(though not complicated) blend of strength and sweetness. You are
amazingly powerful, tall and strong - taller and heavier (yet not
stocky, but built) at 2.5 than your sister, @ 3.5. And yet you are
the sweetest little man on the planet. You almost always are intent
on making eye contact and smile profoundly with those eyes.
You've always loved tools, particularly screwdrivers. I ask you what
you've done today, and typically you'll say "I did school day! I did
noises! I did screwdriver!" About a month ago, I got a small block of
2x4 and drove 5 screws into it - 3 philips head and 2 flat blade. You
take a screwdriver with interchangeable bits and know which one to use
for each type of screw... and you call them by their names...
"philips"... "flat blade". You can drive them in and out by hand.
The other day, I let you use my full-size Ryobi drill. You almost
instantly held it still and drove the screws in and out. You did it
several times, holding the heavy drill in one hand, holding the block
in the other, sometimes holding the screws to get them going.
Amazing! You are 2.5!
You do require a lot of enthusiasm and sweetness from me... which
sometimes can be hard (for me)... and which your Mom reminds me of,
encourages me. I am naturally sweet with Ava, I have to try a little
harder with you... but I think it's because you're a boy. That said,
we have a special relationship and I am sensitive to your needs.
At bedtime, you ask me to lie down with you. I do about 3 or 4 times
a week. We start by talking, you more than me, me asking questions.
Then I encourage you to be silent and we lay there for a while, quiet.
These are some of my favorite times.
You look a lot like your mom, though most people say you look like me.
I think there's a blend there. I see things in your character that I
wish were so naturally my own. But I don't envy you - these are your
gifts - and I can appreciate them without having them to be mine.
I do hope you can enjoy the fruits of your physical gifts - that if
you turn out super tall, you can leverage this in basketball or
another sport. I'll have to work on this, as I don't really have a
background in team sports. Some soccer, but didn't go far with that.
I didn't have the benefit of coaching, encouraging. I hope to give
that to you... even if I don't know a lot about how to physically do
the sport... that I can still learn about what you're interested in
and encourage you.
I hope also you'll take an interest in some of the things I enjoy and
consider important. Following Jesus and loving God of course come
first, loving your Mom, sister, and brother. Loving your friends...
and enemies, when you can. Things like history and the classics -
these tell us about ourselves, help us understand our world and our
place in it, what to expect of ourselves and others, events as well.
I love philosophy, particularly the Christians: Pascal, Kierkegaard,
Chesterton, Lewis - but also the atheists: Nietzsche comes to mind.
Mechanical things I think we'll share - cars, tools, building and
fixing things. Of course, what you call "fix" right now means "take
apart".
You dance like you're unencumbered and you have a sense of beat better
than anyone in the house... maybe better than your mom. You have done
this Chuck Berry dance-walk thing since you could walk. It's very
cool.
It's already apparent you love music. You'll do something here, I'm
sure. Maybe I can teach you some songwriting. You're pretty much
sure to get any girl you want, with your looks and sweetness, but add
the music writing and playing... and you'll be assured of this. One
note: be sure to share it with others. Don't hold it inside. Thoreau
wrote in Walden: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation....
There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a
characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." And Holmes
wrote: "Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music
in them." I struggle with this.
I love you, Luke.
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