Saturday, July 23, 2011

{ Growing Boy }


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.

Friday, July 22, 2011

{ McCall? Yes please! }


We headed up to McCall for our annual getaway with my family at the first of the month.  We had a great time as always and enjoyed celebrating the 4th up there.  My entire life we've gone to McCall every summer; it's such a fun, relaxing time for me.  I am usually so carefree and have ample time to read, nap, swim, kayak, browse, sew and anything else I fancy.  I knew it would be different this year - babies have a way of shaking things up like that.   Even though I wasn't able to spend my time doing all the things I usually do up there I was spending my time doing exactly what I wanted - being with Lincoln.  He's my new favorite hobby and I'm pretty sure that's not changing anytime soon  =)

My family was of course a huge help with Lincoln - he hardly ever got put down there were so many arms ready and willing to hold him.  I even got to read an entire book! I also got to go kayaking a few times while Lincoln held down the fort with Grape Grandma.

Kayaking!  That's Casey in the red boat and me in the yellow boat.
One of my favorite parts about McCall is playing games with the whole family late into the night.  Catch Phrase, Taboo, and Trivial Pursuits are the usual favorites but the new favorite this year was Curses.  It had my uncle barking like a dog, The Todd shaving an invisible miniature cat, my mom slapping her own face, and my grandma telling lies like "I'm pregnant."  It was hilarious!  You know how things are funnier and wackier late at night when you are deliriously tired?  I would highly recommend playing this game then.

So it was another successful McCall vacation complete with beautiful weather (but no awesome thunder storms this year, boo), lots of laughs, Fourth of July fireworks over the lake (during which Lincoln fell sound asleep), great memories, and of course several trips to Ice Cream Alley.


Okay, now for what you really came to the blog to see - pictures!


Lincoln taking a snooze in Grape Grandmas arms.


Lincoln chillin' with Uncle Benny.
This is right before Link pooped and Ben panicked.

Note Ben's panic and Lincoln's smile.
Ben has now been officially initiated into unclehood.

Lincoln chillin' in his patriotic outfit.


Mom brought up the stuff to make cakepops.  They were labor intensive but tasty!  And pretty!

Beautiful flowers at Charlie's Gardens.

More Charlie's Gardens

Tummy Time
"Hey I'm pretty good at this!"

"Okay Mom, enough, I'm getting kinda tired."

"I'm done."
 
Katie and Aunt Sessie downtown



"Aw Mom, what do you mean that's enough Wii for today!?!"

Bocci Ball!
Mommy & Lincoln

"What do you mean we're almost to the end of this post?"

"I've been having so much fun reading and looking at pictures!"


"Well, maybe I am getting a little sleepy..."

TTFN
(Ta Ta For Now!)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

{ Oompa Loompa }

I'm still working on finishing up the posts on McCall and camping so I thought I'd tide you over with this litte gem:

Monday, July 11, 2011

Friday, July 1, 2011

{ Water Baby }

We took Lincoln to the pool for the first time this week.  I thought it would be fun to see what he thought of the water and he has these adorable little trunks and swim shirt I've been dying to put him in.  Oh, and some adorable little red sunglasses.  He actually did great splashing around and enjoying the water from my lap.  (Although in the only pictures we captured he was screaming his head off.  He did get happier with his toes in the water, I promise.)  We held him up and dipped his little feets in the water and he didn't seem to mind.  But oh how he HATED those red sunglasses.  I think he didn't like that they made the world dark and/or having that strap around his head.  But he looked so cute in them so of course we left them on long enough to snap a few pictures.  Poor kiddo.  I'm hoping he likes the water and his shades a little more next year...








Other random updates:

Lincoln has slept 6 hours straight for 5 of the last 7 nights.  What a good boy!  Mommy and Daddy love this!  The other nights he slept at least 3-4 hours.  Wohoo! 

He has started crying real tears when he cries. It makes his wails so much more pathetic!  I hate it when he's sad  =(


From birth Lincoln has sneezed two or three or four times in a row. I had never heard him sneeze only once. This past week he has had a few solo sneezes. Not particularly exciting I know, but it's something new and I don't want to forget about those cute little sneezing fits he had when he was little.

I'm proud of myself that in Lincoln's first month of life I managed to read an entire non-baby related book and made a festive patriotic shirt for Lincoln for the Fourth of July.  Go me!