A Tribute to Our 3 Year Old

Jeff and I are so pleased with our little three year old. We are amazed at how three is so much different than two and a half. My parents noticed it too. Over the past few months Lucas has taken a big jump from being a toddler to a preschooler. He has blossomed into an amazing little person.

He is silly...

Lucas lives life with passion and gets the most out of each day. I admire how he lives in the moment and laughs out loud many times a day. As we've said from the beginning of our journey with Lucas, he is "very" everything. Silly is no exception and Lucas shines in this department as a three year old. Some mornings, fresh after 10 hours of sleep, he skips through the house making funny faces and talking in deep and high voices to make us laugh. He loves the attention and we sometimes wonder if he'll be a class clown. "Watch this" is heard often around our house and is followed by a silly dance on tip toes or a dive onto the floor. Lucas's confidence is boosted by Ellen and her adoring stares and belly laughs that she saves only for her big brother.

He is serious...

Lucas can be silly, but he can also be serious when he is "working". We know that he is in this mode when we see his serious face - expressionless, lips poked out a bit and eyes focused.

He is compassionate...

Ahhh, probably my favorite Lucas quality. He has a big heart. If we say "ouch" he is quick to say, "Dada, what's wrong? You okay? You get a boo-boo? My kiss it?"; If Ellen cries he stops what he is doing to find her a toy and bring it to her as he says, "It's okay! Don't cry." And if that doesn't work he tickles her, hops on top of her or yells in her face... which always startles me but then what can I say when Ellen is giggling at him! ; He is sweet with animals and with babies. We were visiting with a 16 month old friend last week and he would make silly faces to make her laugh and would hand her toys as he talked in his baby voice to her... I was so proud of him. I am sure that he's learned to do this because he's around children younger than him at school. He respects that they are younger than him.

He is polite...

Thanks to Ms. Xenia and Mr. Len (and maybe a little credit for us), Lucas is a polite little three year old. The clown at his party was very impressed by the way he said "please, thank you and ma'am". He had to be prompted months ago, but now he is quick to thank someone if they do something for him.

He is imaginative...

Months ago Lucas started talking about someone named Go Man. We still haven't really figured out if this is an imaginary friend, or just something that we are misunderstanding. Lately, however, it's become more clear that Lucas is starting to use his imagination more. Several times a day we are asked if we want grocery items... like yogurt, coffee, or ice cream. When we say yes Lucas runs away to the "grocery store" and brings us back whatever we're requested. After we pretend eat it he always says, "It good? You like it?" Additionally, he is suddenly into super heroes. I wasn't looking forward to this stage, but it's actually pretty fun to see him prefer one shirt over another or fly off of the couch and exclaim that he is Superman. We haven't figured out how to tell when he is Lucas or when he is a super hero though. After his party Jeff asked him if he was Spiderman and he said, "NO! I'm Lucas!"

He is independent...

Lucas wants to get dressed by himself now and all of a sudden has an opinion about what he wears. I have to get him some more super hero shirts because he often throws down the cute collared shirt or hip t-shirt and runs upstairs to get the dirty spiderman shirt that he already wore twice that week! Other things that he wants to do by himself include changing batteries in toys, which involves a screw driver and good eye/hand coordination and is sometimes frustrating.

He has an open mind...

... when it comes to food at least. I also owe this to his teachers who encourage him to try different foods that they serve him. Today he took a bite of my collard greens and said that they were okay... but wouldn't take a second bite : )

He is slowly weaning...

Lucas is down to nursing only a few minutes in the morning. I'm so proud of us (him, Jeff and me) for sticking with breast feeding for as long as Lucas needed it. I think we are near the end.

He plays and sleeps hard...

Like I said before, Lucas gets the most out of each day. He plays and plays and plays until he is so exhausted at night that he nearly collapses into bed. I hold him as he falls asleep and what used to be a two hour process now only takes minutes as he drifts off into deep, loud breathing sleep.

He makes friends easily...

Lucas loves making friends with little boys that are his age, or especially a little older than him. The other day were were walking through North Hills and we saw some boys playing in the courtyard. I offered to take him to Target for a treat and he opted to sit on the bench and watch the boys roll and tumble on the lawn. These were 12 year old boys, so he wasn't brave enough to join them, but giggled as they giggled and then asked me to come and play with him on the lawn right beside the other boys. Another example is that we were on vacation last week and there are three boys next door - two 5 year olds and one eight year old. They all made friends instantly and I knew Lucas was having fun because he got a familiar look on his face that he has when he's around Max and Ben - it is a look of joy, admiration and excitement.

He is enjoyed by his friends...

Often after a play date the mother of the other child will tell me that their child asked to play with Lucas for a few days after the play date. Lucas does the same thing. It is so great to see him branching out from us and developing friendships.

and last but certainly not least...

... he usually SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! After 3 long years of interrupted sleep, I can now finally say that when Lucas goes to sleep at night I expect him to sleep until around 7am.