Dear Luke,
You and I just finished a game of Battleship at the kitchen table and now Daddy is tucking you in for bed upstairs. You're wearing your favorite Star Wars pj's and playing around with your Perplexus while you two talk about the day. When you turn off your lamp, your Millennium Falcon will glow on the wall as you drift off to sleep. Tomorrow, I expect you will wake up around 6, often sometime in the 5 o'clock hour. My alarm will go off at 6 and I will call you down for breakfast. These days you like to eat an english muffin with butter, sometimes a banana with peanut butter, and sometimes a breakfast taco with scrambled eggs. Always a string cheese. You usually carry down some lego sets to bring to the kitchen table and play with Nora. I read a devotional to you two while we have breakfast.
We try to head out the door about 7 to get you to school. You're full of energy in the mornings and sometimes need reminders to stay on task to pack up your backpack with your lunch, water, and snack, grab a mask, a jacket, etc. You love it when your hair is short enough that I don't have to fix it before school. On the way to school I'll ask what we should pray for, sometimes encouraging you to think of something to thank God for, ask God for, and tell God you are sorry for when necessary. You give me a big hug as you get out the car door and happily walk into school.
Nora and I pick you up from the walker line at 2:55 and almost every day you ask to go to the park. As long as the weather is accommodating and we don't have a grocery pickup, we often do meet other neighbor friends there after school. Then when it's time to come home, you eventually work through your chore list, including unpacking your backpack, prepping your lunch, picking out your clothes for the next day, and taking a shower. Sometimes there's a show and you love when you get to play Imagine Math on the computer. Then we have dinner and a treat and start the process all over again!
The days are full and they are good. You are energetic, fun, and love to be silly. I've noticed these last few months how social you are. You are very motivated by making other people laugh. You're much less interested in the park if there aren't other kids there to play with. You talk about your school friends a lot: Asher, RJ, Addie, Mattie, River. You are reading at a 4th grade level and also have the highest math level in your class. Your teacher has mentioned to me that slowing down is an area for you to grow, as you sometimes rush through your work because you want to be done, and miss some questions when you really know the right answer. She has also told me how much she loves having you in class and on a recent grade report wrote, "this kid lights up my life!!!"
When we were heading to the car after eating out for your birthday dinner, I saw you lag behind and crawl through the bicycle rack from beginning to end. I was glad to still see some "little boy" in you and wondered if that's something you would do on your next birthday. It was a good reminder to enjoy the stage where we are right now. You also still say "libary" and I know one of these days you're going to start saying it the right way, but it won't be because I corrected you!
I love you so much, Luke.
Love,
Mommy
