It's Great to be 8!

Luke Christian Davis is turning 8 in six days.  I can't believe he is that old.

Luke has great rhythm, which manifests its self both in dance and his music.  Last may he went to my cousin Redge's wedding and had the whole dance floor under his spell.  He was dancing up a storm with tons of strangers, and captivating everyone with his moves.  He is definitely the life of the party.  Luke plays piano and started cello lessons a year ago.  He memorizes songs after playing them once, always has a steady beat, and his note reading skills stink.

This second grade year I have homeschooled Luke.  So many things led to this decision.  It started with the fact that he still wets his pants and wasn't staying dry at all in 1st grade.  I have no answers for this problem, even 2/3 through our year at home together.  He goes in phases of doing great staying dry, and then having accidents daily.  I keep telling myself that there is no way he will be 12 and wetting his pants.  Though, I'm sure when he was 4 and doing this I would have said to myself "there's no way he will be 8 and still wetting his pants!", yet here we are.  Secondly Luke is the master of emotional manipulation.  He has learned how to control his teachers and peers with his emotions.  It was a behavior that had to be fixed.  One story is that his 1st grade teacher asked him to do something he didn't want to so he ran out of the classroom and hid. Not OK.  He's immature.  He still is.  However, at least with me he can't get away with any of his manipulating efforts.  Finally he was a little behind on reading and writing.  This year at home he has done amazing academically.  He has benefited tremendously from the one on one attention.  He has loved the enrichment classes he as taken through our charter school.  He has also loved sleeping in every morning.

Being responsible for his education has been a huge weight on my shoulders.  It has been emotionally draining to work with him for hours every day.  It has also been hard accepting that I just have to give up on other things in my life.  All that said, if he doesn't homeschool next year I will be sad.  I am excited about the things we learn together, and I am excited that I get to share so much with him.

I'm sure my other kids have suffered because of the time I've focused into Luke.

Luke is goofy, and silly, he's always talking in some strange voice, and often when I have him read something he sing reads.  All this drives me nuts, but it makes him crack up.  He is a horrible tease to his siblings and him and Caroline really don't get along at all.  He's in a hard spot because every child fights with Luke.  It is partly from his place in our family, but I'd say mostly because he spends so much time bugging his siblings.  Outside of the family, most kids and adults love Luke.

Luke still has the personality where if he's on, he's amazing.  On the way home from Disneyland the other week, he was going on and on "When I get home, I'm going to pray to Heavenly Father and thank Him for this amazing world we have.  I love our world.  I love our house.  You are the best mommy every.  Thank you so much for taking us to Disneyland."  and on and on and on - to the point where I want to say "OK, OK I got it Luke" but don't because they are such good sentiments.  Two years ago there were a lot more of moments like that with Luke, where he was up, happy, and completely grateful and complimentary.  The past two years have been more of the pouty Luke.

Luke is the only child I can't send out of the house with confidence.  Joshua and Caroline I know will be respectful to people, and obedient to those they should.  Luke is a wild card.  We are working on it all.

Luke is excited for his birthday, no amount of celebrating will satisfy him.  He wants the world.  He is excited to be baptized.  I think he understands what baptism is.  He has the answers, just not sure it's sunk in.  Luke is definitely the "it's not wrong if I don't get caught" type.

Luke is still very much a little kid.  I'm not sure if it's because of his size or immaturity.  He fits easily in my arms or on my lap.  Giving him a good cuddle or hug still feels like one from an old toddler.  Because of this, I don't really feel like he's growing up too fast, I more feel like "I can't believe Luke is old enough to do that!"

I have no idea what the next 10 years will be like with Luke. I can't predict how he will be as a teenager.  I do know that he will always keep us on our toes!