Paps and his toys...

You know what Paps really needed? A golf cart. Definitely needed one... Would it be because he is an avid golfer? Nope, doesn't even like the game... Would it be because he lives on a golf course?? Nope, not a golf course for MILES when you're out in the country... Would it be because he has a grandson that loves to ride in any outdoor motor vehicle? Uh, more than likely...

When it gets too cold for the golf cart, why not just drive Paps truck? It's a lot warmer...

"Hey, come on Paps! Let's get back on that thing with wheels!"

"Or better yet, let's take a break by the firepit. You wanna toast me a marshmallow?"

"I'll throw rocks out of your driveway while you toast my marshmallow"

"Aw Paps, I love you man!"

Funny boy...

I can't believe I hadn't thought to add this to the blog until today! This has been happening for a while now, and it always gets a good laugh (especially from company!).
As you know, we have a dog. Moose. Moose just turned 6 this month! Happy Birthday Moose! Either way, Moose is a really good dog. He always sits on the rug when coming in from outside so that we can wipe his paws off. And he always sits and waits patiently by his food bowl when we are feeding him, until we say "go get it." And, most importantly, he ALWAYS sits on one of our rugs in the kitchen when he thinks it may get him a treat.

Rewind about a month ago, Lincoln was searching through the pantry for his pick of snack. He pointed to some marshmallows, and I grabbed them. He immediately took off running into the kitchen, sat on the kitchen rug, and waited for me to bring him his snack. I got tickled, wondered, "where'd he pick that up?" and moved on. Every time since, when he asks for some type of snack - he again, runs to the rug, sits and waits. Only for snacks. When it's time to eat a meal, he heads for the high chair. Now where do you think he woulda picked that up?

Even at Dramaw's house, when she offers him fruit snacks or crackers, he takes a look around for the closest rug, and runs to stake claim on it! This kid is a nut!

I know I've mentioned before how much he loved that little chair I ordered for him from Land of Nod for Christmas - but now I think he just loves a chair. Period. Any small chair he can fit in. Found this one at T-R-Us the other day and thought it would be a good one for outside this summer. Oh, but we couldn't wait that long! Found it in the hallway and had to get it out NOW!

I'll tell you what, this one-man-wrecking-crew sure can stir up some laughs!

A good friend of mine, an OT turned photographer, took some maternity pics for me yesterday (pics to come). I was really hopeful we'd get some cute ones with Linc kissing my belly, or with his hands on my belly or something... No dice. We DID manage to get a few of him desperately trying to escape the backdrop. And trying to climb out of my arms. And grabbing Ash and I and trying to pull us away from the area... Granted, I think we did manage to get two, maybe three good ones with Lincoln. The rest are me, ash, and my massive belly... But they are so cute, she does a GREAT job! If you are in the Evansville area and are looking for a great photographer, Candid Xpressions by Leisa!!

16 Months

What little Mr. is up to at 16 months:

He has a SUPER big personality!! I promise you will know whether this child is happy with you or not! That being said, he is an awfully good boy! He is now going to bed at 9, and sleeping till 8 (most of the time). His naps vary - but that's my fault. If we are running around in the mornings, he'll sometimes wait and take a long (3 hr) nap in the afternoon. But if we're home all day, he usually takes a 2 hr nap in the morning (around 11) and another in the afternoon (around 430).

He is now feeding himself 90% of meals using a spoon and a fork. Our extreme desire for applejacks has faded (he still LOVES them as a snack) and the love of Cheerios for breakfast has returned. He also loves sausage, oatmeal, and rice krispies for breakfast. He will eat eggs, but only if he puts them in his cereal bowl (yep, egg cereal!). Actually anything you put in a bowl is enticing! LOVES his milk - a HUGE fan of juice -and (lucky us) also loves water!

I've learned that he will eat just about any type of meat, which is great! He loves chicken nuggets (especially Chik-fila!), pork chops (when cut up really small), hot dogs (they're nitrate free, don't judge me), and you can NEVER go wrong with those little meat sticks from Gerber. Or green beans. Or mandarin oranges. Or grapes. Or marshmallows. New loves: fruit leather, nutella sandwiches, puffcorn (popcorn without the kernels), and cheese sticks. Obviously didn't want the sticker on his shirt...

He is repeating lots of words now, but getting him to repeat them on command is still difficult. Very stubborn child... Don't know where he'd get that one... He said "dump truck" the other day to Ashley, which in turned KILLED Ashley because he couldn't get him to say it again. Poor dad, he tried to get him to say it again for a good 20 minutes before giving up. So far we have heard bath (we actually hear that one a lot!), ball, woof-woof, milk, moose, mama (he says "mam" which cracks Ashley up), dada, and his favorite noise to make: the car noise.

Speaking of cars, Lincoln definitely has a new love for them. We keep a bucket of cars in the living room and between the cars and the tractors, he can really keep himself busy. He also points out every big truck, tractor, or peice of farm equipment that can be seen when we are driving. Even pointed out a TINY airplane in the sky the other day - he is ALL boy! And we can't go in Lowe's or Sam's anymore. The mowers in Lowe's get him so torn up he just about can't take it - and at Sam's there is a golf cart by the door that he cries to ride on everytime we are there (speaking of golf cart, keep an eye out for a following post with Linc, Pap, and the golf cart!).

Clearly doesn't want the sticker on the chair either...

Lincoln really loves to dance, likes to sing in the car, loves to go "round and round" (loves even more when you'll do "ring around the rosey"), likes to play chase, and will grab ANYONE by the finger and pull them around when he needs company. This morning at Story time, I believe he grabbed just about every adult in there and tried to pull them over to the toy pile.

He also uses that cute little wave to attract attention now. And if people wave back, he throws that big fake laugh at them just to add a little humor. This kid is a joker!

I'm sure you noticed, but we did manage to get a haircut since last post. Made me nervous as a cat, but she did a great job. I am still alive, thank you for your concern...

And we did have to make a minor shoe size change since last post. We are now in a 5.5 extra wide! He, for sure, has Pap's feet. FAT FEET! And on an unrelated note, I managed to find matching Sperry's for Me, Ash, Lincoln, and baby no-name!

I'm sure EVERYONE is in the same mindset as me and Lincoln -ready for spring!! We have managed to make it outside once or twice - and it's quite the struggle to get him back in once we're out there!

I promise there will be a Baby No-Name post soon. I'm a terrible mother for being so behind on that one. I'm just having a REALLY hard time posting for an UN-NAMED kid!!

Wordless Wednesday!

Ps - it's empty. No Mt. Dew was administered during the raising of this child...

CMOE 2-11-11

(Please ignore evil hawk claw above!)
Last Friday, mom and dad made a little Evansville trip to see Mr Stinker (and me too they say, but I know better!). They hadn't seen him in over a week, and that's just NO GOOD!! Mom was afraid that he would have forgotten her, but alas, as soon as she walked in, Lincoln started laughing and running for her. My mother... The source of the nickname Dramaw... DRAMA -w. But I love ya! Is he a sweetie or what?

We took a Lincoln day and went to the Childrens Museum of Evansville (CMOE). I had really been wanting to go, but was afraid most of the stuff would be too BIG for Lincoln. I was wrong! Granted, some things were too "old" for him, but there was plenty for him to do!

Downstairs is the "wet deck" with lots of water and balls to throw around in it. I was warned to bring him extra clothes due to the water, but I didn't think about his shoes!! He loved splashing around and throwing the balls into the huge "toilet" (well, that's what it looked like to me!).

There was also a "construction" room, with lots of supersized legos, foam blocks, and a dinosaur dig pit. And I'm not so sure about this bucket - said Lincoln was 29 pounds? Sounds a little on the heavy side to me - but I sure wasn't about to step on there and test it!

Lincoln wasn't so sure about walking around on the rubber mulch in the dino dig pit, but after Pap started digging, he dove right in!

There was also a nice sized rice pit in that room. What a cute idea! I think I had rice in my shirt, hair, and maybe in my boots by the time we left. He really liked throwing it around!

I don't really remember the name of this room, but it had lots of things to climb on (mainly for bigger kids) and lots of balls to throw around. The balls were pretty intriguing....

But since he couldn't climb in the gym area on his own, Dramaw volunteered to climb with him and go down the big spiral slide (thanks dramaw - pregnant ladies don't climb easily!).

Not so sure that he was loving the slide!

There was also a really cute "rain" room with lots of wind chimes and soft blocks to climb on. It casted a super weird shade of blue on everything... Really messed with me!

And, Lincoln's favorite part was the music room. There were lots of drums, cymbols, a piano, cowbells, and tambourines. I don't think Lincoln had ever played on a piano, but he sure loved it! And seriously, how cute is this?

He's like, "Dram and Pap, check it out!! This thing makes noise!"

Definitely one of Lincoln's favorite parts was the big nose! He climbed in and camped out! Literally got to be a "booger."

He really loved CMOE, and I think he could've stayed all day! BUT - I dont think he was the only one that had a good time:

After our museum adventures, we ran to Newburgh for a little lunch at the Tin Fish. Oh, fish tacos - how you are loved! :)

Lincoln loves his Dram and Pap... Do you think the feeling may be mutual?

A quick note

We've been spending a lot of time with buddies lately! Our Wednesday class at the library is being very much enjoyed - and is breaking Lincoln out of his lonesome little world! Since it's just me and him most days, sometimes I feel like he's not around other kids enough. But we're working on it! And before long, he'll probably WISH it was just him! Thursday a couple of girlfriends came over and we had dinner and let the kids play. They are mostly older than Lincoln (and mostly GIRLS) so for the most part he just watched in awe.

But he keeps himself busy when it's just us. He loves cars now (and tractors), so I hear him in the living room making car noises a lot. And he loves to sweep (yes, as in the floors), so I give him a little sweeper and he pushes it around the living room for a good length of time. Gives me time to get a few things done too! Including REAL sweeping!

And can I just say "NO MORE SNOW PLEASE!!" I know I'm usually saying that we never get snow, but holy moly... It's snowing as I'm writing actually... Last weekend that we were at mom and dads we got TWO warm days - so of course Pap had to get out the mule. Couldn't hardly get this kid out of it!

And a new love we've found: writing! (Yes, of course I took the ink cartridge out of this pen - you don't see me scrubbing my cream colored couch in any of these pics do ya?) Lincoln really enjoys taking an ink pen and "scribbling" on a book. Crayons? Not so much. But a pen? Heck Yea!

And thank the Good Lord for Iphones. I've recently learned that if you have Netflix, you can get the free app for your phone and watch whatever you want! It's helped us make it through several Dr. appointments lately (thank you diabetes). A big shout out to the Wiggles, everyone!

And we had our 15 month checkup the other day as well. Dr. Rogers was so pleased at how good he was being! She actually got to check lots of things that she said she doesn't usually get to check because of squirmers! Well, we definately have a squirmer, but her little flashlight thingy had him so impressed that he just sat and watched her quietly the whole time she was checking him! She confirmed some things we already knew: He's a great eater, He's a great sleeper, and we better prepare ourselves for the havoc that #2 will bring!!

BTW: Lincoln is 25 pounds 13 oz (thats 65%), and 34.5'' tall (thats 95%). And he has a big noggin (No Ashley, I'm not making fun of you!) at 85%.

We are so proud of our big, sweet, loving, loud, growing boy!