Lucas - TWELVE

 Happy 12th Birthday Lucas Reid Nullmeyer!!

Words to describe you: helpful, cuddly, competitive, funny, solid, emotional, short, cute, athletic, organized, goofy, independent, picky eater.

Unfortunately, this is the type of face I get from you a lot.

I love spending one-on-one time with you. During this past school year, we had an hour together once a week without siblings. We would take your science textbook to Starbucks and read it together over vanilla scones (for you) and tea (for me). We spent half our time discussing marine biology, and the other half just talking about life: college, upcoming events, all sorts of stuff. You are so enjoyable to talk to when you're away from your siblings! 

Instead of playing baseball or lacrosse this Spring, you got to play on your big brother's indoor soccer team. You kept up pretty well with the older boys and it was fun watching you learn new skills.

When we are driving around you often point out houses and landscaping that you like. You have a favorite type of tree and even comment on different house paint colors that you like. I've decided you will grow up to be an architect someday (plus you're so good at building lego houses!)

Favorites:

Food - Lucas Chicken

Drink - Lemonade

Color - Grabber Blue

Subject - Math

Sport - Soccer

Friend - Isaiah

Toy - Bike

Place - Our House

You are still my most organized child. You will generally clean your room really well once a week, without prompting. You enjoy having a checklist, so I've started making you one each morning for school. You're good about getting your work done right away without procrastinating. 

You've been much more emotional lately. Small things can really upset you. You tend to get hurt a lot and always have a really big reaction about it. We've learned to give you your space when you're upset, as you tend to need time alone more than any of your siblings. Once you've calmed down, I can usually sit and talk to you about what happened (and being scratched always relaxes you)

I must mention your relationship with Ryan. You two continue to be extremely competitive and fight/argue all the time. Your words towards each other have gotten harsher, which is awful. On the other hand, you two are best buddies. When one of you wakes up, you always ask about your brother first. You spend most of your free time together, and you have this weird stupid humor/language that only the two of you understand.

For your birthday you put together a slideshow on my computer of birthday ideas, including pictures and prices. You even color-coded the slides based on how much you want each item. You've requested lots of bacon in the morning for breakfast, seeing the new Garfield movie in the theater, and food from Chili's for dinner.

I hope your 12th birthday is amazing and that you feel so special and loved. We love you so much Lucas!