My Momma says "don't lose you...cause the best luck I had was you"

Anybody remember this 5# 5 oz little guy??

An Open Letter to Luke 2 days before your 4th birthday:

Dear Luke:

As your Mom, I can honestly say I love you. You are part me, part your father. I appreciate everything about you. Some things I appreciate more than others. Let's see if I can get a little list going of the things I appreciate...

1.) You're cute as a button and know how to work it. Partially because you look like your Dad, partially because you've got huge eyes and the longest eyelashes covering them. I enjoy ruffling your shaggy, moppy hair. You're a lady killer. You flirt with waitresses, the doctor, nurses, teachers...heck, anyone who will stand close to you for more than a minute will feel the power of your charms. You had 2 girlfriends by the age of 3 but have declined the advances of the third.

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2.) You invent new ways to use things that don't have obvious alternate uses. When you were big enough to walk, you realized that you could walk over to our kitty, Jane, and ride her like a horse. You didn't see just a kitty and feel confined to keeping her in the role of warm, fuzzy companion, you saw opportunity for fun.

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3.) I love your curious nature. Granted, I didn't love it so much the time that I found you on my kitchen floor with the refrigerator door wide open and your chubby little fingers were smashing my eggs on my kitchen floor because you wanted to see what was in the inside of the eggs. I've learned to think 2 steps ahead of you. Ok, so maybe not 2 steps but at least a step. Ok, so maybe not even a full step because many times I get there right as you're doing whatever naughty thing you're doing but I get there and that's what counts.

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4.) I think it's funny that you feel the need to squirrel food around my house. Yes, the vase at the bottom of my stairs is full of non-perishable food that you've taken from my cupboard and have stuffed in there in an attempt to thwart my filling your tummy with healthy foods. I pretend not to notice that you put a tiny stuffed Tigger on top of your pile of yummies as Guardian of the Goodies. If I hadn't been so angry at you for stuffing a red party cup of milk under your craft table until it had solidified and formed a yogurt-type consistency, I probably would've found it funny that you pulled a 1/4 eaten PB and J right out after it. And when I asked why you had a partially eaten and clearly less-than-fresh sammie under there, you told me "Cause you never know when you're gonna need a snack."

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5.) It's refreshing that you're comfortable in your own skin...like the time that I ran to Kroger's and left your father in charge of you and your sister. As I drove back to our house, I noticed that there was a small child standing on the window sill in my window buck naked and banging on the glass. It didn't bother you that half the town had driven by our house and seen your winkie blowing in the breeze. (Clearly it didn't bother you father either who was oblivious to what was going on until I came storming in the house.). Or like the time that I started to take you to Vacation Bible School at a local church and noticed that you had put your pants on with no underwear underneath because you like to "be free" under your clothes.

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6.) I appreciate the fact that you cry bull shit in the face of something that you think is a crock. You know, like the first day of pre-k this year when you had that fall down, screaming tantrum because Mrs. Michele wasn't in your classroom but some other woman was. Yes, this was a proud day for me.

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7.) I love that you really think and analyze what you've been told. Like the time you had the "good touch, bad touch" lecture at your school where they used correct anatomical names for boy and girl body parts...then we proceeded to have a Q and A for 20 minutes in our loft upstairs about who has what part. If you read this blog, chances are your name was brought up and I had to clarify what you have. To that, I say, I'm sorry. Also, I'm sorry to the Bible School teacher who had to listen to Luke give a guest lecture about said parts.

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I'm lucky to have you, little fella!

Hugs and kisses,

Mommy