Our 2 1/2 Year Old!

Time has been flying by so quickly since Abbey's birth, that Luke's half birthday just slipped on by.  Luke is now a 2 1/2 year old.  Drew and I were just talking yesterday about how I need to write a blog post about what our little buddy is up to so that we do not forget.  After all, our blog serves as our baby book of sorts for both of our children.  I refer back to it pretty regularly to remind myself of what Luke was doing at certain ages, and even compare him and Abbey.  We are so thankful that we have documented the happenings of our family these past few years.

So, about our little Luke.  He is hilarious.  He makes us laugh each day with something new he is doing or saying.  Lately, he has been putting one hand in his pocket.  He tells us his phone is in his pocket.  Of course, he doesn't have a phone in his pocket, but he wants to be like his daddy, who carries his phone in his pocket.

I love that when I tell him something like, "You are a funny little dude", he will reply, "I'm not dude, I'm Luke."

I think he is pretty smart, but I know I am biased.  :-)  He surprises me with what knowledge he just picks up.  The other day, we were counting to twenty for some reason, and he just kept going....twenty one, twenty two, twenty three and so on.  He sings his ABCs very well and knows how to spell his name.  He also always asks me how to spell "mommy", "daddy" and "Abbey", so I am pretty sure he is trying to memorize that as well.  He draws and recognizes various shapes.  His favorite shapes are circles and squares.

Drew made a comment recently that sometimes Luke's grammar seems better than ours.  He knows how to use words in their proper tense.  For example, last night I asked him if he was finished with his milk.  He responded, "Yes, I drank it."  He uses "I", "me" and "my" properly as well.

He sings lots of songs.  Drew and I noticed that when he hears a new song, he will ask you to sing or play it over and over (so he can memorize it).  Then, it becomes part of his repertoire of songs he performs.  We have been trying very hard to capture him singing some of these songs on video, because he has such a precious voice.  But every time he sees we are recording him, he stops singing.  Perhaps he has performance anxiety.  His current favorite songs to sing are "B-I-N-G-O", "Jesus Loves Me", "I Love You", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Zaccheus", "Old MacDonald" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  I love to hear him sing.  Here are a couple of videos I captured with my phone when he didn't know it.  Because he is also playing with a Dora house, he is multi-tasking and is not fully into it, but at least I caught something on tape. 

Physically:  Luke is about 29.5 lbs and is almost 36 inches tall.  He loves to play soccer and basketball.  He actually dribbles the soccer ball very well and is extremely accurate when he aims for the goal.  He has become pretty accurate at his basketball shots as well.  Lately, nearly every time I pick him up from his school, he is shooting the basketball at their little basketball goal by himself.  He likes to work hard at mastering things and is very persistent.  From what we have seen, he doesn't like to perform until he is really good at something.  So, in basketball for example, he will try over and over in private at making baskets.  But, if he misses on the first shot in front of others, he tends to not want to continue to shoot. 

Luke is very strong-willed.  When he wants something--he will continue to persist until he gets it.  And, when he does not get it, it usually doesn't go well.  We are working through this right now.  :-)  Patience is another thing we are working on.  When he wants something...he wants it now...not in 5 minutes, not in two minutes. 

He is very passionate.  I would say he is pretty much opposite of "laid back."  We have often said that we got our "drama" in our first born--who happens to be a boy. 

He likes to run fast.  Lately, when we are about to go outside and we are putting on our shoes, Luke will ask, "daddy/mommy are you putting on your fast shoes?"  He knows that some shoes (like flip flops) slow us down. 

His favorite things to play include anything that requires creativity.  He loves to color pictures, create art projects, paint, play with play-doh, or build objects with legos.  He also absolutely loves to pretend.  He will pretend play with anything!  Of course, these are his favorite indoor things to do.  His absolute favorite thing to do is to be outside, playing with a ball, playing sports/games, playing at a park or on a playset.  He is a daredevil and enjoys to play on the "big kid" playsets.  This kid absolutely has no fear!

He loves pretty much any fruits, vegetables, milk products and grains.  He is a little more picky with his meats, but he will eat them.  His favorite foods include any fruit and pizza.

Although Luke is so energetic, I know that I get my cuddle time with him each morning after he wakes up and at night before he goes to sleep.  He absolutely loves to cuddle with us and is such a loving little guy.  These are my favorite times of the day. 

He loves his Abbey.  Lately, when we go somewhere and someone comes over to Abbey's carrier to look at her, he proudly says, "That's my Abbey.  She's my sister."  He is already very protective of her. 

We love our Luke so much.  I am sure there is so much more I could include about him, but for now, those are some of the things I want to remember about him at two and a half years old.