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!

Days of Darkness

Monday & Tuesday of this last week were two of the hardest days I have walked through in a long time. The perfect storm of being house bound, parenting solo for over a week, & feeling like a failure in every aspect of my life. I failed more times as a parent in those 48 hours that i have ever in the last 2.5 years.
But God is faithful.
+ this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_P7Ji93pVA
+ spending a whole day doing manual labor with Stephen
+ joining a new small group
=
refreshed
motivated
determined
excited

This is what I have learned:
monotony is maddening
real community is vital
my character is tested not only in major life issue present but more importantly everyday behind the 4 walls of my home by my 2 year old son with only him as a witness as to whether i pass or fail. to remember he is the only witness that matters is the key.

My Bucket List

Here are some things that I truly want to experience in life:
(I will add to it as I think of things worthy of the my list)

1. Either witness or participate in a flash mob
2. Attend a loved ones birth
3. Attend a U2 concert

Happy!

Tonight Lincoln added the word happy to his vocabulary, after hearing Stephen say it while watching the rider game. This is what we experience for a solid 20 minutes after the new found word was discovered: