Happy 1.5 Years, Lincoln!

Happy 18 month, Lincoln! 

You are such a joy and keep us on our toes at all times. We love the energy and happiness that you bring our home.   

Here is what you are up to:

• You weigh almost 28 pounds and somewhere around 32-33 inches tall.  Your well-child checkup is at the end of the month so I will be interested to see your official stats. 
• You wear 5.5-6 size shoe, 18 month shorts and 24 month shirts.
• You are a great sleeper at night and naptime.  This summer while off with mommy you slept from 8:00 p.m. till about 8:30 everyday!  It was a drastic change from last summer when we were starting our day around 6:30 or so.  However, the school year has just started so an earlier bedtime and earlier is now happening.  
• You also recognize when bedtime is coming and you keep handing us books to read them to you to avoid going to bed.

• You love to eat. This month you discovered ketchup and it has revolutionized your world.  You love to dip anything in there and sometimes just eat it up with your fingers.  You also discovered "dipping" your chips and want to do this constantly, especially if we are eating Mexican.  You love salsa and cheesdip.
• You LOVE milk.  You only drink that and water but you probably drink on upwards of 20 ounces of milk a day.  You start laughing, giggling and stomping your feet when you see pouring milk into your sippy cup. 
• You are EXTREMELY active and truly never sit down.  You love to play with anything you can get your hands on and you always have something in your hand.  You love to play with balls and more traditional toys like jump ropes, yo-yo's and just a good ole fashioned bowl and spoon makes you content. 

• You throw everything and I do mean everything -- balls, sippy cups, toys, hairbrush, blankets, etc.  I have decided that dodging objects you throw if a full time job.  I have been told by your babysitter that you throw hard, accurate and fast.  Maybe we should consider finding you a baseball team to join. 
• You LOVE music.  Your most recent favorite thing is to sit up on mommy and daddy's bed with the laptop on the dresser and watch You Tube worship LIVE worship videos.  You love to watch the bands play, see all the people in the audience and hear them clap.  Your most favorite songs are the Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus.   You can do the hand motions to both songs pretty well.
• This past week when we picked you up from the church nursery the lady asked me if you had older brothers.  I told her you were an only child and she was shocked.  She said "He just loves to play, interact and have a good time.  He is just so playful."

• You have lots of new words and even have some phrases.  Your favorite words are: mama, dada, bowl, hot dog, ouch, uh-oh, bye-bye, bana (banana), ball and elbow.  Your favorite phrases are: hello papa, bye-bye dada, and I did it.  You love to just spout out all the words you know at once in a big long phrase like you are saying a sentence (i.e. mama-dada-bowl-mama-dada-bowl-bye-bye)
• You love to wave at people while riding in the shopping and blow kisses to people on occasion. 
• You know several body parts but your favorite ones to show us are your elbow and your cheeks which you say both words when showing us where they are. 
• Your biting has slowed down quite a bit.  It is the throwing objects at other children that gets you in trouble the most at the babysitters. 
• You love to stack blocks and the other night before bed you stacked 7 blocks all by yourself.  Daddy was there to witness it all.  We were so impressed. 

• You are really getting into pretend play.  You love to get out your stuff animals, hold them, feed them and cover them up for bed. 

• You still have a strong affection for your "lovie" and the other two blankets you sleep with as well as your stuff dog "Buddy."  You love to try and carry all four items around the house at once. 
• You love to play outside but due to the extreme 3 digit temps this summer that has not happened a ton.

Lincoln, you are rapidly becoming your own individual.  I know I have said this numerous times but there is no place you would rather be than right by my side.  It's not as if you cannot be away from me but rather that you need social contact often.  When others are around you are so happy.  When we have company you love to go get each toy individually and take it to them.  You are extremely social but yet around unfamiliar men you are very reserved.  You love to run up to me or your daddy and give us a hug with your arms around our neck.  And while you give the hug you say "Awww."  You LOVE other little kids and babies.  When we see a baby out in public you turn your head to the side and say "Awww" and you insist on getting closer and waving at the baby.  We often comment that we just love that you love life.  My prayer lately for you has been that you will have a heart that wants to be obedient and do what is right.

We love you Honey Bunches of Oats! :)