Happy 3rd Birthday, Luke!

Today was Luke's 3rd birthday.  It's been a big week, sending Myla to kindergarten yesterday and this today, especially because I feel like 3 is the official end of the baby years.  And Luke has been such an adorable two-year old!  He's at a great spot right now, talkative and capable but still little enough to say and do the funniest things.  I want to keep him at exactly this age, even though I know this year ahead will be great, too.

At age 3 Luke is a really caring kid, as I described in a recent blog post.  He says the sweetest things and seems to know when you need to hear them.  "Mommy, I love you sooooo much," "Best-ever daddy," or "thank you for taking care of me!"  He's also super snuggly and gives excellent hugs.  He's gone through several spells this year where he gets up really early, and Matthew and I have survived it by letting him watch a little TV while we get another 15 minutes of sleep (don't judge).  When I'm doing this, he lays on top of me and is so affectionate that I can actually forget that it's 5:45.  When he does that, or sits in your lap, or when you carry him (which happens more than it probably should, but hey, he's my baby), he puts 100% of his weight on you and doesn't help at all.  It can be exhausting, but it's also kind of sweet the way he just relies on you completely.

We've also noticed his special talents more this year.  It's been the year of the puzzle for Luke, and he's pretty amazing at them.  He's really imaginative--one of his favorite toys right now is his "snappy snappies," which can be used to build things.  The other day he built "Baw Baw holding a frisbee."  He also likes to wear any kind of crazy outfit for pretending.  He has had some really athletic moments, and can throw and hit a baseball pretty well.  But he also runs with this chicken-wing action that really cracks us up.

Physically, he's now nearly 40 inches, tall--about Myla's height at age four!  He's 37 pounds, which is what Myla weighs right now.  He falls down a lot, though it's better than it was at the beginning of the summer!  He still has his crazy blonde hair.  Right now it's as straw-blonde as it's ever been.

As we have said multiple times on this blog, Luke's best friend is Myla.  His friends at school are Tanner, Hayden, and Addisyn.  His favorites things are Cars and Jake, any sweet baked good, Mumford and Sons, his new light-up shoes, his two bedtime blankets, sunglasses, and hats. And anything Myla is doing, or Matthew, or me.  The kid really loves all of us right now, and the feeling is mutual.

Tonight we read Sandra Boynton's "Happy Birthday Little Pookie" at bedtime, and it ended with a very appropriate line--"Here's to a child who is joyful and clever.  Happy day, happy year, happy always and ever!"  We love you Luke, Lukey, Lukester, Lukester the Dukester, Duke, Luke-a-Duke, Luka-Luka, and Chumba-wumba!