Thursday, August 04, 2011

82 Months


Lucas is skinny! Man that kid is all bones and elbows and knees and shoulders and shins. The most hilarious part about watching this skinny kid develop before us is that I know that was exactly how I looked when I was his age.

Over the years I have been accused of not having fat on my bones. Aside from an uncouth comment from my old roommate's father, who happened to know me from my high school years, I have never been deemed overweight. I have unconsciously poked Christina with a sharp knee or elbow more times than she can remember. I have annoyed fellow school mates with my long skinny arms allowing me certain advantages during playground games. I have eaten and eaten and eaten just about anything I care to eat with limited consequences. To this day, there are people who will question how I remain so thin after eating my fill. I am fortunate that I don't have to worry about my weight, a rare gift having lived through the age of fast food abundance.

Lucas has developed some healthy eating habits. He hardly ever eats more than he needs, even if it's something sweet and delicious. He usually will try everything that we give him. After a couple of years of fighting and persuading and bribing, where he wouldn't eat practically anything, he is finally coming around to understand that there are hidden delicacies within strange dishes. Yes, we do have some evenings when his willful nature rears forth once again and he refuses to eat anything but he's come to understand that the consequences of that decision means that he's not going to eat anything that he might actually enjoy. So he's gone to bed without dinner a few times this year but it doesn't really faze him. He's not the type of kid who has to eat, who's crying desperately if you don't give him what he wants. He simply deals with it in his quiet way and accepts the repercussions of his actions with dignity...most of the time.

I love to watch him use his body and his brain. He is growing into his frame, skinny as it is, and becoming more comfortable with the advantages and limits nature has bestowed on him. He loves to run and jump and I recently revealed the phenomenon of parkour to Lucas and he loved it!. Ever since, he's been jumping and running whenever and wherever he has the chance over whatever obstacle that he can find, occasionally with unintended painful results. But he simply gets up and moves on, best as he can. It's truly a delight to witness these formative years that are so fundamental toward creating the person that he will become. I want him to be absolutely gratified with who he is, both physically and intellectually and he truly seems like he's in a more contented frame of mind nowadays.

That doesn't mean that we can stop encouraging him or nurturing these beneficial traits that he's been embracing. Christina and I are always thinking about the different paths of training that will make him grow to be even more amazing than he already is, such as martial arts defense classes or gymnastics or rock climbing or anything that helps him learn more about his abilities. Lucas is very open to so many ideas, as well, and that's one of his most admirable attributes. He's very malleable when it comes to following through with the demands presented by the cultural and educational opportunities that we wish for him. Another attribute that reminds me of my youth.

I hope that he continues to strive forward with all of these accomplishments that I'm gushing over as a devoted parent. I know that there will be days when my perspective on his development may become constrained and that we will both have to evolve along the parent/child continuum, but right now I truly feel like a lucky dad who can appreciate the gift of life that was bestowed upon me. Hopefully the next time he climbs on my lap because he wants to be held and his bony knees dig into my thighs, I will recall this beautiful perspective of fatherhood and embrace him with all my heart. Maybe that will somehow dull the stabbing pain forced upon me with every shift of his skinny body.

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