Luke is my sensitive one. He is generally concerned more about feelings (his own and other peoples) than I would expect him to be. That isn't to say that he's a sweetheart all the time! He definitely likes his status of the oldest, and uses it to boss his little brother and sister, making sure they follow the rules! He doesn't let me yell (ever) which is a good thing, because it makes me keep my cool when I'd rather blow up and say something I'll regret later. He also comes up to me and says, "I love you, Mom" many times a day (some days) loves to just sit on my lap and talk.
Luke also loves books. I started reading to him when he was just a tiny baby back in our trailer (6-8 months old) and he would sit still forever and listen. He still would sit on my lap all day and let me read stories to him. I don't recall him ever being the one to get up from reading. It's always been me saying, "okay, enough stories for today, time for something else". (the 2 little kids lose interest much quicker at a much older age than he). He's starting to read, although we'll not start official teaching until the fall. He also loves to draw. The doodle pad he was given is completely worn out from use. He's on his second one which is well loved as well. He usually draws equipment of some kind (excavators, car carriers, buses, trains, etc) although loves to draw whatever you request as well.
He is a great helper around the house, and usually does his chores "quickly and cheerfully" which is the criteria for chores around here. He is faithful at feeding scraps to the chickens, gathering eggs, hauling wood, and whatever help Daddy needs outside.
We have been so blessed with such a sweet boy, that is so thoughtful and loving. He absolutely loved going camping, so we likely will be doing more of it this summer now that we have our camper. He decorated his own birthday cake while we were out camping, picture below. We found some pictures online of "camping scene" cakes, so went to WinCo and picked out what we could find to make our own. He wanted asparagus or broccoli for the trees, but I talked him into the green licorice instead, since the other likely wouldn't be too appealing to eat, although it would look more authentic. We also thought the fruit rollups were blue instead of red/blue so the river looks more like the plagues of Egypt than a cool, mountain stream!
The other thing this boy did was to hide his own birthday present. A couple months ago, we bought him a t-ball set (not intended to be a gift), but when we got home, he went and hid it in the guest room "until my birthday". He'd go check on it every now and then, and then had me wrap it up for his birthday. When he opened it up, he gleefully expressed, "great, it's just what I wanted!!" He also put some new shoes (bought on sale for when he outgrows the ones he's in) to "hide" in the guest room. He then wondered why I didn't wrap them up and give them on his birthday too. Silly boy! We did get him a gift too, even though he would have been perfectly satisfied with the t-ball set and shoes!
