20 Months and counting...

Oh my goodness, is this guy a mess or what? Talking up a storm - running everywhere - skipping (funniest thing to watch him attempt) - and into EVERYTHING!!!
Lincoln is saying so much stuff now, but my favorites have to be: "no" (I know, I know - but he says it so passionately!), "jupes" (grapes), "papis" (paci... yep, shoulda been gone a long time ago... I am aware, thank you), "Gigo's" (wiggles), "coke", "mim mim" (dramaw's new name), "hay" (used as in "hello" and now also used everytime he sees a haybale), "chooch" (train), "Peeeeeeez"(please), and "thanks" (made supercute by his little country accent!!). He is also starting to put two words together now. For example, he was talking on the phone with Mim-mim, and said "byebye mim mim!" So freakin cute...

He wanted to wear a hat like momma (or mam, as he calls me).

We are currently in a "Wiggles" rut. Last month it was tractor shows, now all of a sudden it's Wiggles. I have to say, I enjoyed the tractors more.... I now have every song memorized, know all their names, including some of the backup dancers! and even know some of their personal info... Scary... Now in the mornings, when he gets up, he pumps his arms up and down and says "Gig-o's."
And man alive, do we LOVE the pool!! No fear I tell ya. Not scared to go under, not scared to run and jump in... I'm glad he isn't scared of the water, but I'm pretty sure a little fear wouldn't hurt anything... On the bright side, he is really good at holding his breath! Pretty sure he'll be a swimmer before the summer's over.
So, if you'll remember, I was feeling optimistic about Lincoln telling us when he was pooping or peeing. Optimism has been put in check, lately... Now anytime we mention "big boy potty" we get a big..fat..enunciated.. NO... Oh, well. It'll happen, right? On the other hand, now every time he farts, he looks at us, laughs, and says "poop!" Yeah, it's really funny - while he's LITTLE...
Last I checked, Linc was right at 29 pounds, wearing 2t's, a size 6.5-7 shoe, and a size 4 diaper.

We are on a super schedule right now. Up at 730, nap (usually for three hours!) at noon, and bed at 830. Works for me! And he is getting much better with baby brother - he now only tries to ride him like a horse on occassion... And only steals his "papis" three times a day.

Regardless, he makes me laugh more than anything in the world... I love him so!

19 months!

As soon as he spots the camera : "Cheeeese"!! I can't believe what a "little boy" baby#1 is turning into! As he crosses the 19 month mark, here are some Lincoln milestones:

We're finally getting some good (or GREAT rather!) weather, and there is nowhere Lincoln would rather be than OUTSIDE (or "a-side" according to him). As soon as we make our way downstairs, he goes straight for the backdoor. My morning mantra: "We have to eat first" "We have to get dressed first" "We have to feed the baby first" and "We have to put on our shoes." Yep, I say all of those every morning... Usually he has already brought me a pair of shoes (yesterday it was my houseshoes) trying to get me to hurry up before I make it to the last request!

Still loves tractors ("Tra-ters") more than life itself. This morning I told Ashley that I would love to take a day and just count how many times he says tra-ters. I would guarantee that by 9 am this morning, he had already said it at least 50 times. Over. and Over... and Over... Dram and Pap got him this cute sand and water table for Easter, and he has worn the thing out!! She accidentally bought a 50 POUND bag of sand for it, and we laughed our butts off at how much 50 lbs of sand really is - but man, am I glad she did! We've already had to refill the thing three times! Watching him play with it really is a hoot.

This picture was taken per Lincoln's request. Camera Hog...

So he now wears 24 months or 2T in everything. We've officially outgrown the 6 extra wide shoe and we're still in size 4 diapers.

He has started telling us when he goes "pee" or "poop." It's actually really funny - he'll be in the middle of doing something and just stop and look at one of us - if it's pee, he'll just grab his diaper and freeze, but if it's poop, he'll grab his butt, grunt, and say "poop." So we've started putting him on the potty a lot (and trying to convince him, when he grabs his butt, he should go sit on the potty!), and although I know it's probably a little early to expect any results, at least he'll get used to sitting on it, right? He did have one little rabbit pebble (HA! - He'll love me for that later) the other night and we made just the biggest deal out of it. He looked at us like we were nuts. Those of you that also facebook - don't worry, I won't be posting everytime he poops/pees on the potty. That drives me CRAZY! I mean, facebook is a little too public to just be discussing poop, right? Ok - rant complete.

This kid is officially part monkey. He will climb on ANYTHING... And honestly, as long as it's nothing TOO dangerous or high, I'll let him. I've learned the hard way that when you try to discourage him from doing something, it just makes him that much more curious... I don't know where he would get that (yep, I hear you laughing mom...)

His vocabulary has absolutely exploded lately, and I officially quit trying to remember words he's said. He will repeat ANYTHING (including explicatives if you aren't too careful....). And although he still has his own language, he is starting to favor that of the English variety on occassion.

He LOVES to be with me in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Really I think he just likes to sit on the counter and eat MandM's, but whatever. I've started bringing our stepstool in the kitchen when I'm cooking and letting him stand on the top step to watch.

And in case you're wondering, he is doing BETTER with baby brother. Now when the baby cries, he'll bring him his paci (as long as he's not trying to suck on it himself!) and he wants to help us feed him sometimes. He's starting kissing him on his own (crazy!) and if he handles Liam rough and we stop him, he's started leaning in and kissing whatever body part he manhandled. It's pretty cute. Still scary, but cute...

We're awfully lucky to have such a couple of cute (although rotten) kiddos...

Lincoln - 18 months

Look how BIG I am!!!

Lincoln has had a VERY interesting 18 month "birthday." Since baby brother decided to make his appearance the day before, I hate to admit it, but we were a day late in taking our monthly picture... Surely he didn't change too much in one day!

Either way, Lincoln is not TOO sure about this little guy... We are "adjusting" shall we say...

But this post is all about Lincoln, so here goes! (And I know, he's gonna hate me for that picture!)

Lincoln now weighs *just* shy of 28 pounds, and is 34'' long. That puts him at 76% for weight, and 92% for height. He is wearing 24 months, and can wear 2t shirts (pants are still a tad big). We're still in a size 4 diaper, and we are up to a 6 extrawide shoe.

He is literally running everywhere, and trying his best to "hop." His favorite game of the moment: chase!

His vocabulary has really made a leap since the last entry! He'll attempt to repeat pretty much anything you ask him too, now. But his favorite words are: "tractor" "beep-beep" "ouch" and "naw" ( his version of no). We are pretty sure he is fluent in some foreign language; we just can't figure out which one it is!

And if you want to make this kiddo happy, all you have to do is find a tractor or a bulldozer! I bet we have 300 tractors/cars/pieces of equipment in our living room floor at any given moment. And you better not even think you're gonna mow without inviting Lincoln! Ashley is scared to death that someone is gonna call CPS on us for letting him ride on the mower... But it's his favorite thing!

Actually, as long as we're outside, we're generally happy. Here he's helping dad fill in some dead spots in the grass with fresh dirt and seed.

He's such a happy baby. Or Toddler. Or whatever.

His favorite foods: fruit twists, chicken nuggets, cheerios, madarin oranges, cheese, grapes, and juice. He's a good eater, and he wants to do it all by himself! Mr. Independent.

We are blessed to have lots of friends with kids Lincoln's age, so there's always someone to cause trouble with. I say we're blessed now... When they're teenagers, remind me that I said we were blessed.... ;)

We love you so very much, you little Stinker. There's nothing that makes my day more than one of Lincoln's big hugs and sloppy kisses...

17 Months!

Please excuse the pretzel all over this sweet face! We are up to 17 months now, and I tell you what - I can't feed this child enough, or keep him still long enough to take our traditional month-month pictures! This is the only one I got! Here's an update for this month...

Lincoln has become VERY expressive. This is his FAVORITE greeting for everyone... Anyone who is brave enough to even say "hi" to this child gets this face in response. And I can't stop him because everybody always laughs, which makes him do it again!

And that's not the only face we've learned to make. He is now making LOTS of silly faces! My favorite one though is when he is "rocking out" to music in the car. He has definitely been watching his daddy too much! He sticks his lips out and head bangs! Sometimes even raises the roof... The very best is when he "sings" with the radio. Funny stuff right there.

Lincoln's favorite things right now: tractors and big trucks! He will keep himself busy for a good hour just by playing with his tractors in the living room. When we are outside (thank you Lord for a few warm and beautiful days!), his favorite thing is the lawnmower. He will push this thing around forever and cries and cries if you make him go in!

My little golf-pro. Please take note of my refrigerator. If you are/have been thinking of getting stainless appliances please take note... It will look like this on a DAILY basis. You've been warned...

Lincoln is wearing 24 month clothing, and can wear 2t shirts (but not 2t pants). He weighs right at 27 pounds and is going through a tall-skinny phase! One of our neighbors asked me the other day, "what is he, about three?" Haha!! I think it's a combo of LOTS of hair, and really tall...

He has started repeating just about anything you say to him. Here's a list of words we can get pretty easily now:

mama, dada, moose, uh-oh, bye-bye, hey, ball, tractor, truck, car, bubbles, cheese, peacock, shoe, milk, more, golf cart, fish, dog, moo, cheese, pap, and sometimes other random words pop out! I am absolutely LOVING it! It's almost like he picks up a new word every day right now!

Lincoln is also able to feed himself pretty independently now. Now if you try to give him a bite from your fork, you may as well forget it... HE wants to do it HIMSELF! And he's not awfully particular about what he eats, but if you really need to get him to eat, give him a hot dog, green beans, or mandarin oranges. But honestly, I think he'd rather play than sit and eat any day.

We also have a new wave - it's a pageant girl wave! Wide open hand sweeping back and forth... Mom says its exactly how I waved when I was little.

And he is really loving the aqua doodle right now too... As well as reading books. Sometimes he'll even read one to you! I've been trying to catch this on video, as it is one of the funniest things ever, but as soon as he sees the camera, he clams up. :(

He'll open the book, babble a bunch while pointing at a picture, then turn the page. He really thinks he's big Pete...

I don't know if you can tell it or not, but I love this kid to absolute pieces... Happy 17 month Birthday little Stinker!

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!!

15 months!

Oh, where to start?? Seems like this kiddo is doing something funny every day! I can't believe how big he's getting!

So what's new? Here's what Lincoln is doing at 15 months:

He is able to point to/show you his feet, hands, nose, eyes, tongue, hair, and belly. He also loves to show off his muscles, and does so frequently! He can help brush his hair (or yours if you ask!), help put on/take off socks, put on hats, and brush his teeth. And he really likes to help put on lotion. He wants (read: demands) you to give him some lotion, after which he rubs his hands together, then rubs his belly!

He has started picking up a few words, but still prefers the point and grunt method or signing. He can sign "please" "more" "all done" and occasionally "thank you." He's now saying (consistently) "momma" "dada" "moo" (moose) "bath" (actually more like "bap") and the occasional other word mimicking us.

He loves to give kisses - and now loves eskimo kisses (rubbing noses). He'll also give hugs, high fives, and whippings! He can wink (with both eyes) and has mastered blowing kisses, too!

He is running EVERYWHERE and climbing on EVERYTHING. Mom caught him climbing up the outside ledge on our staircase the other day - which is just GREAT... How do you childproof a ledge??

We are now comfortably in 18-24 month clothes (and can even wear some 2t's with ease...boo...) and wearing a size 5 diaper. We are needing a 5.5 or size 6 shoe. And Lord, help us when it comes to hats... I won't even admit how many are in this kids closet - but I will tell you that he has his daddy's noggin. I have to buy the hats made for a 2-4 year old!

His very favorite new thing is "hide and seek." If you can't see his eyes, he is virtually invisible (in the picture, he is hiding behind the phone...). He'll often lay flat on the ground, face down, in an attempt to hide from you! Or put his face down into the couch, then pop up and scare you (you know, cause you couldn't see him hiding in the couch!).

Peek - a - Boo!!

And please excuse the fact that we need another haircut. After the last one, I am literally scared to give it another go...

Anything that he can push or pull is instantly his best friend. These things include: golf clubs, a broom, any toy with a string, blankets, boxes, dog toys, clothes baskets, and my personal favorite - the kitchen rugs. Oh, and let's not forget his love for a fly-swat... Yeah, nasty, I know.

He loves to GO. Anywhere. If you say, "do you want to go upstairs?" He makes the craziest mad dash for the stairs that you have ever seen. Same with outside. Tonight, I asked if he wanted to go to Rachelle and Ashton's house - nodding very expressively "yes" he headed for the garage door. I was obviously not moving fast enough, so he went and got my shoes (granted, they were house shoes) and ran them back over to me, like "hurry up and get your shoes on, we gotta go!"

(hiding in a box)

We've also started going to the "Ready Baby" class at the Library this month. Two friends meet us there with their baby boys (who are both within 6 weeks of Lincoln and each other!) and we sing and dance like crazy! Actually, we spend most of the time laughing at the boys!

And man, oh man, does this child LOVE to be naked... I swear if you'd let him, he'd run around the house naked all day and be happy as a clam...

We still love green beans, marshmallows, meat sticks, Cheerios, and mandarin oranges. However, we've added two new LOVES to the list - chicken noodle-o's and apple jacks! Apple Jacks definately tops the list right now. It's what he wants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Oh, and snacktime...

Lincoln is now feeding himself at most meals, when it's something do-able. He eats his own cereal in the mornings (yes, a good amount ends up in his lap) but he's actually doing really well with a spoon! He's had the fork down for a little bit, but the spoon is much harder. He really wants to do it himself though. If you even reach for the utensil to help him, he jerks it back away from you and gives you the "don't touch my spoon" look. He has definitely developed a BIG personality!

He's such a loving, BUSY, sweet boy - and I am thankful EVERY day for the gift of being his mother!! Hard to believe there'll be another one here in three months!