Lincoln Lately {27 months}

Lincoln, you are officially 27 months old.  I wonder how long until I stop counting months and just go with year and half a year?  Probably soon. :)  You are really developing your personality and opinions which is fun but not always a good thing. :)

Here is what you are up to:

Sleeping
You are a great sleeper, but you have started fighting us on going to bed!  You think you are in charge :)  You go to bed about 8:00 p.m. and sleep till about 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning.  You take one nap a day pretty consistently from 1:00;-3:00.  You have to have your 2 blankets, lovie, Elmo and Barney in your bed with you in order to go to sleep.  You still love to sleep with your head under your pillow instead of on top of it.



EatingYour eating habits are up and down.  Somedays you eat great and other days you won't eat anything.  You insists on have "dip" on your plate for every meal.  You have started requesting "wrench" (ranch) most often.  You also love: bananas, pears, green beans, and chips and dip.



Language
Around 26 months your language seems to have really taken off.  This was also about the time Emery was born.  I felt like the 2 days I was away at the hospital that you gained about 30 new words.  You have become more conversational and you have a great manners.  You never miss telling someone "bess you" when they sneeze, "tank you", your welcome and "shoes me" when you "bup" (burp).  Here are some of the things you are saying now:

• What's dat?
• Where did ____ go?
• "Noonan, Mommy?"  (What are you doing, Mommy?)
• Wee Alkide (which means he wants to go outside and go down the slide (wee)
• Yo homie
• Tooda bus (School bus)
• Awesome
• Airpane
• Why?

Play, Likes and Dislikes

You love to play and play hard.   You almost always have a ball in your hand.  Your favorite thing is to play with your bat and ball or to shoot the basketball.  You love airplanes, school buses, balloon, going outside and the vacuum cleaner.  You love to talk about all 5 of your grandparents and often ask where each one is at and like to pretend you are talking to all of them on the phone.  You love to play the educational games on the ipad and iphone.  You call the games "O-T" b/c those are your favorite letters.  You know how to unlock the phone/ipad, click on your folder of games and choose one to play.  Your favorite TV shows are still Elmo and Barney.  They are the only 2 that you like to watch.    Your two most very favorite things are your lovie and your daddy.  With me being pregnant and now taking care of Emery, you and your daddy have become even bigger buds.  You are right beside him from the moment he walks in the door till you go to bed.






Learning

You know about 6 or 7 letters (O, T, W, I, Y and E), you can count to three and you know (inconsistently) the colors green, blue, yellow and pink.  Your favorite color is green. You know tons of animals and animal sounds.  Your favorite animal is a lion.  You are constantly aware of what is happening around you and constantly learning new things.

We love you, Lincoln Miles!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln!  

We love you to pieces and enjoy your personality more and more every day.  You are talking mostly in sentences, you are a true helper at heart, you love people and their attention and you are super curious about life.  

 

 

 

 

Here are your two year stats:

• You weigh about 31 pounds and somewhere around 35 inches tall.
• You wear mainly 24 month/2T clothes but you can still fit into some 18 month pants.  You wear a size 6-7 shoe. 
• You are still a great eater.  Some of your favorite foods are HOT DOGS (you ask for one at every meal and every drive through we go to), green beans, grapes, pears, pretzel sticks, and bananas. 
• You are a BIG drinker.  You can easily drink 7-8 sippy cups a day of milk and water.  
• You are still a great sleeper.  You go to bed like a champ and sleep a pretty solid 11-12 hours each night.  You love our bedtime routine.  We tell you to go find your lovie and your drink so we can go read a book and you run fast trying to find them both wherever you left them last.  You love to pick out the book we read and usually end up picking about 3 more for us to read.  You then like to go put up your own drink in the fridge and then run to your bed and say "up" for us to put you in.  You love to sleep with Elmo, actually 2 of them.  We use to leave a lamp on for you while you fell asleep but now you want the lamp turned off. 
• You still take one nap a day from about 1:00-3:00.  Sometimes longer and sometimes a little shorter.  You love to sleep with your pillow over your head.

• You just started getting in your 2 year molars on top. 
• You are "tube-less"  We took you to the ENT last week and both of the tubes in your ears had fallen out of the ear drum but not all the way out of your ear.  So the doctor had to remove them.  You laid on the table wrapped up in a sheet like a mummy while the nurse held your head and daddy held your arms down.  You just laid there with your eyes closed and never cried for about 10 minutes while she removed the tubes.  No drugs were involved.  You were so brave. 
• You are continuing to talk more and more.  Your language is a real mixed variety of basic words you still cannot say, single words, 2-3 word phrases and even sentences.  Mainly you speak half in phrases and half in sentences.  Your sentences started happening consistently around 23 months.  You say things like "Where did daddy go?, I need more snack, I need a hot dog, I play ball with daddy, I see Barney/Elmo or whoever."  But there are still basic words you won't say like DRINK!!  You still use your homemade sign your made up for drink and will NOT say the word. 
• You have transitioned to call Dada "Daddy" and calling me "Mommy" about half the time but you still call me Momma on occasion.
• You call yourself "Nee-nan"  And you refer to yourself in third person often.  You will say "Mommy, daddy, Nee-nan."  "Yeah, Nee-nan"

• You are territorial and love to identify what items belongs to who.  For example, while I fold clothes you sit there and list off what items belongs to each person.  If I correct you then you adamantly repeat your answer as if it is correct.
• Your #1 favorite toy is a ball.  You also love to use a kitchen spatula to hit the ball either baseball style or golf style.  You also love airplanes, blocks, singing animals, blankets, books, and puzzles.
• You love to point out other "mommies" and "daddies" when we are in a store
• You are starting to make choices.  When we give you the option of one item over the other you tilt your head to the side and say "Ummm...that one" and point to the one your want.  You think everytime you get in a shopping cart you need a "snack"

• Your strength are your gross motor skills.  You can run and have been able to for months.  You can kick a ball, throw a ball far and fast, hit a baseball off a tee and catch a ball.  You run more than you walk and you love to run and dive on top of your bean bag.
• You love to help out.  If something of mine or your dad's is out of place then you run to get it and go put it up in it's place.  You love to help put away the groceries when we get home from the store, find and throw away any trash and "clean up" your toys. 
• You continue to have a true love for music. Watching live music videos is your favorite, especially ones where they show all the members of the band and each instrument they are playing. You imitate whatever musical instrument you see - piano, guitar and drums are your favorite. In order to request us to play your music on my phone, the car or the computer you say "Momma" and then dance your body back and forth. You cannot say the word music yet but we know what you are wanting. 

• You love to sing songs as well.  Your favorites are "Zaccheaus, was a wee little man", "Wheels on the bus", "This little light of mine", "Clean up song"
• You often randomly give me hugs and kisses without me asking
• You continue to have a strong love for your lovie and sleep with lots of blankets

• When all three of us are playing together you make sure that everyone has a toy in the hand.  For example, if you want to play with the ball and spatula then you go and find a ball for each me and daddy as well as a spatula/baseball bat/golf club or something equivalent.  You want us both to be holding and playing with the same thing you are playing with.
• Your favorite "characters" are Elmo and Barney. 
• You love it when daddy comes home from work.
• Your favorite friend is at the babysitters and her name is Addison but you call her "Add-a" and you talk about her all the time.
• You somewhat understand that you will soon be a big brother.  When we ask you where your baby sister is your pull up your shirt and point to your stomach. 

Happy birthday sweet boy!  We can hardly believe your second year has already come and gone.  We have had a blast learning about you and teaching you new things.  We look forward to another year of fun memories with you!

Daddy and Mommy.

22 months and 20 weeks.

Two more months till our sweet little guy turns 2. 

It is so very hard to believe.  The main thing changing with him is his language.  He is saying more words and more 2-word phrases.  His favorite words are:

•  ball
• choo-choo
• mama
• dada
• more
• pease (please)
• airpane (airplane)
• bock (block)
• book
• choos (shoes)
• socks
• Elmo
• Ernie
• Burt
• Biber (Big Bird)
• bana (banana)
• sack (snack)
• bakets (blankets)
• wow

 He loves to make animal sounds.  He can say about about 10 or more.  And he can point to and name several body parts. 

 His main two word word phrases are: 

• Hello/Bye-Bye Mama/Dada
• Night Night ____ (usually Elmo b/c he sleeps with Elmo)
• That's mine
• Hey baby (to my stomach)
• It boke (broke)
• More sack (snack)
• Wow tee (wow tree to the Christmas tree)

His favorite things are

• Balls -- he insist him and Cory play with the ball between the moment Cory walks in the door till Lincoln goes to bed.
• Music -- he continues to have a huge love for music.  Whenever music comes on he dances, runs to the ottoman to "play" the piano on it and then strums his thumb across his chest like he is playing the guitar.
• Shoes and Socks -- Very random but he is loving himself some shoes and socks.  He wants me to put his shoes on him, he wants to make sure me and Cory are wearing  shoes and when Cory leaves for work he says "Bye Bye Dada"  "Bye Bye Dada's choos"
• Helping -- he love to take things to the trash, help unload the dishwasher and put away clean laundry.   His most favorite though is sitting on the dryer to help load clothes in the washing machine and then pouring in the soap.   

He is a mess or as I often call him a turkey or a turkey leg which he things is just hilarious!  We love him to pieces for sure. 

_______________________________________________________________
And onto the pregnancy topic.  I am officially 20 weeks.  I am just now starting to feel like I am showing.  I am starting to feel better too but not as great as I felt with Lincoln.  I went three weeks without being sick in the mornings but this past Friday I got sick again.  However, once every three weeks is doable.  I just hope it is not more. 

 And here is me on the left with Lincoln and on the right with Baby #2. 

I feel like this baby moves more often than Lincoln did. I am not sure if it's just the baby or it's me b/c this is my 2nd time around.  We have been cleaning out closets and digging back out the baby gear.  It is hard to believe we are halfway there to being parents of two babies!!

Lincoln Lately {21 months}

Happy 21 months, our sweet baby Lincoln!

You are rapidly coming your own little person and it is a joy to watch!

Here is what you are up to lately:

• You weigh about 29.5 pounds and best I can measure about 34 inches tall
• You are still a fabulous eater.  Your favorite is a hot dog, grapes, green beans, spicy thing, ketchup, salsa, cheese dip, spaghetti
• You LOVE milk!!
• You are ok eating with a utensil.  You like to use them but usually pick up your food with it then use your other hand to take it off the fork and put it in your mouth 
• You are still sleeping 12 hours at night with a 2-3 hour afternoon nap
• You just started wearing size 5 diapers
• You wear size 24/2T shirts but most of your pants are stil 18 months which fits your length well but tight in the waist sometimes

• You love to have a good time and play games
• You are constantly on the move running around and playing
• Your favorite toy is your lovie 
• You love Elmo and any size or shape of a ball
• We have not cut your hair in two months and it is growing in very wavey and curly 

• You are saying more and more words every day.  You say about 60 words. 
• You STILL sign a few words -- drink, please, all done and more along with using the word
• People often comment that you are "all boy" and "built like a football player"
• You say a few phrases but your usual speech is my name and then a request i.e. "Momma snack"
• You ADORE music.  Your favorite is Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland.  You request it often by handing me my phone and dancing.  You get upset if I play any other song than this one
• Your favorite songs to sing are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels in the Bus and I'm a Little Tea Pot

•  When your daddy gets home in the evening you insist he play with you and not eat dinner.
• You are a HUGE helper.  You love to hand me the silverware from the
   clean dishwasher and help me put clothes in the washing machine.
• You often come up to me and say "Hi Momma" and then give me a kiss and a hug
• When asked "Where the baby is?" You point to my stomach say baby and kiss my stomach
  

We just love you tons!

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! :)

Lincoln Lately {17 months}

Lincoln is quickly going from baby to toddler.  He still only has one speed - FULL SPEED!  He is always on the move and rarely slows down except to eat and sleep.  He still loves to be right in the middle of the action and usually that means right next me since I am the only one at home with him most days.  Ha! He is becoming more talkative and trying to repeat more of the words and phrases we say everyday.  

Here are some pictures I took of him this morning:

Here is what he is up to these days:

• He weighs about 26.75 lbs. and I would guess about 32.5 inches tall.
• He wears mainly 18-24 month clothing and size 4 diapers
• He sleeps about 12 hours at night and one afternoon nap for about 2-3 hours
• He has been sleeping in till about 8:00 a.m. this summer. Wahoo!
• He still loves all food.  He is starting to get a little pickier but nothing major. His favorite foods are chicken, grapes, and cheese
• He is learning to eat with a utensil; it's a slow process but he loves to try
• He does not know how to sit down.  His longest time to sit to date is about 30 seconds.
• He still loves balls, yo-yos and anything on a string
• He also enjoys having books read to him.  When I sit down Indian style to read to him he walks over to me and backs himself into my lap to sit down while I read the book.  Love it.
• He loves to go outside and will go to the door, point to it and say "bye, bye?"
• He has about 20 pretty consistent words including some of these: mama, dada, hi, bye, uh-oh, no, hot, balloon, bubble, ball, bowl, elbow, Burney (Barney), more, baby (which I think he means his lovie) and ba (drink). Do you see a theme with the "B" words?  They must be his favorite!
• This past week he said his first phrase, "Bye, bye, daddy" It also sounds like he has said "Bye, bye, ya'll" on other occasions. 
• He has shown more interest in watching TV but will mainly only watch Barney for about 2 minutes and then run off to play
• He loves to tell inanimate objects "bye, bye" when he leaves any room
• He still calls me dada if you ask him who I am.  He can say mama and knows that is my name but he only calls me that on his terms and its usually when he is upset.
• His sign language has dropped off except for please, all-done and drink.
• He LOVES music.  It soothes him like nothing else can.  He likes for me to play music on my iPhone and he will hold the phone up to his ear and listen to the music for several minutes at a time. 

• He also loves to dance to all music. This week when we picked him up in the church nursery the worker said "This one here is a dancer!"
• His ideal situation would be Cory and I both sitting on the floor in his room with him while he plays
• He has an issue with biting others and hitting (lots of teachable moments are upon us)
• He knows several body parts: nose, ears, eyes, mouth, hands, feet and recently learned elbow
• He loves the book "From Head to Toe" by Eric Carl.  He can do almost all the movements in the book.
• He is not a climber and we are grateful.  I think he is too thick to be able to climb well plus he just prefers to run everywhere. 
• He loves to look at pictures of family members.
• He loves to randomly give hugs and kisses (or sugars as we call them)

This one here is a keeper!

Lincoln Lately {15 months}

Well our little guys just insist on getting bigger.  I have tried to convince him to stay little but he ain't havin' it.  This month he has started to look more like a toddler -- thinning out and getting taller.  And perhaps acting more like one as well. :)

•  He weighs 25.4 lbs. and is 31.5 inches long (both in the 60th percentile which is the first time to not be in the 50th percentile EVER!)  Gettin' big I tell ya!

• He still loves to eat but it's more of eating half a meal, then getting down to run around and then eating the other half
• He is wearing mainly 18 month clothing

Do not let this face fool you -- he LOVES this.to.pieces

• He wears a size 5 shoe
• He FINALLY gives sugars -- open mouth!  The B.E.S.T.  My favorite milestone yet.
• He can do the "roll 'em up" with his arms during Patty-Cake
• He got his first haircut this month

• He has about 9 consistent words he says (mama, dada, hi, bye, ball, balloon, uh-oh, no-no, down (as in "down, set, hut" -- getting him ready for football season). 
• He is a MAJOR daddy's boy right now!  I mean MAJOR.  He wakes up in the morning saying "Da-da?"  "Da-da?"
• He still really likes to "sign" -- please, fan (twirling his wrist around), bath, more and food.
• And he LOVES LOVES LOVES blankets -- chew on them, carry them around or put them on his head.  They are by far his favorite toy and best friend besides his momma, of course.

What a joy.

Lincoln Lately - 14 months

I wasn't sure that I would keep up the "monthly" posts on Lincoln but instead I had planned to switch to more of an every other month post or occasional post. However, he is changing and growing so quickly that I just find myself needing to document what he is up to.

So, on that note here is what Lincoln Miles had been doing this past month:

He weighs about 24 pounds and is about 30.5 inches tall. Longer torso, shorter legs :)

He wears a size four diaper, 12-18 month clothing and size 4-5 shoe

He takes one nap a day from about 12:30 till about 3:00

He has all of his first year molars and all four "eye-teeth" have broken through as well -- total of 16 teeth.

He eats a TON of food and he is not picky

His throwing of food and the sippy cup seems to have all but stopped or at least slowed down

He drinks one bottle a day at bedtime

He has added the words ball, uh-oh, balloon (pronounced "bulln") and bird to his vocab. He is a fan of all words with a "b"

His new signs are brushing teeth, please and telephone

He has an obsession with balloons. He can spot them from a mile away and points at them, says "bulln" till we go over and see them

He LOVES to go outside.

He sill won't give kisses but he loves to give hugs by laying his head on you and saying "awww" as he gives the hug

He is understanding more and more the difference between right and wrong and while he stands there and thinks about it there is still about a 50/50 chance he'll still choose the "wrong" choice.

He LOVES balls and cars -- any shape or size!

• He got his first ear infection this month since his tubes on December 17th, but it was treated with ear drops and healed quickly
  
• The words that have been used to describe him by those around him include: sweet, precious, adorable, all-boy, awesome and stinker (I think that last one might have come from me!) :)
  
• He requires lots of attention and just wants to be with people all the time. He loves an audience.
  
• He has a thing for feet and kind of always has -- he likes to touch my feet, always notices when my toenails are painted a new freshly painted, enjoys finding my shoes and then acting like he is putting them on my feet and recently has liked to lay his head on my feet and say "awww." Apparently, Uncle Cody use to do the same thing about laying his head on my MIL's feet.
  
• He added Tennessee to his states of visiting when we took a road trip to Memphis to visit The Paslays, The Conners and meet his new friend Rowin. So, now he has been to Missouri, Illinois, Georgia and Tennessee.

He also had his first trip to the zoo in Memphis. More details to come on the Memphis trip in an upcoming post.

It is always exciting to see what the next month will bring with our ever-growing and ever-changing Lincoln!

Lincoln Lately - 13 months

Well, well, well we have entered toddlerhood and it has definitely brought with it a semi VERY active little guy. He does not enjoy sitting for long but prefers walking around with something in each hand. His favorite things include remotes, spatulas and a ball. We are definitely getting our exercise in keeping up with him! Here is what he is up to these days --

13 month Stats:

• He weighs around 23 pounds and is about 30.5 inches tall
• He has been sleeping in more on days off, till about 8:00 or even later on our days at home
• He has started trying to drop his morning nap -- about every other day he takes 2 that are about 1.5 hours each and on other days its just one nap that is about 2.5-3 hours long.



• He wears size 4 diapers, 12 month clothes and size 3-4 shoe.
• He still drinks 2 bottles a day, morning and bedtime
• He is on all whole milk
• His top one year molars are about 30% of the way in
• He drinks well from a sippy cup throughout the day
• He eats a TON of food and is not picky



• He stoops from a standing position to pick up something and can stand back up on his own without crawling over to pull up to stand up
• He is demonstrating that he understands the function of items more - holds phone up to ear says hi and talks, makes "vroom" noise when moving cars across the floor, picks up my shoes and brings them over to my feet to "put" them on me
• He follows simple directions at times (i.e. go get your lovie or go get your drink)



• He can point to his belly when asked "Where is your belly?"
• He makes a "ruff" noise when asked what does a dog say, hears another dog bark or sees the picture of a dog or something similar (other 4-legged creatures)
• He has started to not only walk now but at times its more of a run or fast waddle!

• His words include: Dada, Mama, Hi, Bye-Bye and the other night we are pretty sure he said "bath" as he was walking to the bathroom
• His signs include: All done, Drink, More, Night-Night and Bath
• He had a fun visit with his cousins

• He gives high-fives now
• He is more comfortable in his crib and will stay in there after naps and play for a while before wanting to get out
• He has the best daddy EVER.
  

We love you, Lincoln Miles!

(In case you haven't noticed!)

Block Pics in Review.