Newt!

I am not really sure exactly when it began or how started in the first place, but it certainly felt like Lucas woke up one morning with a strange and acute obsession with Republican presidential nominee contender Newt Gingrich.

I am sure that some people find it odd that our three year old would be obsessed with Newt Gingrich as opposed to say Spiderman or Diego or something, but hey he does actually also really like Spiderman. For other people, it is probably not really all that surprising that Marty and Meredith's three year old son would be politically inclined. Both of our children are able to identify the presidential candidates by face and name - we listen to a lot of NPR and watch news and follow poll/voting results and read political magazines, so these names and faces have been all over our house for months as the republicans have been slugging it out over their nominee.

But one morning, Lucas walked over to the tv, which happened to be on a Good Morning America interview with Newt, and he pointed at the screen crying out in sheer joy "Newt Gingrich!" over and over again like he just won the lottery. There was jumping up and down. And laughing and screaming and much delight. Hand clapping. Over Newt Gingrich.

If you know us you know that Marty and I are very much politically liberal and would never in a million years endorse someone like Newt Gingrich, who we think is somewhat of a nut (though fun to watch during the campaign season!). We put Lucas in an Obama 08 onsie when he was two months old and have pictures of him "watching" Obama's inauguration. We are not close to being Republicans. Where on earth was this kid getting his excitement from?

This lead Marty and I to think that perhaps that we are now living a real life version of Family Ties - we are liberal hippies raising a little Alex P. Keaton! Lucas is the type of child who loves to start a controversy (as opposed to Elise who hates conflict of any kind and was actually in tears during football season while she begged me to start rooting for the Eagles so we could all just love the same team like one happy family) - Luke is a born rebel rouser. Although how much can a three year old really know about politics, regardless of how much news radio we listen to? It is probably more likely that he thinks Newt is a funny name or that he looks kind of like a delightful little elf or his white hair reminds him of his Opa (sorry dad you're not blond anymore!)

But the excited reaction to all things Newt Gingrich has certainly continued. When he's on tv, Lucas is jumping up and down screaming his name in excitement. If Luke sees him on a magazine cover or in the newspaper he screams with joy. When he hears his name on the radio he repeats it over and over again.

The Friday before President's Day, the teachers were telling his pre-school class about what the upcoming holiday was celebrating, what a president is and what a president does. Lucas raised his hand and asked if Newt Gingrich was going to be the next president. The teachers actually sent a note home telling us this, and then relayed the story to me the next day I came in. I assume because they found it hilarious that a three year old knew who Newt Gingrich was or that he was running for president.

Or maybe they were concerned about his political leanings. I imagine it will be a long while until we truly figure out if he is a mini Alex-P or simply an elf lover.