You are such a funny kid

Lately, one of the most common phrases heard through out the day around our home is "Lincoln, you are such a funny kid." He always goes through these weird little phases. Lately he mostly growls, in this deep guttural voice. We were in the passport office today, and he was making noise in his usual growl and I was getting the weirdest looks! I have nicknamed him my little bear because a) when he gets crabby he becomes like a bear and b) he makes these growling noises; like a bear.

He isn't walking but getting much sturdier on his feet. Probably in the next few months he will take those first steps. I try to bribe him with chips to take a step towards me, but as soon as he sees the chips he falls to his knees and scrabbles over. Stephen got him started on eating chips. Come to think of it, Stephen and my mom get him started on most of his bad eating habits! Lincoln knows who the weak one is and give him treats - not his mom!

We have been trying to teach him to say "puppy" and he is very interested. He always stops and stares intently as we say the word. And sometimes he even starts to mouth it, but no noise ever comes out.

I am starting to realize how impressionable he is, especially at this age. I am making a conscious decision to speak more politely and not treat him so much like a mindless baby, but how I would like him to act as a little boy. He still refuses to eat from a spoon, and feeding himself with a utensil feels like it is never going to happen.

For some bizarre reason he thinks you get down from the couch, or the bed, or the stairs by going head first. He has yet to have an accident, we have been very lucky by grabbing those skinny ankles at the last second!

He is going to be 1 in two weeks, where has the time gone? All I know is he is growing into such a funny kid.

YES!

Ottawa

We recently went to Ottawa for 6 days. Stephen was attending a Conference for work, my dad was hosting the conference, so we thought we would tag along! It was quite the experience, over all we had a great time! The plane rides were interesting. I never realized how small the seats are until I was holding a very squirmy, over tired, 11 month boy! But we survived, and thankfully didn't get kicked off the plane! Another challenge was having Lincoln's crib in our room - something we both aren't used too. But again, we survived, barely! By the end of the week he was waking up every hour...I was glad to be going home!

Ottawa is a beautiful city, full of history. We were able to explore By Ward Market one afternoon, which was a lot of fun! Biggest highlight of that day would probably be going to the bakery that Obama visited when he was there. Biggest disappointment of that day would be eating the cookie that Obama bought. He has horrible taste in sweets.

My dear friend Becki drove 3 hours to see us on Saturday. That girl is amazing. Every time we get together, which is usually ever 2 or 3 years, we pick right up where we left off! She took us to Ikea and then we walked around the Parliament building, and then back down to By Ward Market for supper at an old '50s diner called Zac's. It was a great day with a great friend!

Linc & I hit up the pool a couple of times...of course how could we miss the giant bath tub! Lincoln's highlight would have to be the escalators that Grandpa would take him on. Up and down, up and down.

Great family trip, first real vacation for Lincoln!

Lincoln is his name-o!

What have we been up to lately? It has been a whirl wind, time is literally flying by! In less than 2 weeks I will celebrate my babies 1st birthday, go back to work, and celebrate my 25th birthday!

Lincoln and I went and met with the lady who will be watching him 2 days a week as I head back to work. She has two young boys, age 5 & 3. They are so sweet. The oldest, after learning Lincoln's name, responded "That is a good name!". I think so as well! They also have a little Pomeranian/Pug, and Lincoln played tug a way with the her for quite a while, he loved it! We feel really good about the arrangement. I just hope I get pregnant soon, so I can be at home for good! More babies!

Not a very good blogger

I have realized I am not a very good blogger. And this fantasy idea of blogging all these great moments in our lives, was well, a nice fantasy idea. I don't know how I expected myself to do it, and I only have 1 kid! Oh well, doesn't the intention matter more?

Updates:
Lincoln - is amazing.


Just kidding, i will write more. Lincoln lately has learned how to high five and clap. He is still a huge fan of his baths. In fact, whenever I run the water in the tub, he crawls as fast as he can to the bathroom, pulls himself up on the edge of the tub, and proceeds to bounce and squeal and attempt to give me a hug (or he is trying to launch himself in by using my body!) It is priceless! He also loves to call dad at work, and babbles to Stephen. Very cute. He also likes to pull himself up on the coffee table and proceed to bang his hands, for a very long time! Oh and there are certain commercials he just has to watch when the tv is on. There is no consistancy in which ones, but if you are in the way when he decides he needs to see that particular commercial he will get around you one way or another. He also recently remembered he that he likes to blow bubbles with his lips - you know like when you blow and lips vibrate. Last night he started in kitchen, I picked him up, carried him to our room. Set him on the bed, filled up his bottle. Still blowing. Picked him up again, carried him to his room. Still blowing, lots of drool running down his face. Sat down in our chair and made him stop by putting the bottle in his mouth. Lincoln finished drinking his bottle, I pulled it out, and he resumed blowing bubbles, right where he left off!

Stephen: Was recently made "Director of Building Futures" - i know, impressive! He is working very hard, but still manages to be home every night for supper and tries not to work too much from home on the weekends. He is learning so much, and being stretched and challenged in ways never before, but he is rising to the challenges and kicking butt! We are so proud of him. He has been enjoying Lincoln more than ever, if that is even possible. And he is very glad that Lincoln is finally out of the "I only want mommy stage".

Cher: Well I am still at home, my recent challenge has been figuring out what to do when I go back to work in a few short months. I also have been exhausted as my dear boy likes to wake up every 2-3 hours. I also have been warming up to the idea of having another baby. We will see what happens! Speaking of the little boy, he just woke up from a nap. Gotta run!

Linc's first babbles

After a solid 2 months of us saying, "Lincoln, say da-da." Or, "Lincoln, say ma-ma" he has finally started babbling a little bit. He has a vocabulary of 3 words. Ma-ma - which he only says when he is crying. Da - da which he likes to say in the early mornings or when I use the phone during the day. But his favorite word is "blah-blah-blah". Is that all he hears when i speak? He is just like his da-da!

It was a nice thought

When I was pregnant I had this nice thought of capturing all the wonderful moments in small families life in a blog, keep them all fresh and alive for my children to read when they are older. It was a nice thought. Now I see that even though I am busy, doing mostly nothing, all day, blogging has taken a back seat. Sometimes I lay in bed as I am drifting off to sleep at an hour much too late, and record a memory in my head And the writing is fantastic. But then once morning comes, I have forgotten all about the event i was going to write about. Could it possibly be because i was up every 2 or 3 hours with Lincoln? Probably. I hope to keep writing, at least about the big stuff. And the small stuff too. Because sometimes the greatest memories are the forgotten ones. Then one someone says, "Do you remebmer when...." and you searching your brain for that memory, and then it comes back like rushing wave and you exclaim, "yes!" that's the best. (Except if you are like me, and have a horrible memory and you so yes but really mean no.)

A Life Lesson to Remember

I was talking with a co-worker today and she was telling me about how she doesn't really enjoy Christmas or is "into" Christmas. But she realized that her attitude and negativety were rubbing off on her son, who is a teenager. She realized that he was adapting her personal view because that's what children do, he decided he didn't like decorating either, because he loved his mom. It was a great life lesson for me, as we are just learning this whole parenting thing, to try to always keep myself in check, especially my attitude, so that our children can decide for themselves how they feel about something, instead of mimicking or adapting my attitude or view point.