41 Months

Lucas is learning so fast. Everyday he amazes me in some new way, whether it's his consummate sense of humor, or his incredible reading comprehension skills (actually his recall in general since he remembers every damn thing that we do or say, much to our chagrin), or his skills on a trike, or his fondness for the written word, or his appreciation of safety standards, or his love of music, or his endless energy, or his beautiful polite nature, or his joie de vivre. He's a bundle of love and he's our precious little boy.

It's strange to have a new-born child in the house and suddenly realize that Lucas has changed so much. Where did all of the time evolve? The transition from gurgling baby to dynamic fire-breathing super-kid wasn't so gradual after all. I always imagined that we would remember every special change that occurred in his life; from holding his head up to walking to singing the ABC's. But the reality is that even though I've transcribed many wonderful moments throughout his life in this here blog, there were many more that have slowly faded from my fore-thoughts. Each day brings a fresh new person into our lives and he keeps us on our toes.

Just a few new things that occurred this past month that caught my senses.

Nonno, Lucas' grandfather on Xtina's side, often uses the Spanish Language version of words when he communicates to Lucas. One of the most commonly used is the word for shoes, which is zapatos. He often asks Lucas if he'll allow him to put on his zapatos. When he did this the other night, Lucas responded by saying "No you may not-os".

Whenever Xtina or I drive Lucas somewhere and happen to forget to put on our seatbelt, he demands that we put it on right away, often saying "We don't drive without our seatbelts".

In the past when I read him one of his favorite books, he quite often will end the sentences on his own because he has memorized the cadence (definitely with all of his Dr. Seuss books). But when I decided to read a new book to him, I was curious whether he actually was retaining any of the information or if it was all simply memorization. I decided to thoroughly question him about the book that we just read for the first time. He answered every question accurately and astutely.

And lastly, we went on a hike and trike around the block with Quinita (that is Lucas road his trike while Quinita and I hiked along with him). He's finally learned how to push the pedals on his trike and very rarely did he need a budge from Dadio. And he's really grown into a social creature, which was always my extreme hope because of how shy I was as a child. Two sets of a couple of men approached us on our walk and both times Lucas was the person who instigated the greeting out of all of us, saying "How are you today? Where are you going?". He's such a conversationalist!

I know that he's only three but a friend of ours who just happens to teach kindergarten told Xtina that he's ready for school. So now we need to find him a place of learning that will encourage his creative growth and help mold him into a special human being.

Now if only we could get him to potty train.