Thursday, May 13, 2010

Public Display

Do you remember your first crush on an older member of the opposite sex? Did it make YOU act all goofy?

I'm not sure I remember my first crush, but I do distinctly remember being under 5 and having a certain babysitter who tucked me in several times one particular night. I kept calling her back into the room on account of her being soooo pretty. To this day I still don't know who she was, but hold a warm place in my heart for her and her angelic smile.

Lukas, on the other hand, may just be experiencing his first such crush before the tender age of three, in the form of our next door neighbor (we will call her Ruby). Our house and Ruby's house sit very close to one another and we both have western facing decks out back.

Lukas has taken particular notice of Ruby. Always trying to get her attention.

In fact, last night as we prepared dinner, our son struck up a conversation across the fence with this blond haired woman of the world (she is in kindergarten now). She responded by handing him a pea from their spring garden. He ate it up all giddy with excitement as he stepped into the kitchen to show Mrs. LIAYF and I what she had given him.

"Did you thank her?" I asked him, at which point her ran out onto the deck and yelled a loud "THANK YOU!" at the fence. This was immediately followed by perhaps the most spontaneous but awkward display that I have ever witnessed.


Lukas, smiling widely and apparently unable to control himself, started to burst forth with energy from within. His voice screeched, his head shook, his feet bounced up and down sideways while his arms which were curled under his armpits like chicken wings flapped up and down out of control. It was as if he were a mental patient trying imitate a chicken doing a hoe down. Then, as a sort of grand finale, he let his feet go from beneath him in an instant and did a hard plop down on both knees. Then, still smiling he jumped up and ran back into the kitchen where his mother and I stood still trying to make out what we had just witnessed.

"Lukas, do you like Ruby?...." Mrs. LIAYF asked him. "Yeah, I do!" he replied, his cheeks still flush from his impressive display of talent. "Well Buddy, you might want to try a different angle" I chuckled and patted him on the head while his mother and I exchanged amused glances.

It was shortly thereafter that our little guy proceeded back out onto the deck. "Ruby!" he call out. "Yes Lukas?" she responded.

"You're beautiful."

21 comments:

ericdbolton said...

The direct method.. Some chicks dig that..

Lady Mama said...

We have a similar thing - our son is obsessed with the 1st grader next door. He even has his own "peep hole" in the fence through which they chat. And she passes stuff over the fence to him too. It's kind of sweet.

Playstead said...

Man, he does better than I ever did. All I could ever come up with is "I like ham ..." No idea how I ended up married.

Surfer Jay said...

Oh my! Go Luke

Ed said...

Nothing good can come from this!

SciFi Dad said...

It was as if he were a mental patient trying imitate a chicken doing a hoe down.

Or, as we like to call it, the white man dance.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, he's got it bad. That is too cute. At two my little man has more skills than I ever did. I'm in trouble too.

OneZenMom said...

Adorable!

Catherine said...

Hehehe this made me smile! What a cutie.

WeaselMomma said...

This reminded me of the 'twitterpated' scene in Bambi.

You boys crack us women up.

Drew Gilbert said...

My mom loved to regale everyone with stories of me in the grocery cart, leaning over to give other babies hugs. I don't know if I discriminated gender at the time or not, but it's clear I was always a lover, not a fighter.

First real crush was April in Kindergarten. It was a brief, intense love affair.

Chris (@tessasdad) said...

Very cute...good stuff man :)

Dad Stuff said...

Where did Lukas learn about my 'move'? In college I was always doing the chicken flop.

Anonymous said...

If only we all were that bold. Awesome story...

Anonymous said...

If only we all were that bold. Awesome story...

Keith Wilcox said...

Yeah, chicks do dig that. The direct thing is the way to go. Unfortunately we seem to lose that skill as we get older (rejection sucks). I remember having a crush on my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs Edmund (Or at least that's what I think her name was). It's was awful. I couldn't work, couldn't talk, couldn't do anything but act like a total buffoon. Ah, childhood -- not so much different than adulthoood :-)

Homemaker Man said...

I don't know. That first dance he did sounds pretty powerful. S'how I met my wife. She thought I was having a seizure. Whatever works.

That's a beautiful kid you've got there, dude.

Ben said...

I can't remember my first crush, but I did have a big thing for my female biology teacher in secondary school. She had the greatest pair you've ever seen.

I even managed to persuade her to take my tie off once, but that was only because I was wrist deep in a dead rat at the time. Oh, what could have been...

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Eric - Most chics do. Some just won't admit it.

@Lady Mama - That does sound sweet. And kind of like Lukas too.

@Playsted - That's too funny. Thanks for the laugh.

@Jay - He is not discouraged.

@Ed - No, not for us!

@ZenMom - Yes, it really was.

@Catherine - Nice. Thanks for stopping by.

@WeasleMomma - Had to Youtube that with Mrs. LIAYF. It was sweet.

Drew - Ever wonder what happened to April?

@Chris - Thanks.

@Dad Stuff - I think we saw you on a youtube video. Lol.

@handstowar - Yeah, so ture.

@Keith - I have had a few of those in my day. Just got a facebook friend req from a girl I had an enormous crush on in grade school. You ever try to look up Ms. Edmonds?

@Homemaker Man - Thanks man. Unless, of course, you were talking about the peacock...

@Ben - Lol. I bet you were in heaven while she took it off though!

Mely Wilcox said...

You may have a lady killer on your hands. Go Lukas! :-)

Kevin said...

Awesome! I he has got style. Me, the best line I ever came up with was rub my belly call me Budda and make a wish.