A Good Old Fashion Update on Luke

I realized that I rarely write updates on Luke any more, which was how our family blog first started when he was two months old...an entire six years ago! 

He is over half way through Kindergarten already, which is very hard to believe!  He loves everything about it: riding the bus 3 days a week to school from daycare, his teacher (the wonderful Mrs. Brown), his classmates, learning all sorts of new things (i.e. presidents on Mount Rushmore, body systems, holidays like Martin Luther King Day, etc), and of course free play time when he loves to play card or board games with his buddies.  We just had Luke's second conference of the year last week and he's doing very well with his letter recognition, sounds, and sight words (the required list of words kindergartners need to be able to read by the end of the year).  He's also doing great with anything math related, which we were not a bit surprised by...he loves math!  Anything he can do with numbers gets his interest right away (board games, calculators, money, measuring tapes, etc).  He gets a little pamphlet of "homework" each week that reviews the sounds and words they are working on for the week, which he likes to do.  But, about once a month, he gets a packet of math "homework".  He is always SO excited to get these!  We do all sorts of fun stuff like measurings things around the house with his feet, "surveying" the colors of cars that drive by our house, and learning about fractions with food (cutting things in half, separating equal portions).  All in all, he is really enjoying school and is learning so much.  We are so grateful for his desire to learn and how comfortable he is in his school environment. 

Luke's also been involved in a few sports this school year.  He played flag football at the Rochester Family Y this fall.  He liked it alright, but realized how much more he loved basketball once he started playing at the Y after football was done.  I asked him one day which he liked better and he said "Basketball because I got kind of bored with football."  My take on this was that it he lost his focus playing football since it was a larger group of kids, it was outside, and each kid is not involved in each play.  You know young boys...if they don't have the ball in their own hands, it's not interesting:)  So, basketball had two sessions:  November and December was focused on basketball skills with occasional "scrimmages", then in January and February they were placed on a team for games.  He LOVED it all!  Basketball is certainly his sport, even if his non-aggressive personality does not work well when it comes to rebounding the ball:) 

Basketball certainly did not stop at the Y.  He played all winter long on a hoop we have in the basement.  He plays make believe games against himself often, plays against Daddy a lot, and plays with anyone (like his cousins) who comes over who are willing to play.  He's also been enjoying watching basketball, whether it be Brent's city league games or college basketball on TV. 

Other than sports, Luke keeps himself very busy with games.  He loves board games, again, especially those involving numbers; and he loves playing video games.  He and Brent find free games to play online for either just Luke or ones they play together or they play XBox Kinect.  Over the past six months, Luke's favorite board games have changed frequently.  For quite a while it was Yahtzee, as in we rarely went a day without playing:)  Then he's moved on more recently to checkers.  He's also been learning how to play chess with Gpa Kerry and backgammon with Daddy.  He catches on fast and loves learning new games. 

Luke turned six in February and celebrated with friends at Chucke Cheese, with Picker cousins/family at our house, and with Beckmanns bowling.  I think I blogged about his birthday experiences already, so I won't get into any more details.  February is always a month of birthday fun! 

This spring, with the amazing weather we've been having, we've had a chance to be outside for walks/bike rides (we walk, Luke rides his bike).  I can already tell he's much stronger than last year making his way up hills faster and with no help from us.  It's always amazing to see how skills change from one spring/summer to the next! 

Luke has a big change coming up this week:  he'll be moving to his new bedroom downstairs!  He's looking forward to it as far as I can tell, though I'm sure the first few times of actually going to bed in a new room will be different for him.  We've been gradually moving his books, games, and toys into the room and he's getting excited to use some of Brent's Michigan decorations on the walls. 

Luke has also been so sweet when we talk about and anticipate life with Nora.  He likes to give my tummy hugs and kisses and says goodbye and good night to Nora regularly.  We talk about how things will be different once we are a family of four and as far as we can tell he seems to look forward to it.  He especially thinks of her when it comes to introducing her to new things. Like today he said "After Nora's born, we can have a camp fire (in our fire pit) and Nora can come out if she's awake or not."  I know that having a baby around full time is going to be a major adjustment for all of us, but I truly think he will be an amazing big brother with his gentle, caring, and loving ways.  Plus, he'll probably have close to a year before she's mobile enough to get into "his stuff";)

Life will Luke is always fun, and we can expect that he'll leave us smiling or laughing everyday.  I have loved the opportunity to watch him grow through the years and how it has prepared him for the place he is now beginning life as a grade schooler and, soon, life as a big brother.  Thanks to my work schedule I'm able to help in Luke's class about once a week and it's so great to see him in his environment, to get to know his teacher and classmates, and to get a glimpse into this new area of life that is all his (as in we don't go with him). 

Luke is a mature, compassionate, sweet, and gentle boy and we are so blessed to call him ours:)