My Friend Lucas

I call him Lukie:) This amazing little boy and I have spent quite a bit of his life together, though not too much lately. I became friends with him mom when he was around four months old (he's now 22-months), and was instantly in love with his sweet disposition and his chubby little face. I babysat him A LOT last farming season (spring-fall 2009) because his dad would work for Conrad and his mom worked as a waitress at night. Lukie and I spent lots of nights playing together, me giving him a bath (he LOVES baths!), and then me rocking him to sleep. Precious moments.

Lately, I haven't seen him a whole lot because since last fall, his parents have separated and divorced. His mom now works days, so there isn't much need for me to watch him, even if his dad is working for Conrad. However, Conrad was in a pickle on Saturday, needing Lukie's dad desparately bad for some work on Sunday. I suggested that I take Lukie (and his 6 year old brother, though he ended up working with his dad and "Comrad") to church with me. I was so excited to get to spend some time with him. I hung out with him while I did nursery for Bible Study, then left him while I went to the service and the other workers were with him. When I went to get him, he ran to me with open arms and wanted to snuggle. Twist my arm. He was a bit over-stimulated by the crowds of people after church, so we headed to Goodwill with Steph and Pooh. He's such a good shopper, and I couldn't get enough of kissing his chubby little face. After the store, we went to eat with my mom. He was quick to get comfortable at my parents' house, and was being super cute. My mom was like, "it's fun to have a little one in the house." We both were getting a kick out of him. I ran a few more quick errands and headed back home. We spent more time at my house, playing inside and out, eating zucchini bread, and trying to get him to take a nap (to no avail). I introduced him to the cows in our front pasture and he was quite amused. He like touching my cats. No, not continuous petting, but just a quick, gentle touch and he's done until he wants another touch.

I also introduced him to my garden, and thought I'd give him some peas. He LOVED them!! At first, he was okay with me giving them to him one by one. Then he wanted to hold his own pod, after I'd opened it, of course. We sat on my front steps and it was so cute watching his chubby little fingers pluck the peas from the pod. He was so desparate for more when his pod was empty, and he'd get a little frustrated while waiting a few seconds for the next one. When he got done with one pod, he'd crumple it up in his hands, throw it in the dirt, and then clap. Then the process would start again. This kept us both quite entertained for at least 45 minutes and 2 refills. Here are a few cute pictures of my little guy friend.