Lucas William {2.5 Years}

Dear Lucas,

Today I am taking a little break from all of the Bennett updates to celebrate YOU! You are halfway through your 3rd trip around the sun today! This is one of my favorites ages; you have been SO MUCH FUN lately! 

I'm not sure of your weight and height, but I'd guess you are around 30 pounds and maybe like 35ish inches tall?! You are wearing mostly 3T clothes. Some 2T still fits, especially pants. Boys' pants are the thorn in my side lately; either they are too short for your long legs or they are way too baggy! Anyone have recommendations for good slim-fitting boys' pants?! You wear size 7 or 8 shoes and size 5 diapers (I've tried to put you in 6s put they were a little big!). 

Your speech has taken off the last six months! You babble ALL. OF. THE. TIME. and your little voice is just the cutest! Sometimes, you speak your own language and we have absolutely no clue what you are saying; you sound like a little Minion or something. But, you can use your words to express what you want, or what is wrong...THANK GOODNESS! You are so much less frustrated now that you can use words to communicate! 

If we ask you, you can say your name ("Woo-cus!") and how old you are ("I two!"). You also love to say hi to your baby brother...you always call him "Baby Bennett." You LOVE being a big brother and I have to say, you are a pretty good one! Bennett is so lucky! You love to help with diaper changes and handing Bennett his paci. We've also been pretty lucky with you not hurting Bennett! I was certain you'd try to pull him off the bed or something, but so far (knock on wood!) you have been surprisingly gentle! 

You love, love, LOVE anything that goes...planes, trains, cars, trucks. Your personal faves are "racing cars" (aka race cars), ambulances and crane trucks! You stop dead in your tracks if you hear an airplane or a train. And of all your toys, the 502 trucks we have are definitely your favorites. You are the first one to spot railroad tracks or a construction sight when we are in the car! Safe to say that the majority of your Christmas presents will be things that go! 

You next favorite thing is BOOKS! This makes me teacher heart so happy! You could spend hours upon hours looking at books! Sometimes, when it's really quiet and I don't know what you're up to, I get really, REALLY nervous about finding you doing something God-only-knows-what...but then I find you and 9 times out of 10, you are sitting quietly reading! Your favorite books are this one, this one, any of these and this one! You've also picked up your sister's love for Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol and enjoy looking at those books too!

You are, and I say this with so much love, my "zero F***s" child. You do not give a flying leap about what anyone thinks, and I just think it's fabulous! You totally beat to your own drum and are in your own little world 90% of the time. You are still SO much trouble that comes right along with your "zero f's" attitude, but most of the time, it's so funny, I have a hard time getting mad! Like when you throw all of your dinner on the floor and then give me a puppy dog face and say "Mommy, treat?" Like, ha, yeah right you're getting a treat! But it makes me smile! You also have NO fear of pretty much anything. You climb up on the biggest play sets, even if they are meant for kids double your size. I'm pretty sure you would have gone in the Haunted House on Halloween with Daddy, but Ella freaked out so much that it scared you too. That's the thing about you with your sister; its monkey see, monkey do over here allllll the time.

You are never still! I was a little nervous to take these pictures, since you were so awful during Bennett's newborn session (really and truly...I love you so much, but oh my goodness, you really tested it that day!). But, since you were the only one (Ella and Bennett stayed at home with Daddy), you actually cooperated and even said "CHEESE!" a few times! Although, you were never still...which is why these pictures are a little blurry!! 

To channel some of that energy, we signed you up for Soccer Shots this fall and you totally love it! You love your coach Skylar (you call her "Coash Sky-yer!") and get so excited to do "soccer team" every Saturday morning! We are still working on not picking up the ball with your hands, and not knocking the goal over...but for the most part you are a pretty decent player! I would be remiss if I didn't mention your obsession with other sports too. You LOVE to watch football with Daddy, and can spot a Panthers or UNC logo from a mile away. You also love to watch baseball, basketball and golf! 

You are still such a good sleeper and a decent eater. You sleep every night from around 7:30 PM until 7:30 AM, and you still nap for 3 hours (give or take) every afternoon. I usually have to wake you up at 4:30 so you'll go to sleep at night! 

Eating has gotten a little more challenging, and I'm convinced you are single handedly keeping the fruit snacks industry alive. That's all you ever want to eat...fruit snacks. You have gotten a little bit pickier about what you eat, but thank goodness you're nowhere near as bad as your sister (and let's keep it that way, ok?! Mama doesn't need 2 crazy picky eaters!). Your favorite things to eat are cheese, yogurt, bananas, strawberries, eggs and chicken nuggets. You FREAK OUT when you see Chick Fil-A and say "Moo cow! Chick-fuh-way!" You could drink a gallon of milk a day if I let you. You freaking LOVE milk. You know how to open the fridge and help yourself, and it's happened more times than I'd like to admit (see above, where I talk about laughing at the naughty things you do!). 

Oh my sweet joy boy Lucas!!! You infectious smile and your crazy, crazy personality has us so smitten!! You recently started saying "He-whoa!" (hello) to any and everybody. We were at a Christmas tree lighting last week and I ran into a girl I work with at the Y who was there with her daughter. Pretty sure you've never met her daughter before, but you gave her a big ol' hug and said "He-whoa!!!!" so excitedly. It was so funny! You do this all of the time. You are such a charmer and everyone who meets you can't help but smile right back at you. We are so lucky to have known you for 30 months now and we can't wait to see more of the person you're becoming! We love you more than you know!