Wednesday, June 20, 2012

luke turns six


Well, Luke is now six and he's still full of all the same Luke-isms he was a year ago - just tweaked and refined a little, maybe.  This may be a tad repetitive of last year's birthday post, but you just can't take the Luke out of Luke.

To celebrate his birthday this year, he had his very first friend party (which was actually a first, ever, in the Pulley home - I'd successfully dodged that bullet, until now).  When I asked him what he wanted to do, his only request was to have everyone plant some seeds in pots.  Well, he did come up with a party favor that he wanted to give everyone:  eggshells in a plastic bag... because they are enjoyable to crunch.  Hmmm... thankfully, he sort of forgot about the eggshell idea, once I threw out the prototype.  But, we did proceed with the seed planting.  The party went well - it was pretty low key, but I figured the kids would end up running around, playing the whole time anyways.  Which, they did.



Here are a few things that stand out about Luke.  We sure love this kid!

1.  He is still extremely loving and uber affectionate.  He wears his emotions on his sleeve, so you always know what sort of mood he is in.  As loving as he is, he also has a bit of a temper that makes for an emotional roller coaster.

2.  He savors his food.  If he is eating something that he enjoys, he takes his time, nibbling and "Mmmmmm - ing" every last bite.  My other boys must think that their food might walk off their plate, because it's more like a race for them.

3.  He has to lick every bowl, spoon or beater that has been used in the act of cooking.  Seriously.  Everything.  Not just the sweet stuff, either.  Mayo, ketchup, pureed pumpkin.... it doesn't matter - he wants it.

4.  He is big time into arts and crafts. BIG TIME.  He spends many an hour drawing, coloring, cutting, painting, and gluing.  In fact, when I went to buy him some birthday presents, I was having a hard time finding something that I thought Luke would really like in the toy section.  Then I strolled over to the craft section and hit the jack pot.  Sand art, clay, velvet posters, bird houses... everything a little artist would love and more.

5.  He is over-the-top enthusiastic about animals and plants/flowers.  They inspire most of his artistic work.  It's pretty easy to figure out what animal is at the top of Luke's 'favorite' list by what's on the countless pictures strewn about the house at any given moment.  First, it was squids.  He had to know everything about squids.  Squids were the coolest.  Squids everywhere.  Then, it was peacocks.  My, how lovely those feathers are!  Then, lizards...  Then, snakes...  Pictures galore.  Countless conversations.  He gets so passionate about it all.  He is absolutely convinced that he will own just about every animal out there someday.  He dreams of the day when his job is an animal collector.

6.  He still loves to collect everything under the sun.  He cannot look upon a bug without instantly wanting to grab a jar.  He cannot pass by a flower without wanting to carefully transplant it to a pot.  He cannot walk passed a rock (or 'crystal', as he calls them all) without it immediately ending up in his pocket.

7.  My most favorite thing about Luke is how little he cares about appearances.  He likes what he likes and he assumes that everyone else shares the same enthusiasm for his passions.  He's not worried about fitting in nor with the "who's who" on the playground.  To illustrate this, here is a perfect example:  So, we were on our way to the zoo.  As we were leaving, I realized that Luke's booster seat was in Adam's truck and Adam was gone.  So, we stopped by Walmart to grab one.  The only boosters that they had were pink ones.  I didn't even hesitate in buying it, because I knew Luke wouldn't mind the pink.  Well, not only did he not mind the pink, but he was ecstatic with how comfortable the seat was.  Of course, now I have Luke and Asa fighting over a pink booster seat on a daily basis.   How many boys out there would be fighting over a pink booster seat?

8.  Despite his love for all the beautiful things in life, he is still a mischievous, sneaky, curious, destructive, obnoxious, dirt covered, whirl wind of a BOY.  And, I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Here is what Isaac likes about Luke:  "He helps me and he pulls me on my scooter and plays with me."

Here is what Asa likes about Luke:  "I play with his snake and play with his ball."  (How unfortunate that those were the two toys that he immediately thought of, right?)

And, when I asked Luke what some of his favorite things are:  "Digging out plants and planting them, smelling flowers, checking for eggs, eating yummy food.  Even, I love you and I like that you play with me and I like that you help me and you're my favorite mom and I'm glad that Heavenly Father gave me you."

A few pictures from Luke's birthday:


 Isaac was feeling pretty grown up getting to light the candles.





I just have to show off how filthy Asa ends up at the end of a day.  Look at that shirt!