It seems like only a blink ago that Luca turned 2 and yet already his 3rd birthday was half a year ago!  I appear to have a habit of posting late for his birthdays.  Hey ho, one day Luca will look back on my blog and appreciate that a belated birthday post is better than none at all! (I hope he does – especially when he sees all my diligent documenting of Euan’s birthdays) .

In the space between Easter 2018 when Luca turned two and this year turning 3 so much had changed.  Last year we had 4 grandparents join us for the afternoon, 2 local and 2 travelling from London.  This year we had 3 grandparents, all now local, and remembering fondly the birthdays shared with my Mum who died last summer.  Our little man has grown so much and fills our days with such joy.  He’s funny and forthright, loving and kind and fiercely independent.  I think we’ll be in for a bit of a hair raising ride with this pre-schooler (he had his first A&E visit in May when he bit through his tongue colliding with another boy at break neck speed).

Children are our greatest teachers and through Luca’s fiery determination I’m learning to watch and wait and let him learn from his mistakes.  One of life’s great parenting challenges is knowing when to step in to encourage and assist and when to step back and let experiences unfold, trusting your child has the patience, confidence and resilience to handle the trials he faces.

Luca’s name means ”bringer of light” and it suits him perfectly.  The world will be a better place for having Luca in it.  My heart pangs at the thought of our littleist guy growing up but I’m also excited by the possibility of who big Luca will become.  I know George, myself and Euan will all have a part to play in that and I’m reminded of something I read by Brene Brown on the subject of parenting:

I love Brene’s Manifesto for wholehearted parenting (downloadable copy here) .  I think we’ll do alright by our boys if we live by this.

”The lessons in love are in how I treat you and how I treat myself”