10 for 10 - Lukas at age 10...

Ten for ten. Ten things about my eldest son, Lukas, on his tenth birthday. Some highlight his personality, some are remembrances. Everything is just another thing that I love about him. I couldn’t have asked for a better, more fun son! (Check out the facebook photos I posted a few days ago as a companion piece)…

1. His birth was an all night affair. We arrived at the hospital ready for a marathon, then were tricked into thinking it was going to happen fast. Then, after they gave her the epidural, everything slowed to a crawl, and it turned into the overnight thing. By the end, it was actually boring, which is something I’d never think to say about a birth. He came out butt first (like his father) – not sure what that says about us. For those of you who are baseball fans, the Red Sox were in the midst of their exciting 2004 comeback against the Yankees, which would lead to their first World Series win in almost a century (back before Red Sox fans morphed into Yankees fans, and they were somewhat loveable). Not sure if this contributed to his becoming a baseball fan or not…

2. His love of family is immense. His heart is so big. It’s a great thing, most of the time. Occasionally, it sets him up for tough times (even the thought of one of his relatives passing away crushes him, and his imagination leads him down that path far too often for his own good). Still, just try and say something negative (or even questionable) about his Oma Judy. Or his mama. Or his brother. Kid does more than bristle. Borderline violent (not really – don’t want to make him sound psychotic – but he is not amused by such talk, I can tell you firsthand). Mostly, it’s all about the love, though. And he’s well aware that he has great family both here in Austria and back in the USA, for which he regularly expresses his gratitude.

3. My plan to raise him on classic films and classic rock has worked like a charm, so far. He absolutely loves the Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin. One of his favorite films is Some Like it Hot. We have enjoyed watching films from Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg, John Ford and more (No Tarantino yet. Saving that for another year…) Music-wise, he knows and likes the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and many other classic rock groups. I have taken him to see Paul McCartney in concert. And a version of the Doors with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger. And the aforementioned Rolling Stones. And Santana. And Joe Cocker, Mannfred Mann, etc. We’ll get to the Floyd thing later…

4. He is a Royals fan. I’ve been taking him to the games whenever we are in KC since he was a baby, but it was a game that he attended in 2009 that made him a fan. It had it all. A packed house, an exciting opponent (the Boston Red Sox), a cheering crowd, his cousins were in attendance (Logan and Quinn), a stirring comeback featuring back-to-back HRs from the Royals and a 9th inning save, followed by Friday night fireworks. He’s been a big fan ever since. Since I’ve coached his little league team, they’ve been the Royals (they won the championship this season) and the one time he opened a completely random pack of MLB trading cards, he found one of his favorite player inside (Billy Butler). This season, we’ve followed and watched key games together, and I have woken him up to see the end of every playoff game (now I have to, because they keep winning with him watching)!

5. Since he’s been about 2 years old, I have been telling him goodnight stories about George and Ted. George is a young boy and Ted is his dragon friend. Their adventures take them pretty much everywhere. Liam is now a fan too.

6. He and his mother love each other fiercely, though they can’t help but clash. She’s a perfectionist who wants only the best for him, and gets frustrated when she sees him cruising instead of trying hard. He’s more laid back, and needs to be pushed to get things done, but bristles when he feels like it’s getting to be too much. They still have some great moments together, though, and it’s obvious to anyone on the outside looking in just how much they mean to each other. They enjoy playing board games together, wrestling (with Liam in the mix) and cuddling.

7. I can see most of my faults in him, and many of my good qualities as well. He’s not naturally athletic, but can do okay for himself with a little practice. Tough thing is, getting him to do that practice. He has his father’s natural tendency towards laziness that is only overcome through getting him excited about something (such as having me coach his baseball team) or through nonstop browbeating (yea! Fun!). He loves stories and movies and playing games and LEGOs and BBQ sauce and Halloween. He has problems with organization, and handwriting and seeing tasks through to the end. And he’s a bit of a picky eater. For some reason, those things sound familiar…

8. He is creative. He likes to tell stories, and is good at it. He likes to draw, but that’s never really been a strong suit. He likes to sing, and has a solid voice and a good ear. On the singing side, he has sung with a Pink Floyd cover band here in Austria, in a sold out venue (Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 – “We don’t need no education”), and has even performed with Roger Waters himself in front of 40,000 fans. He also sang with Greek recording star Vicky Leandros in the Votivkirche here in Vienna (3 Christmas songs in German).

9. I have turned him into a complete nerd. I can’t help it. It’s who I am. We play Dungeons and Dragons together, about once a week. Don’t judge us too harshly… (we also enjoy Risk, Axis and Allies, Fortress America, Chess, Clue, Monopoly, etc.)

10.Lukas is very aware and very proud of his American heritage. He is the only member of our immediate family who was actually born in the USA (I was an army baby born in Germany, Anita in Upper Austria, and Liam in Vienna), his favorite (junk) foods are American and he’s acutely aware that when we are in the US, we can go into any film together that we want to, while here in Austria they won’t allow kids into films that aren’t rated for them (this only came up once, ever, when he wasn’t old enough to go see “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” here in Austria when he was 7 years old and the film was rated for 10 years and up. This still ticks him off to this day and is likely to be brought up each and every time we are headed out to the cinema.) I do my best to keep this America lovefest tempered by reality, to make sure that he understands that no country is perfect or always right, and to be sure that his love for America isn’t at the expense of his “other” homeland, Austria (which he also loves, but it’s hard to compete with the US when he’s always on vacation when he goes there, and Austria is the land of school, etc)

I could go on, talking about his friendliness, his open manner with strangers, his polite behavior in (some) social situations – but I promised to leave it to 10 things. Won’t ever get this posted if I keep going…  So, cheers! Here’s to Lukas. May the next 10 years be as enjoyable as the first 10.