Lovable Lucan

Lucan has been doing some cute things in this phase of his life, so I wanted to record them before we forget and he moves on to other cute things!

He LOVES animals, dogs in particular.  In fact, most animals, in his mind, ARE dogs.  And his word for a canine is a combination of the animal and the sound:  Dah-oof!  He would go into fits of excitement every time I carried him downstairs and he saw our string of Snoopy Christmas lights on the stairs, pointing and saying "Dah-oof!  Dah-oof!" over and over until I let him touch each one.  Then he started pulling off the plastic Snoopy light covers, and finally Mom got tired of finding them on the floor, so Snoopy is gone.  But no worries--Lucan got a big stuffed dog from my parents for Christmas, and the other kids have various stuffed dogs, so there are lots of critters to hug and exclaim over.

Lucan definitely has more words than the last time I blogged; we had politely turned down the offer of some early intervention services that we could have gotten from the referral from the pediatrician, and I'm glad.  Though he still isn't as verbal as other kids his age might be, and though his pronunciation of his few words still lacks perfection, he is doing pretty well at communicating.  Newer words include:

• milk
• off
• hat
• doof (we're not sure what this means, but he says it a LOT!)
• those/this 
• church
• eye
• ear
• head
• mouth

And of course he chatters to himself frequently in his own little language.  He looks so cute, nodding his head and saying what sounds to us like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," as if he is participating in actual conversations with us--and I'm sure in his mind, he is!

Lucan loves his daddy and frequently exclaims, "Daddyyyyy!!!!!!"  He does this every time he hears the garage door open, thinking that Dad is home from work, but he also says this while pointing to my dad's picture on the wall...he spent a few days calling Grandpa "Daddy" while I was in Salt Lake City!  And sometimes I am "Daddy," too.  Sigh.  He has been heard saying "Mama," but as usual, Mom gets the shaft, LOL!

His other consistent word is "Ewww," said at appropriate times like diaper changes and when pointing to the trash.

Lucan loves music and will start bobbing his head side to side when he hears any, and if he's up and moving, he may very well dance as well.  He is loving the excitement that has come from our family getting a Wii, and he points the remote and dances on the pad just like the big kids.  In fact, he mimics a LOT of actions that he sees the big kids doing!  Yesterday he threw his hands up in the air and said, "Yes, yes, yes!" just after Arden was cheering over a touchdown he saw on TV!  And he pours a mean cup of tea and passes out "desserts" just like he has seen Kenna do with her new tea set.

He's still my little cuddle bear, loving to be held and snuggled.  His sweet, laid-back personality is a wonderful complement to the other kids' personalities, and I thank God SO much for blessing our family with our little Lucan Thaniel!