Jack's First Birthday Party

We celebrated Jackson's first birthday with a party a few days before his actual birthday. We chose to do a smaller party with mostly family. Smaller as in 13 adults + 2 kids plus our family of four! It was such a great evening, even I was surprised at what a great time we had! While everyone was getting settled Jack + Gabby played on the floor. At one point gabby reached out and touched Jackson, which caused Jack to burst into tears! I guess he found her forwardness a little too much! We started with presents, in which Lincoln was so great at opening all the gifts for Jackson. Jack was far more interested in all the cards anyways, which really gave me a laugh. We did cake right after as a few guest needed to leave a little early. We set Jack up in his highchair and gathered everyone around. He smiled and smiled as we sang to him. We didn't really want him to dive into the amazing shark cake that Stephen and I had made for him so I gave him a cupcake to try. He didn't really eat very much of it and stayed super clean. Slightly disappointed but I will try again on his real birthday to get him into some cake! After that he just spent the evening playing with his various aunts, uncles, grandparents that came! It was a great evening, Jackson really enjoyed himself and we all had a good time!

Little doings...little sayings...here today...gone tomorrow

having a two year old is almost always pure joy. the things that come out of his mouth are amazing. but, despite my wishing, he continues to grow. and as he grows his cute sayings and doings cease. at least they are followed by new ones.
here are some of my current favorites
"babe" - lincoln calls me this when I don't respond to mom. he has heard stephen and i call each other this countless times each day, so it is not surprising but still makes me crack a grin every time he pulls it out
"are you kidding me?" - this one he just says randomly - but it makes me laugh because i know he heard me say it in frustration to Stephen many, many times. his voice goes so high, and all the words run together. priceless
"mommy" or "daddy" mimicked with same no nonsense tone when I am about to put my foot down and say, "lincoln." a warning inside my tone. funny most of the time when he uses the same tone back at me, not so funny when he has done it several times a day.
"heh heh heh" linc has this super funny, devious laugh he does when he is playing with his dinosaurs and one them eats another.



Jacks does some cute things as well - when ever he sees our giant blue stuffed snake he goes "sssssssss".

i lub you mom

Today Lincoln said "I lub you mom" for the first time of his own free will. It was right after we had spent a good chunk of time in the bathroom while he sat on the potty after he first woke up. I read him books, got him juice, covered him a blanket because he was cold. He was successful and after great rejoicing between the 2 of us, we got him dressed for the day. "I lub you mom!", as he threw himself into my lap. It was an amazing moment, one I have been waiting for a long time.

I have been potty training Lincoln for the last 3 days. The first 2 days were only half days, but today was our first full day. He has been doing so great, and only had 2 accidents today. To goes to show that if you wait long enough they practically train themselves! :)

Jack is going to be 1 in 3 weeks. It is absolutely unbelievable too me. This year has flown by. I have stopped looking at him like my little baby and now see him as my almost one year old - and my how he was developed in the last few months! He is pretty much sleeping through the night (YEA!) and is getting better at communicating what he wants. I taught him the sign for 'more' just last week and he is already using it regularly. He loves to play with the music table - he sits and claps his hands and bounces to the songs. He is so patient + content - just follows us around the house, dragging his little body as he still refuses to crawl properly, even though he is completely capable.

I daily fight the tears as I realize my baby is turning 3 soon and my other baby is turning one. Life goes so quickly once kids enter the picture. It is bitter, bitter sweet.

Lincoln the sponge!

Ok, so I am certain I have said many a times that Lincoln's vocabulary is exploding, and once again it is. Now we are in the very fun and exciting phase where he can repeat words that you teach him! I mean yes, it has its down sides as he repeats any words he hears, good + bad. He is starting to use a lot more sentences. He just came to me and said, "Mom, Dad come home soon?" Which a month ago would have been "dad home?"

Lincoln's love of trains has increased as well! He constantly wants to play trains, setting up his little wooden track he got from G+G Dombowsky from IKEA. In the last 2 days he has begun to make his trains talk to each other, and asks me to play "thomas". So we sit on the floor using deep voices and have conversations with the trains. Its very sweet + boring at the same time. He can't hold much of a conversation. But its so cute when he answers everything as himself, ex: (me)"Hey engine, did you have a nap today?" (linc)"Yes" (me)"Hey Rheneas, what do you want to do tonight?" (linc)"See Daddy". Fun stage!

Lincoln continues to be a great big brother, most of the time. Whenever we are going out he always makes sure that Jack is coming up. He has also begun to call him "Jack" instead of brother. Which is bitter sweet for me. He gets rough + frustrated when Jackson crawls over to his track and tries to pull it apart. But we are working on it. The other day both boys got left in Lincoln's room alone for a few minutes. We soon heard Jackson screaming, and Stephen went in to find Lincoln pushing Jackson face into the carpet, with a smile on his face! Let's just say a longer than usual time out quickly followed!

Linc sleeping habits have been going through many phases. He continues to nap in various places, mostly inside his too small toy box. But he has also napped on top of his lego table, on the floor all over his room, and even attempted under the hamper, but that didn't last very long. He also has started sleeping with the blanket over his head. When he does this during his nap he wakes up looking like he just got out of the bath, as his hair is literally soaked.

His manners have begun to develop and it is so darling. After most meals he will say "thanks supper!" And at night when we are laying in his bed together winding down he will list several things through out the day that he enjoyed: "Thanks supper. Thanks car ride. Thanks choo choo".

We are so proud of the incredible little boy he is growing into!

Jackson Boy

Wow I can't believe Jackson is going to be 10 months in one short week! I better start planning a 1st birthday party to end all birthday parties! Here are some of the amazing things Jackson boy (what I affectionately call him) does at almost 10 months:
1.Wave bye - ok this is a big deal, and he just started doing it this last week. I don't remember Lincoln ever really doing it, so it excites me to no end when Jack so eagerly does it!
2. Still army crawls - yup thats right, still! He just does not want to get up on all fours. But you know, its working for him. He can get around like its no body's business. So if its not broke, why fix it?
3. Loves to climb - which delights Stephen to no end! Jackson is going to be our adventurous, probably end up giving me several heart aches, boy. This boy lives on our fireplace mantle, which is about 8 inches off the ground. Up and down all day. Over the bottom of the coffee table, over the legs of his high chair. Yup, this kid loves to climb!
4.Tells tall tales - oh my, Jackson is one animated talker! His little arms get flapping and he furrows that brow and on with the story! He was telling my grandparents a story the other day when they were over, and my grandmother is convinced he is going to be a preacher! Pentecostal for sure the way he was moving those hands!
5. Finally sleeping in his own crib in his own room! Jackson slept with us until earlier this month, so until he was nine months old. I enjoyed every minute of it, but felt that he was starting to wake up more than necessary simply because I was right beside him. So we started to transition him, and he did beautifully! By the second day I could lay him awake in his crib and he would fall asleep on his own for his nap. Nights have been a lot harder, but the last few he has been waking up only once to nurse, so I am thrilled. And very much enjoying having my bed back!
6. Still only 2 teeth. Each time Jack gets cranky or has a hard night I am convinced he is teething, and he could be, but alas no new teeth have popped through in 4 months!
7. Peek-a-boo - Jack is an awesome peek-a-boo player. He probably peeks at a 12 month level.

The richest women in the world

Mothering is the most challenging job that I have ever done. And it definitely has its fair share of hard, sometimes get the better of me days. And I have had a few of those this week alone. But as I lay beside my handsome 2 1/2 year old before nap time this afternoon, and he turns to me and says "close eyes" - poking each one as he does, my heart was over run with goodness, pride, love, affection. "I'm the richest women in the world," I thought to myself, as I secretly watched him through the cracks of my 'closed eyes' as put his arms behind his head as he lay on his back and settle in to nap.

Lincoln at the end of 2010

I have been lazy with my recording of lifes little mile stones. It is especially hard with Lincoln, as his milestones are small but frequent. With Jackson, his milestones are huge, and easily noted. Sitting, teeth and crawling - such big accomplishments!While Lincolns are subtle to most people, but as his doting mother, I find each exciting! Here are a few that have happened over the last few months:
Lincoln always said "sure" instead of "yes". Lincoln, do you want to go outside? Sure! Lincoln, should we get dressed? "Sure!" Lincoln, would you like to go swimming on the moon? "Sure!" It was precious, and I loved it. I knew it would not be too long before his sures would become yeses, so I savored each one. And sure enough one day I noticed Lincoln replied "yes" a few times during the day. Then One day, I realized it had been a few days since he had said "sure". So I looked at my little boy and said "Lincoln, when Mommy asks you a question, I want to you say "sure". OK? No more "yes" just say "sure"". Little blue eyes look up at am, "Sure!". It didn't last for too long, and his "sure" is extinct but it lives in my memory.
Lincoln continues to add more complex words almost everyday to his vocabulary. Grandma, Cameron, Lincoln, Thomas, truck, are all of the latest additions. Some of our least favorable new words are "dang it" and "suck" (thanks to Uncle Luke!)
Lincoln recently spent 2 weeks getting to know his cousins. It has been over a year since we have seen them, so it was interesting to watch the 3 older ones interact. Ezra is 4, Linc 2 1/2 and Francesca 2. Lincoln is just at an age where is he is learning to play with other children, and sharing is a new concept. Well it was a forced lesson, but Linc did really well. There were definitely melt downs and battles everyday, but overall he enjoyed his time with the cousins. Even though whenever we mentioned going out to the farm he would say "No kids! No kids!"
Recently while in Winnipeg for Christmas Lincoln started to call my mom 'Grandma', and my dad taught Lincoln not to call him Grandpa, but to call him 'John'. Surprisingly Lincoln took to it and whenever I say "Lincoln, did you have fun at Grandma & Grandpas?" He says, "JOhn. Grandma & John."
Unfortunately Lincoln still has not said "I love you". I told Stephen that was what I wanted for Christmas. It didn't happen, but my Matt & Nat bag did help ease the pain a little.
Potty Training has yet to be attempted. Which is 100% because I am scared to even try as I have no idea what to do and the idea of him peeing all over my carpet, or him being out and about and it being -30 and him wetting himself just does not sound like fun to me!
Lincoln still loves trains & plains the most. In fact we were at Chapters about 2 weeks ago. Just ran in to grab a book and a coffee, didn't have time to stop and play with the train set in the childrens section. Didn't even think Lincoln would realize where we were since we had only played there 2 times before. Well meltdown level 5 ensued when we left. So we after dragging him out of there we promised we would return to play trains before we left the city. Well a 2 year old never forgets. After each stop, "Choo-Choo?" "No, bud not yet! But soon!" Finally at the end of our errands we take the right turn into Chapters "YES! CHOO CHOO" Followed by the double fist pump in the air is what we heard from the back seat. He is so smart!