like staying up late or helping make a fire when we're camping, and he gets quite frustrated that he doesn't have the same opportunities.

(One of the older-kid things he's been around lately is Harry Potter.  Jack has taken to using wands to cast spells around the house and Luke has been joining in on the role play.  His favorite spell is "Stupid Fly!" which gives us all a good laugh every time he says it.)

Of course, there are benefits to being the baby of the family, too.  (But don't ever let him hear you refer to him as the baby.  I've learned that from experience.)  He has three older kids who love to play with him and read to him when they're available.  He is learning about performing a family job and getting paid for it younger than the other kids did.  He has a pretty good understanding of the work/school/piano routines in our family.  He has more age-appropriate toys available to him than any of the other kids did at his age.  Of course, his parents are more laid back about things like eating so many vegetables and bedtimes and staying sparklingly clean than they were with the other kids.  And I also treasure his littleness in a unique way: I love that he insists I sit cross-legged on his bed and he sit on my lap whenever I read him a story; I love that he still holds my hand about half the time and he even lets him carry him; and I'm quicker to let him help when I'm cooking or doing a project.

Luke does have a lot of fun with his siblings, but he can also be hard to get along with.  As quickly as they get loud and crazy laughing and playing, they can get angry and physical when someone is offended, and Luke doesn't shy away from a fight with anyone just because they're older.  He's gotten a little better about hitting/kicking/biting/scratching over the last few months, but I'd still say he's our scrappiest kid, which probably fits right in with his Baby Status.

That being said, I have made an interesting observation since the school year started.  Luke is much better behaved when he's by himself.  He is more obedient, polite, and calm.  I don't know if it's because he's basking in getting more of my attention, or if he's naturally good and his siblings bring out the crazy?  And I'm not really sure what to do with that knowledge, other than remind myself of what he's capable of when he does act more disobedient, rude, and wild in the sibling mix?  Moving on.

At a shoe store on his 3-year-old cousin's birthday he said,
"When it's Sawyer's birthday again we should send him some of these shoes!"

Luke can be very talkative and expressive, showing off his vocabulary and creativity.  The other day his preschool teacher told me that he's become friends with a boy named Jack, which means the two best imaginations in the class have teamed up.  Luke inadvertently proved her point when he joined the conversation with, "Jack is my BEST friend.  He has 'lectricity and I have fire power."

Two weeks of school and he's writing his name like a pro.

Luke is loving school, and is soaking up all kinds of great knowledge, experience, and social understanding.  He's recognizing letters and numbers, and wants to find out how things are spelled and counts pretty much everything he can (though he discriminates against the number 12).  He's also eager to learn outside of school, and will ask lots of questions until he has a good understanding of the topic.

Luke has started recognizing letters and numbers in random places.
Top: Root F (look closely)
Botton left: LEGO 1
Botton right: Lamination Scrap E

Luke recently spent a day talking about cookies at school.  They read If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, they sampled different cookies and decided which was their favorite (his was the frosted sugar cookie with sprinkles), and sang a pertinent song.  "Guys!" he told the big kids after school.  "There's a new song!  It goes like this.  Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?  Jack stole the cookie from the cookie jar...."  Of course we all joined in on this "new" song, a couple of times that day.  When I heard about all of the cookie activities, I told Luke, "It's too bad you don't like cookies," and he gave me the cutest most perfect four-year-old response, which I wish I had on video.  "Oh, I do!  I DO like cookies!"

The other day Luke saw that I'd thrown away one of his preschool papers and he was not okay with it.  I told him that I thought he was finished with it.  Then he said, "But I made it from preschool!" and then instructed me not to throw away anything from school.  (But I think what he meant was not to throw away anything from preschool in a place where he'll see it, right?)

Since starting school, Luke has had a 1000% increase in his coloring attention span.

Luke hasn't spent as much time doing puzzles lately as he used to, but he does still enjoy the hobby.  The other morning he really wanted to watch a show, and after telling him no, I just walked over to pick up this puzzle, sat down on the floor, and started putting it together without saying a word.  After a minute or so, Luke was there, taking over the puzzle, and finished it by himself.  He even talked about it on a video afterward.

The next day, I was even more impressed that he got out this set of puzzles we have, with four 12-piece puzzles in a single box.  He separated them and assembled them (even though they're in funky shapes) without any help at all.

I sure love this smart, spunky kid!  He handles his crazy life pretty well, and along the way he helps me to be a better person, which is always good.