Luke Turns 6

When I think about the names of my kids, I feel like I nailed it on the head with Luke. He is a passionate child whose name can be sweetly, playfully or sternly pronounced. It is also the perfect name to cry out in exasperation ("Luuuuuuuuuuke!").

Luke is still by far the most affectionate of our kids, and I don't see that ever changing. However, with that affection comes a sensitivity which easily leads to hurt feelings. When upset he can often be heard spouting threats such as, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore!"or "I'm not going to be your son anymore!" Luckily for us, these threats usually lack luster and Luke is always eager to resume his best friend/son status.

As far as best friends go, Luke considers Sam to be his, and is fiercely loyal to his big brother. A couple of weeks ago there was a minor scuffle between one of Sam's friends and an older boy on the school playground. Sam jumped between the two to try and break it up, and in the process got pushed. Luke, who was standing nearby, jumped in to defend Sam. For some reason I find the notion of Luke defending his big brother oddly sweet, and were I to put my money on any of those school kids in a fight, it would be Luke. He is one tough cookie.

It has been such a pleasure to watch Luke grow and develop over the last six years. He is one of a kind with a heart much larger than his years. Lucky for me- at least for the time being- his heart belongs to me.