A little side of me showing through

In the last few days Lincoln has started showing a will of his own! I am getting a little frightened, as I was child that had a VERY strong will. Lincoln just screams and cries his I give him something to eat that he does not want. Or if I try to change his diaper. Or if I put him down and he doesn't want to be. I hope we quickly learn a way to communicate that doesn't involve screaming and crying!

Lincoln's Quirks

Lincolns first word was "no"! He doesn't understand what he is saying, he just likes to mimic us! It was amazing the first day he said it! I had just taken him away from the dog food for the umpteenth time saying "no,no,no lincoln!" and put him into the living room. He crawled all the way through the living room, through the dining room, and through the kitchen into the foyer. Once he got within site of the dog food he crawled towards it saying "no,no,no,no,no". It was priceless! He hasn't really said it since though. He mostly like to say "doubledo!" and "doh" and sometimes he tries to say "keys".

He still isn't walking - but loves to walk behind his walker. It will be any day now.

There is this one thing he loves to do, that I find weird, but maybe its a common baby thing. He loves to put things around his neck! Anything he finds that is long, like a necklace, a piece of rope, a belt, sunglasses, he has to put it around the back of his neck and then crawl around with it there!

As well he still loves to put things in his mouth! everything goes in the mouth! Yesterday i was making supper and had the potatos out, he got into the bag and bit little pieces off the potatos. Then he went to his diaper bag, found a pear I had in there from his daycare, and ate almost the whole thing, skin and all! Daily, i would even say hourly, I say to him "Lincoln, what is in your mouth?" "Can mommy have it?" Sometimes he gladly shows me, and pulls it out, whether it be paper, dog food, anything really that fits in there. Other times he gives me a grin and crawls away as fast as possible, leaving me chasing behind and trying to pry his jaws open to do the 'sweep'! The other week Stephen was 'watching' him, and had noticed Linc was no longer in the living room with him and that, more importantly, it was quiet. Stephen found him in the kitchen with a package of gum and his cheeks stuffed. Stephen proceeded to pull the pieces out 1,2,3,4,5,6. He goes back to the living room and realizes it is still quiet, he goes back to Linc, checks for more gum hidden in his mouth. Pieces 7 & 8 are removed. He checks one last time to be sure and piece 9 is found. Lincoln at this point bursts into tears!

The other week I was grocery shopping and putting all the veggies right behind Linc. At some point Linc decided to grab the green onions and play with them. Of course he put them in his mouth, even though they were in a little bag. apparently they tasted good because he sucked on those onions for the whole entire grocery trip! People thought it was so odd that he liked them! He breath smelt like onions after that!

Lincoln - the national travellor!

In the last 3 months we have been to Ottawa for a week. Drove to Kansas City for a week. Flew to Camrose for a day (we got the call that my Grandfather was in his last days and Linc and I went to say our good byes) And then drove to Camrose for the funeral and were gone a week. We went to Brandon for my brother's wedding. And now are getting ready to fly to Florida for 12 days! We recently bought a new vehicle and it had 18,000km on it - now it has 27,000km and its been about 3 months!

Somewhere between all that we sold our house, bought a new one. Moved in the new one and out of the old one. As well Stephen's family has visited twice. And my best friend Ashley, and her husband have been living with us for the last month, along with my cousins Travis and Kristin!

We also had Stephen's grand opening for his program Building Futures. My big brother's fabulous wedding, and the Coldplay concert! It has been some busy, busy months1

Linc's First Birthday

Lincoln's first birthday was quite a while ago! That tells you how busy our lives have been in the last 2 months! His actual birthday was spent driving from Kansas City to Winnipeg - and little did I know but the poor kid had the flu! He ended his birthday supper, which we had in Fargo, ND by throwing up. We celebrated with Stephen's family in Kansas City at Braden and Nina's the night before. They gave him gifts, and we had ice cream cake! Linc loved the attention and loved the cake even more! Once we got home we celebrated his birthday with a big party (around 30 people came) at my parents house on the following weekend. It was a superhero themee, of course! I made shirts for Stephen and I and a cape for Linc! He was still sick, so ended up sleeping most of his party. I woke him up to do presents and cake - which, I was so dissapointed that he didn't even touch! Stephen decorated the cake - and it turned out fantastic! I was sad that he wasn't feeling well - but knew he wouldn't remember it any way. We had a great time celebrating he first year of our babies birth!

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!