{ Growing Boy }

(Click here for last month's picture)

Has another whole month gone by already?!?  Seriously someone slow this train down, my baby is growing too fast!  He had his two month appointment last week (9 days early) and his doc says everything is looking great!  Lincoln is healthy, happy, and hitting all of his milestones.  He weighed 12lb 3oz (65th percentile) and was 23 7/8 inches long (95th percentile).  So he's a tall slender boy - he definitely didn't get that from my side of the family!  (He's so long that when he was only 5 weeks old we had to move the straps up to the next slot in his carseat.)  While he was at the doctor he got all his 2 month vaccines.  Our poor buddy didn't tolerate them very well.  The pokes themselves, of course, made him cry and then he just felt crummy the whole rest of the day.  He didn't eat for several hours (SO unlike my boy), had a fever, and was so irritable.  But both Lincoln and Mommy survived and he was back to his normal self by the next day.

Lincoln is growing and changing so much every day.  Mornings are when he is at his happiest.  Casey and I aren't sure how two night owls ended up a morning person but his little morning smiles, giggles and coos help to make our groggy mornings not only more bearable but actually enjoyable.

Lincoln is getting more and more verbal every week.  He babbles often and if he's really excited about something (usually a toy on his baby gym) he'll let out a squeal of delight.  It's so cute.  He has started batting at toys, too.  His movements are becoming intentional and more coordinated so he can entertain himself for quite awhile.  One of his favorite ways to use this new skill is to suck on his hands.  He's always loved having his hands up by his face and mouth but now that he has more coordination he loves trying to stuff as much of his little fist in his mouth as he can.  He's started rubbing his eyes when he's sleepy too.  The cuteness just doesn't end!

Tummy time still isn't Link's favorite activity but he's tolerating it for a little bit longer each day.  While in McCall we discovered that he loves looking at himself in the mirror, so we bought a full length mirror and put it horizontally against the living room wall and face him toward it for tummy time.  He likes this version of tummy time much better. I think he likes having a friend to do it with  =)

Lincoln is generally a happy kiddo for most of the day, but the one thing he hates is going to sleep.  He'll protest a little during the day before succumbing to a nap, but in the evening he puts up quite a fight.  (I think he doesn't want to miss out on all the fun he thinks we have without him.  Little does he know he is our new primary source of fun.)  We have tried all sorts of ways to calm him down and lull him to sleep but we've discovered that the best way to get him to sleep is to swing him in his carseat.  Casey has spent countless hours swinging that stubborn boy back and forth back and forth until he finally gives in and goes to sleep.  It's pretty much the exact same motion as his swing but with more gusto.  We decided we need an industrial swing =)   But until someone invents one Casey's getting a nightly workout.  Once Lincoln is finally asleep for the evening he does great the rest of the night.  He'll usually wake up after a 4-7 hour stretch to nurse and then goes right back to sleep.  I'd far rather have a fussy baby all evening and get some good solid sleep than to have a happy baby in the evening and be woken up multiple times at night.

Bath time is getting to be more fun now that we can use his baby tub.   Lincoln's umbilical cord stump took FOREVER to fall off so we sponge bathed him for weeks and weeks.  The first several times we bathed him in his little whale tub he cried but we've progressed to tolerance and now occasional enjoyment.  I'm hoping for full on squealing and giggling in the coming months.

Breastfeeding is still going really well.  Lincoln loves to eat and I love that I can provide him with everything he needs,  I love having that time to bond with him throughout the day, too.  I was really looking forward to breastfeeding when I was pregnant and now I know why.  It is simply one of the most amazing experiences ever.

We are just loving life with our lil guy and are pretty much in constant wonder of this little person that has come into our life.  He is just the best thing ever.