Christian's Inheritance

The time has come ... Jonathan has decided to give Christian his inheritance.

The inheritance?  Jonathan's life-long collection of Hot Wheel cars.   Christian was absolutely THRILLED!

The 5:00am Wakeup Call

There's no such thing as "sleeping in" at the Lucero Household.  Well, not unless you count waking up at 5:45pm as "sleeping in" (a rare treat).

It used to be that when Christian woke up in the morning (typically at a time much later than 5:00am), he's stay in his room and eventually call out to use while sitting in his doorway ... waiting patiently.

Then a few weeks ago, he started coming into our room with a loud, "RAH!" very early in the morning, and delighting so much in startling us, that it became a game for him.   After a few of those mornings, I just adjusted my own waking time so that at least he doesn't get a chance to scare me out of sleep!

With the sun rising later these days, its now dark when he comes in around 5:00am.  When it was light at that time, he was ready to HAVE FUN.   But with it being dark, I tell him its still nighttime, and we need to lay down and rest.  So he lays down beside me and we snuggle a bit before it gets light enough that he KNOWS its morning.   Having a few quiet, still moments with my usually very active little boy is a real treat!

Now, if only we could somehow convince Christian that its perfectly okay (and desirable) to sleep in on weekends past 5:45am.   Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

Good thing I'm a morning person! :)

All About Christian

Ah, Christian ... he's quite the little lad. He's got lots to say, and lots to do. He's a busy, energetic and entertaining kiddo!

Some of the amushing things he says lately are:

• "That's a good idea, Papa!" Christian has that to say when Jonathan answers his question, "What are you doing, Papa?"
• "Bless you, Mommy!" I hear this blessing from down the hall when he's in his room at naptime, and I sneeze in my office.
• "Hey! What's going on here?"
• "Do you want to play a game" (we say yes) "Okay, first ... it's called .... um ...." and he makes up a quick game and gives it a name.
• "What can I doooooo?" We hear this one a lot when he's bored.
• "I can do it!" or "I can help!"
• "I'm going to be a pilot!"
• "I'm so VERY hungry."
• "Let's go to Disneyland TODAY!"
• "Stop kissing me!" or "Stop patting me!"
• "Excuse Meeeeeeeeeeee!" after burping
• "I'm going to fly to ColoraTo" ("t" emphasized)
• "One for youuuuuuuu ... and one for me."
• "Gimme a squeezer!"  (hug)

This week at school, Christian and his classmates were moved to the "older preschool" class. His new teacher, Miss Mandee, has been sharing some little nuggets with me.

• Today the kids were switching activities and Christian said, "Miss Mandee, we do A LOT."
• He tells Miss Mandee all about the various documentaries he watches on TV: Trains, sharks, Disneyland (most preschoolers just watch cartoons, our kiddo watches documentaries - by choice!)
• This week is family week, and we were asked to bring pics of our family. Our pics were put on the wall today and when I walked in to get him, he rushed up to me, hugged me and said, "This is my family. This is my family!" Awwwww!! When we got home, I asked him who his family was and he said, "Grandma Janet!" That one surprised me. He's only met Grandma Janet once (back in early 2008) and its been a while since we've said "Grandma Janet." He's got quite a memory!

One of Christian's favorite activities is reading - still. So much, in fact, that in the classroom he's usually found in the room's "library" rather than playing his friends, or participating in many of the activities. His teacher recognizes this tendancy and makes sure to encourage him to participate in other activities, while making sure to not discourage his love of reading.

As I've mentioned before, and it bears repeating, Christian is actually reading ... he's not just looking at pictures. It's the coolest thing to see him grab a book - a book that has paragraphs - and hear him read outloud. The other day, I heard that the Arizona Dept. of Eductaion has proclaimed that starting this year, if a child can't read by the end of the third grade, he's not allowed to progress to the fourth grade. We'll never have to worry about that predicament with Christian! Perhaps the public school system should invest in a copy of "Your Baby Can Read" for each kindergarten classroom. Seriously! The program works!

Muffin Monday - August 8, 2011

Today's Muffin Monday took the Lucero Men to the new Dunkin Donuts in Buckeye. I noticed that Christian had both a muffin and a donut. Hungry boy!

Afterwards, the men headed to the Penske Racing Museum to check out some cool race cars.