Writing

I am making a new pact with myself that I am going to try my very hardest to write every few days about the things that we do as a family daily. Lincoln is now 2 and he is growing and changing so fast. With that I feel a sense of urgency to document all of our fun daily happenings here, so I don't ever forget just how fun and challenging being a mother truly is. I LOVE being a mom and I count my lucky stars everyday that I am blessed to stay home with him. I am fortunate enough to be by his side every step of the way as he takes his first steps, learns  new words and phrases, and as he tries to dress and undress himself at least 10 times a day. I love to watch him explore and learn and develop from a baby into a strong willed little boy.


Fun Things about Lincoln at 2 years old:

* He is walking by himself!!! He took his first real steps on his own a few weeks before his 2nd birthday, and from there on out he has been moving. He basically can run anywhere he wants now. He is amazing. His prosthesis is his best buddy now!

*He is obsessed with vehicles and their brands and who they belong too. Every Chevy is an "Aunt  Nee Nee's car," every Nissan is a "Pa's car," every Honda is a "Dada's car." I mean every kind of car you can name is associated with the person who owns it. He watches for the symbol on the hubcaps or grill of the car and then makes a determination as to who's car it is.

* He loves to sit in and pretend to drive any type of vehicle as well. He LOVES cars and to push buttons and play with the radio and windshield wipers etc.

* He still loves the computer and sitting and pressing the keyboard buttons and using the mouse. He likes to act like a big boy and copy everything we do. It really is fun to see him develop into a little person. He now wants to shave, brush his teeth and use nose trimmers all by himself just like his dad.

* He loves our cell  phones, as most kids do, but he actually loves to call each person who's picture he recognizes in my phone and talk to them and hang up on them as soon as he is "done" with the conversation. He calls his "Pa" at least 3-5 times a day successfully and he tries at least 20 times daily before I snatch the phone away.

*He loves to dress and undress himself several times a day and he is truly obsessed with a blue T-shirt with a dump truck on it that his friend Colton let him wear one day and he has to wear it EVERY day, even if it is for a few minutes. I try to wash it at night while he sleeps as to not disturb his peace by the shirt being missing.  He also likes to put Daddy's shirts on and pretend he is a big boy.

* He still loves Barney and watches it a few times a day. He has now started to call it "Melanie," as his favorite little girl in one of the shows is called Melanie. He has a crush on her :)

* His vocabulary is expanding everyday and he loves to copy things we say. I was concerned his speech was delayed, but I am now certain he is catching on quickly and loves to talk, in fact there is never a quiet moment around here and when there is I worry he is into something he shouldn't be!

* Lincoln has a very loving heart and a very strong willed personality. He knows exactly what he wants and is not easily swayed away from it. He is soooo sweet when he wants to be, yet easily frustrated and upset when things do not go his way. For a two year old that is hard because much of the time things do not go his way, but slowly he is learning that sweetness gets him much further than his hot headed power struggle. I love this about him. I know his determination and will is what literally saved his life when he was so sick, and it can and will be a blessing to him if he learns how to channel all of his determination and will into good, positive directions.

* Most of all he is so funny and has such a great sense of himself and others around him. He loves others and wants to hug everyone, especially little people like himself. :) We love our little man and are so thankful we get to be his parents!

For Halloween Linc was Mr. Fredrickson from the movie Up. It was such a cute costume. He was not too sure about all the costumes that other kids were wearing and he was especially frightened by face makeup, but we had fun and he lloked adorable.

Big News: In November Dave graduated and is now a Board Certified PA. We are so proud of him!

 

      We are excited for the Holiday Season. December is such a fun month with lots of family birthday parties and Christmas! Bring on the fun!                                                               

So Many Things I Never Want to Forget

The past few days I have thought a lot about how blessed I feel to be Lincoln's mother. He is full swing into the terrible two's, and has been for the last few months even though he is still about a month away from being two officially:) There are so many fun things that he does at this stage of his life which I never want to forget. And of course there are some not so desirable things that he does that I also don't want to forget.

Fun Things:

1. He gives the BEST hugs and kisses in the world. This child is so loving. When he wakes up and we go in to get him from his crib, we get big hugs and a kiss, smack-dab on the lips. He looks in your eyes and puckers those cute lips and plants one right on our lips. If Dave and I are kissing, he comes right over and has to get a kiss from each of us as well. I LOVE it! He will also just come up out of the blue and kiss any part of my body that he can reach. My legs, my back or my head. He is sure sweet.

2. He loves water. If he is cranky at anytime of day, I just strip him down to his diaper and let him play in water. Inside, outside, sink, bath, hose, whatever we can find! He is instantly content.

3. He loves Aunt Nee Nee and her dog, Eddie. He asks for her all day long and "Eeh," for Ed. When he sees her both Dave and I fade to the background and it is all about Nee Nee. It is pretty adorable. He loves all of his cousins too, and gets so excited any time we talk about his cousins by name.

4. He is OBSESSED with Barney. He asks to watch it all day. He goes in the cabinet and finds the DVD covers and brings them to me and says "Bar" over and over until I budge and put it on. It can drive us crazy, but it is awful cute that he loves it that much. We are trying to get him to Branch out to Dora or Mickey Mouse Club, but he has no interest yet.

5. He still adores his daddy, and gets so excited when he comes home. When he hears Dave call on my phone, he shouts "DAD." He knows the ring tone and responds with such excitement. I love that he loves his Daddy. I sure do too:):)

6. Walking unassisted is something we are working on. Although I know Linc can do it, he is unsure and has to hold our hand or has to push some object to feel secure enough to walk. He likes the two finger hold as you see below. It seems so arduous to us right now, but he will get it in his own time and we are so proud of him. He is very cautious, and I hope that pays off later when he is a teen boy with an artificial leg that can not feel pain and he thinks he can do anything. That is when I hope he continues to be cautious. We'll see! :):)

7.The newest thing I adore is when I ask him about something he is excited about or that he wants to do, he puts his lips in an O shape and says"ooohhhh." His eyes light up and his smile reaches from ear to ear. He is so much fun.

8. He loves the song BINGO and clapping his hands. He can repeat all the letters B I N G O with our prompting. It is pretty cute!

9. He loves his prosthesis and often times I will find him trying to put it on by himself when he is ready to get up and walk. I love this kid.

10. He loves to play with our electric toothbrush and clean our shoes and anything that looks remotely fun to polish. We keep a spare head for him that we snap on the toothbrush and let him go to town, it can keep him busy for an hour:)

There are many, many other things our little guy does that are absolutely adorable. I can't think of them all right now, but will have to write them down more often.

And because this is a journal of sorts I need to remember some of the not so desirable things he is doing right now.

* Throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants at lightning speed. "Sorry child, I don't operate that fast."

*The hitting for no reason but being tired or bored or frustrated.

*The VERY strong personality that comes out when he has a mind to do something that is either unsafe or not conducive to the circumstances at the time.

The good and the charming times certainly outweigh the 2 year old fits of wanting to be independent and not having the ability to be so. We love our little guy so much and are so proud of the progress he is making.
He keeps us on our toes for sure, but there is no place we would rather be. WE LOVE YOU LINCOLN. (All of you... even your naughty, tired side). Mwah!

Eyes, Walking and Spring Things

We have had a fun few months. Very exciting news is that Lincoln had eye surgery and his wandering eye is corrected and looking great.

Before Surgery:

After Surgery:

His eyes look fantastic and I can tell he feels so much better being able to focus with both eyes. Who knew prematurity would cause so many interesting things which have had to be corrected? This little guy amazes me with his awesome spirit everyday.

This child is ALL BOY. He is rough and tough and as much as I try to teach him to be soft... etc. He is ROUGH. He loves balls, bats, trucks and rocks. 

I love his personality. He is super sweet with just enough sass to keep things interesting and lively. Lately he is testing limits and he is starting to learn what time out is. It really does work. He seems to understand the concept and is sweet as pie when he is done with his one minute in time out, until the next time he wants to do something that is not acceptable:):) Oh the joys of discipline! This is the cute face and please gesture we see often. When he wants something really badly, we get the double please:)

 We took a trip to Salt Lake in March. We played in the snow and had a fab time with our family. They are so much fun!

We were sledding and playing in the snow, but Linc thought that the swing was way more fun!

Daddy turned 30 in March as well! We celebrated him all day and he was surprised with a  HUGE grill! We love our Daddy so much! He is the best dad, husband, brother, son etc. I could not have found a better person to spend my life with and raise children with!

 Dying Easter eggs this year was interesting. Lincoln wanted to just peel the eggs and he did a darn good job!!!

 The Annual Easter Egg Hunt at my Grandma's house was really fun this year, we had perfect weather and hiding Lincoln's eggs and basket in the yard where I hunted for eggs as a child was so nostalgic! I am so happy he gets to experience Grandma and Grandpa's yard and the epic Easter Egg hunts in the "friendly forest."

 The Easter Bunny brought him a basketball hoop, shovel and an awesome truck, some Hersheys kisses and lots of eggs.

 This is Grandma's backyard where the men migrated and turned the grass into a driving range. Golf seems to be part of our life wherever we go:)

 Momma and Lincoln in front of the pool where Mom learned to swim as a child.

                                            Kjersti and cousin Ainsley. Aren't they cute?

The cute girl cousins dressed in their Easter best .

Our Easter Sunday Family picture that we caught on self timer. It turned out well for Lincoln being so tired and cranky... hence the "scowl."

We have a walker! Well almost, he still thinks he needs to hold our hands because he is just not confident enough to do it on his own. I know he could if he would just trust himself, but I understand. The prosthesis is a little shaky, he doesn't have enough control of it yet and he gets nervous. I took the diaper shot so that you could see how the leg wraps around his waist and all movement comes from his hip. He will get a prosthesis with a knee joint when he turns 4. But for now this is what he has and he does fairly well. 

 

He cruises  on his own with his walker, but when he runs into things he gets frustrated and I get this look very often!

The past week has been so nice outside, we have been taking long walks and this weekend we got the spring bug and planted flowers and washed our car etc. Lincoln had a blast. Outside is his heaven!

 Helping Mom & Dad plant flowers and water the grass.

                                                         His face says it all. LOVE it!

Last Saturday we went to the Children's Discovery Museum and Lincoln loved the room where he  pretended to be "Bob the Builder" and was fascinated with this electrical wiring. He loved playing in the water with the boats as well. This place really is neat!

 It is the season to start soaking up the sun and enjoying family and friends outdoors. And... Dave is excited to perfect his grilling skills with that huge birthday gift. If you would like to benefit from his skills, call us up, we LOVE company!

HAPPY SPRING!