Luka Drew...

I've recently found myself reflecting on our Luka. In a few weeks, he will be 5 years old, and that is really just so hard for me to believe. He is his own person in so many ways, yet we see ourselves so much in him too.

Luka seems to love mornings, like I do. He pretty much jumps out of bed and is ready to greet the day. Ninety percent of the time, he comes downstairs and willingly takes care of all his chores to get ready for school, without a complaint. We have a lot of company, and he never quite knows who he might find in the guest room. The other morning, he came down to my room at 5:30, asking if Mimi was still here. I said "no," and asked him to go back to bed, which he did, but only when he felt confident that there was no one for him to greet in the guest room!

So, there is that other 10%. And when he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, the whole house feels it. He has the Schmucker stubborn at times, and can really keep that lip out there for quite some time. These mornings feel like a big nag session, and walking on pins and needles so he does not get more upset. But then, all of a sudden, he surprisingly flips a switch and is back to his happy self again.

Which leads to another topic...boy can Luka turn 180 degrees quickly. One minute he's happily playing hide and seek, the next minute he stubs his toe and is screaming at the top of his lungs as if the world were coming to and end. One minute he's politely eating his dinner, and the next minute screaming at the top of his lungs because he bit his tongue. One minute, he's all excited for a surprise that Daddy brought home, and the next minute he's giving Scott the silent treatment for 30 minutes because he didn't like the surprise. He has a very practiced poutty face and crosses his arms in a huff. He'll scream "I don't like you!" We'll shrug and say "ok" and then he'll usually saunter over soon after and say he's sorry and he loves you and he didn't mean it.

Luka loves to play games. Memory and Sorry currently top the list. We played 6 Sorry games today alone. He has the rules down pat, rarely tries to cheat, and is such a good sport. If he gets "sorried," he'll laugh and take his turn. If he loses, he just wants to play again. It is so fun to play games with him! Another favorite game of his right now is Charades. He (and TJ too) love to act out little roles that we give them (like a bear, swimming, taking your shirt off, drumming, reading, etc), and then they make the other one guess.

Luka is also on a roll with his reading. He will happily pick up a book that is too hard for him and attempt to read it. He is not afraid to spit out a meaningless words if he doesn't know them. The one we joke about all the time is "sh-lamp." He was just sure that the word should be lamp based on context, but it started with "sh"and then out came "lamp." I always ask then "Luka, what is a sh-lamp?" He just grins and giggles. But gosh, show him a word once or twice, and he does not forget. He reads signs on the road, cereal boxes, and just today he showed me a magazine page where he had circled all of the words that he knew. Last Saturday, he did a week's worth of homework on the gym floor during TJ's basketball game. He loves school and his teachers and is ready to go every day without complaint.

Luka can really laugh at himself, and he loves to make others laugh as well. He is our little comedian (really, he always has been) and we try to nurture this very special trait of his. He has many friends and they are all important to him. (It's very difficult to explain to him that he cannot invite 25 friends to his birthday party.) Even mosquitos are very attracted to Luka...we tell him it is because he is so sweet.

Physically, Luka is not afraid of a challenge and is a bit of a daredevil. He has great control of his bike most of the time, but then again he falls a LOT, and usually gets right back up and is a bit reckless again. His legs are always covered in bumps and bruises, but he keeps on ticking. He loves to swing and jump off. He doesn't seem to realize that if you crawl across the monkey bars, there is a good possibility that you could fall if you don't watch what you are doing. But he always tries and tries again, and does not give up.

My favorite thing about Luka is that he is still a cuddler. When he is having a hard time, I'll ask to hold him, and we'll just sit for a few minutes, and then the world seems ok again and he is ready to go. He is full of hugs and kisses, and I never turn these down, knowing that someday in the not too distant future, our lovable Luka will grow up like all little boys do and he will be too cool for hugs and kisses from mom. For now though, I'll take all I can get, even if it does mean I'll be a little late for work.