The Many Faces of Luke

Some time ago while eating ice cream at a Culvers I snapped a set of pictures of Luke. In each shot he has a different expression. Looking at them now they crack me up.

Smart Little Guy

Luke is a smart little guy. His language skills are top notch. As mentioned earlier he can count pretty good. In addition to his numbers he can say all of his ABCs. That being said he doesn't know them but can repeat the letters as I say them. What is neat is how well he can say each one. I went through the entire alphabet a few days ago and he recited each one perfectly.

I doubt Luke is going to have the same language hiccups that Alyce had. When she was younger she'd say things like "turpin" for turtle or "purpin" for purple. Luke's enunciation isn't perfect but he's making the right sounds for each word in his vocabulary. I'm guessing being the second kid with a big sister showing him the ropes is a benefit.

Counting to 100

Luke is quite advanced for a 2 year old. He can count to 100! He can sort of count to 100. He starts with one and goes up from there and does pretty good up to eleven. After that well take a look at the video to see how far he can go.

How Old Are You?

Yesterday as I was putting on Luke's shoes I asked him how old he was. His response had me rolling on the floor. He said "I don't know yet". Hilarious.

School

Today we dropped Luke off at school like any other day. What makes this day special over another is that today Alyce is going with him. Her school was canceled today so we thought it would be fun if she joined him. I took the day off to get some yard work done.

Luke has a rough time letting go of us when he goes to school. Today as we pulled into the parking lot he started to tear up. When we walked into the room he stared to whimper and wouldn't let go of us. Luckily after a while he did let go and we were able to sneak out. The teachers tell us he is always like this and 5 minutes after we leave he's happy as a clam.

Luke is a very affectionate little guy. He loves to give and receive hugs. And he loves to be around us. It is pretty hard on him for us to leave him with strangers. Hang in the little guy it'll get easier.

Goodbye Pool

Labor Day has passed and it is time that we say goodbye to the pool for the year. It has been a memorable summer in the water. It was our first year there. Having bought the house in January this was our first time to enjoy the benefits of the neighborhood.

Alyce got over her fear of having water in her face, going down the slide by herself, and jumping in the pool. As the summer closes Alyce is now making running leaps into the pool even if I'm not there to catch her. With this sort of confidence I think she might be ready to learn from her swimming lessons. Her favorite activity this year with me was to run around a little circular section of pool until we created a current. Once the water was circling well we'd pick up our feet and float around in circles. We call it our "Whirlpool"!

Luke has never been afraid of the water. In fact he loves every minute of it. Now that we have such easy access to water I think he'll embrace water as just another place to play and will never have any fear of it. Luke has learned some things from the pool too. For example he knows that if he blocks one of the water shooter holes the other holes shoot out water even farther. He has pretty good aim and likes to shoot both Mom and I with water.

To compare the two kids I think it is safe to recommend that continued and lengthy access to a pool is the best way to get kids acquainted with and to enjoy the water.

Dancing in the Livingroom

Last night Alyce had her first dance class of the season. This year she is in the 5-6 year old class even though she is only 4. Of course she'll be 5 soon enough.

Alyce came home with the video for her dance recital from last June! She's been watching it ever since. When she sees her routine she dances along with it. Surprisingly she remembers all the moves. Beyond her own routine she's been watching the other class's routines and dancing along with them. Alyce is doing a pretty good job keeping up with their routines and ad-libbing where needed.

When Mom brought Luke home from school Alyce wanted the dancing again. Luke is now dancing in front of the tv too! It hilarious watching him go through the routines. He's stomping, stepping, twisting, and waving his arms all over and enjoying every minute of it. Perhaps he wants to start dancing too. I'd be ok with that. I guess...

First Day of School

Yesterday Luke attended his first day of school. I guess officially it wasn't school. Instead he attended a Mom's day out / kid's day out program at a church near our house. We did the same thing with Alyce when she was roughly Luke's age. We wanted Luke to get all the benefits from social interaction as Alyce did from her class.

It seems kind of weird to Mom and I that Luke is going to kid's day out already. Going this year means that he is going to be attending preschool next year and that just seems too soon. I think we are looking at Luke through Alyce colored glasses. When Alyce first attended school she was just a month away from turning 3. Luke on the other hand still has 7 months until he is 3.  And to a kid only 2 years old 7 months is a quarter of your life; a decent chunk.

Before we left the house to take him to school Mom snapped a few pictures of his first day outfit and lunch bag. He doesn't get a back pack yet but he is there from 9:00 - 1:00 so Mom packs a lunch for him. We picked up a Thomas the Tank Engine lunch bag and seems to be smitten with it.

When we arrived at the school we were one of the first people there. A lady with her child went in right in front of us. Lucky for us she did because you have to enter a code just to get in the front door and we didn't have the updated one. I'm glad they take security seriously. The weather was great so the class started outside. Luke immediately ran away from us and started playing on all of the playground equipment. Mom talked to the caretakers for a bit and eventually Luke came back over to us. He was driving a Cozy Coupe as we were leaving and Mom gave him a kiss on the head good bye. As we exited the area Luke started to follow us as he just realized that were leaving without him. The teachers sprang into action and scooped him up. They did their best to distract him and I didn't see him flip out or start screaming for us.

I left soon thereafter while Mom needed to pay for the class. On her way out she looked in on Luke and sure enough he was crying. It was to be expected but that didn't make it any easier on Mom. Separating from your kid is never easy and it shouldn't be. You are breaking a bond that was being constructed for the past two years.

Once class was over Mom got the scoop about Luke's first day. There were some tears but they slowed down and stopped during the day. He played a lot and made some artwork. The picture he brought home was of an apple he made out of construction paper and glue. It's now hanging from our refrigerator. That evening when I was home I took it off and admired it. I asked Luke if he made this and he said "yes" while beaming with pride.

This will be a good experience for Luke. It's bound to have a rocky start. In the end it will be all worth it. It'll be good for Mom too. She's transitioning to a life where the kids won't be home in the morning and eventually the whole day.

Counting

One thing that Luke is doing much better than his sister at this age is count. From being able to count to 11 to knowing a number by looking at it his skill with numbers is impressive.

He's learned his numbers from both Alyce and from tv. Lots of times on their kid shows we've caught Luke counting with Dora, Diego, or whomever is on the screen. From Alyce he's learned counting by playing hide and go seek. Alyce will count to some arbitrary number and start searching. Luke will mimic her by covering his eyes and counting. Of course he doesn't keep his fingers together so he does cheat. When he first started playing a few months ago he'd mumble his numbers. Now he can say each one clearly.

Luke also knows the proper symbol for each number. Just today while upstairs Alyce held up some numbers and Luke would correctly identify each one. Alyce would hold up a 9 and Luke would say "nine". Pretty advanced for a 2 year old.

I don't know if Luke knows how to count. I guess I should put out a few of something and see if he can tell me how many there are. What I do know is that I am very proud of Luke. He is a bright kid with a bright future.