Fun with Sesame Street

Because I'm such a cool Mom (right!), Lincoln got a balloon from the grocery store yesterday. Not for any special reason . . . just because! Boy was he excited! He always talks about the balloons when we're there, and this time they had cool Sesame Street balloons ready to take home. He's been playing with like crazy, so I definitely think it was $3.00 well spent! The putter and a wooden spoon are his weapons of choice to bang the balloon, but sometimes he gives it a hug. He points to Elmo (Meh-mo), Big Bird (Bee Bird), and Cookie Monster (Yum Yum Yum). If you don't read the book "Cookie Monster Likes to Share" you wouldn't know that's what Cookie Monster says. Lincoln has decided his name is Yum Yum Yum. Whatever!

Our Sesame Street mania didn't end there on Friday. We also bought a cool new pair of shoes with guess who on them . . . Elmo!!!! Who knew Elmo had his own line of flip flops?

To be honest, these don't seem like the highest quality product and they'll probably fall apart soon. If you see any, Lincoln will take them in a size 5 or 6. Thanks!

Little Dirt Devil Man

Lincoln and I love to vacuum! He gets so excited when I tell him it's time to vacuum and runs to "help" me get it. He chases it, hugs it, and tries to examine under it. Occasionally he wants me to hold him while I vacuum so he can "help" push the handle!

Now that you know all that, are you as excited as we are about Lincoln's very own vacuum?!?! He's been pushing it around the house, stopping to examine all the buttons, and watching the beads light up. The best part . . . it actually picks up dirt! I haven't utilized that feature yet, but I'm sure I will often. Earn your keep, right?

He makes the motor sound (like for a car) when he vacuums whether it's turned on or not.
I'm considering renting him out if anyone needs their floors done . . . what's the going rate for toddler housekeepers these days?

Neighborhood Patrol

I never remember to take my camera when we're out for a walk . . . until tonight! Nothing goes unnoticed by Lincoln while he's patroling. Every car gets a wave, every animal gets a yell, every flower gets examined. Don't try to sneak anything passed Linc! He's always on a mission to check out the next thing and runs like a determined man!

Of course, we have to borrow a couple of rocks from the neighbor. Linc always takes a few, and I always return them on our next walk.

We saw a man on a bicycle and a lady with a stroller together on the sidewalk . . . double excitement!!!!!

Seriously, how exciting! He's waving with both hands and squealing at the top of his lungs!
On the way home, he decided this stick was interesting. It didn't last long . . . the sticks never make it all the way home. They're not as fun as rocks!

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Lincoln has really grown to love his horsey. He enjoys the climbing part (on and off) and gets himself into some interesting positions. Often he just scoots off the back! He is very good at bouncing and loves for me to sing while he bounces.

Giddy up!!!

He was getting ready to kiss the horsey. So sweet!!!

Sacked Out!

Swimming lessons make me tired!

Cutest Little Thing

Every day (at least once a day) Lincoln searches for a ball under the entertainment center. He often knocks one of the balls under there when playing and sees me use the bat or golf club to sweep it out. Now he grabs the bat himself and dives to the ground to search for himself! Seriously, he does this all the time! Even if there is no ball under there, he grunts and yells until I come grab the bat and kneel down to look. I often have to roll a ball under and sweep it out for him to move on! It's too funny, and he makes the funnies expressions.

Hmmmm, there must be a ball under here somewhere!

Mom, are you gonna come help me or what!?!?

Maybe if I look again a little closer . . .

Seriously Mom! Get over here and find this ball. I know it's there!

I could write all day about the funny things he does, but this one is particularly cute!

Firemen Visit!!

We were having a regular Sunday evening . . . dinner, bath, bedtime. Around midnight the carbon monoxide alarm turned red and began to beep. Kevin tried it in several rooms with the same result. Of course we didn't know what to do, so we called 911. I checked Linc's breathing and reflexes while Kevin explained the situation to the operator. Before long a fire truck came tearing down our street (siren off, thank goodness!) to rescue us. The 3 firemen tested the air with their equipment and detected zero levels of carbon monoxide. I guess our alarm went haywire, and the firemen recommended we get a new one. The next evening's field trip was to Home Depot to invest in not one, but two carbon monoxide monitors! Lincoln wasn't interested in helping carry anything. He kept throwing it and running down the aisle! What a scare we had, but I'm glad we have new detectors. Luckily Lincoln slept through the entire event. He's had visits from the firemen at school so I'm sure he would have been cool with it; however, I didn't want to try to get him back to sleep!

If you don't have at least one carbon monoxide monitor in your home, please get one quickly. Also, check your smoke detectors regularly. You can't be too safe!

Just Playing Around

This is often how Lincoln approaches me . . . with a book in each hand, ready to plop down in my lap to read. We definitely get our money's worth on each and every book. Of course he has favorites, but we read them all at least once each day.

Lincoln makes the sounds of the pictures in his books. Animal sounds were his faves, but now he's into moving vehicles! He makes the motor sound for the truck/car/tractor, a strange hissing sound for the airplane, and a choo-choo sound for the train. (He's making the train sound in the picture below!)

After reading for a bit, Lincoln sneakily walked around me as quiet as he could and stood behind his crib. He thought he was hiding and that I couldn't see him! He stood there giggling for a minute, obviously proud of his trick.

I popped my head around and surprised him - oh, what a laugh!

We had quite a busy day of a run in the jogging stroller, swimming at the pool, reading books, coloring, playing ball (golf, baseball and basketball), shopping at our favorite grocery store, riding the horsey, and even squeezing in a good nap! It was a fun day of just being a toddler. What a life!

Anatomy 101

Lincoln is getting so good at body parts. I tried to catch a few pictures, but you know how kids love to cooperate, right????? This is the best I could do!

Ears

Toes
Hair

Belly (his favorite!)

Mouth

He also does knee, nose, fingers, eyes and elbow. Apparently he wasn't interested in having that documented because he kept running away from the camera.

Another Saturday on the Birthday Circuit

Lincoln's friend from school, Maddy, celebrated her 2nd birthday on Saturday. We definitely had fun at her party! It was at Pump It Up . . . a giant playroom filled with bounce houses, slides, silly obstacle courses and balls. What could be better?!?!

Linc started out a little timid, and Daddy showed him that jumping was fun.

We made it through the obstacle course of ladders, rock (padded bricks) climbing, and swinging bridges to the slide. Lincoln was happiest at the bottom of the slide! Mommy and Daddy were too. We compared our elbow slide burns. Seriously, how is this safe!

It wasn't long before Linc was trying to climb the stairs to the big slide. Ummmmm, I don't think so buddy. This one is not safe for the 15 month old. The rest of the pictures are a blur . . . of Lincoln jumping, bouncing and running around so fast that the camera couldn't keep up.

We had so much fun at the party and hope Maddy had a Happy Birthday. Lincoln was a little sorry to part with the birthday gift he brought. Apparently a pink wagon filled with buckets and shovels is something he's really in to. Could someone find this in blue???? If you are ever looking to find a way to tire out an "Energizer Bunny Kid," this is the place. I didn't think he would ever wake up!

Happy 18th Birthday, Ally!

"I'm having a birthday cupcake to celebrate with you. Are you having birthday cake too? This candle is cool. Can we light it!"

Ok, Lincoln really wasn't interested in the cupcake . . . he was interested in eating the sprinkles off the cupcake one by one! He sat there for quite a while picking them off, showing me, then eating them. Of course, I didn't let the cupcake go to waste! Happy Birthday, Ally!

Vroom, Vroom

Lincoln got a new riding toy from his Nana and Pops that he's been testing out. It's a fire truck, and it's the perfect size for his short little legs to reach the ground. The first few days he just sat on it. The next few days he pushed it backwards. Finally he's figured out how to go forward. Hooray!

Of course he takes lots of breaks to push the buttons. The siren hasn't gotten old yet . . . but the sound may "break" one of these days.

Dancing, Bellies, and Baseball

Even though we're still torturing Lincoln with ear drops to clear up his infection, he's acting like nothing is the matter. On our walk tonight, he ran down the sidewalk yelling at the birds just like normal. He played with his friends at school and even enjoyed ice cream for a treat. I'm sure every Mom thinks her kid is the smartest, busiest, and cutest . . . of course I think that about Linc! Here is just a few seconds of hanging out with Lincoln.

PS - Lincoln's dancing consists of spinning around in a circle followed by a bouncing squat! Too cute!

Ear Troubles

Our long weekend started out with a bit of drama . . . here's the long story! For the first time since he was just a few months old, Lincoln woke up screaming in the middle of the night (Thursday night). Since this is so rare, he'd just received two vaccines, and he was screaming like crazy, we ran to check on him. He had a tiny fever 99 degrees, but nothing else I could determine. I calmed him down and put him back to bed, but he was up an hour later screaming! It was a long night for everyone here!!! Friday was filled with playing, snacking, giggling, coloring and every other normal thing Lincoln does. I guessed it was just a fluke that he didn't sleep, and Friday night he returned to his normal sleep schedule. This morning we went to swim lessons, had a yummy Mexican lunch (beans, rice and guacamole for Linc!), and took a nice nap. I noticed drainage from his ear immediately when he woke up, and we rushed to the pediatrician. Right ear: Infection. Left ear: Ruptured Drum! I can't believe I missed the ear infection and it got so serious. One tiny fever and sleepless night . . . no ear tugging, fussiness, or high fever. You'd think he'd be cranky, but he was running through the aisles at the store while we waited on the prescription! He made friends with an elderly lady and snagged a new box of crayons for being so brave. Later in the afternoon, I caught the little rascal stealing a granola bar out of the diaper bag. He enjoyed his stolen snack!

Apparently ear troubles don't hold Linc down . . . gotta keep playing!

15 Months

The fifteen month mark has brought a barrage of new things. I can't even keep up with all the things Lincoln does and says because it's coming fast furious! Each day he amazes us, and I swear he's the smartest kid ever. (You other parents are free to think your kids are the smartest kids ever . . . I totally understand!) Here's what I can tell you about Lincoln at 15 months:

Weight

Almost 23 pounds - seriously, the baby scale said 22.15 the other night. I gave him a toothbrush to hold to push him up to 23, but it didn't work! He's still in the 25th percentile, but he eats quite a bit and just plays it all off! He loves any kind of chicken, fish sticks, strawberry newtons, carrots, cheese, bananas, pancakes and all snack foods. We're going through milk like crazy right now. Last weekend he drank a whole gallon! Of course we buy the fancy organic stuff, so I may invest in that company for a while. If other kids are like Lincoln, that stock will turn into serious cash!

Height

31.5 inches - and it's the cutest 31.5 inches I've ever seen! Maybe he's growing taller but not fatter for now. He's pretty long-waisted with short legs. He still wears a lot of 12 month clothes, but the one piece things are not long enough in the stride. We love to see him in polo shirts or t-shirts with shorts . . . no more onesies for us!

Words - I'll just add to the list from last month.

Animal Sounds - Neigh, Meow, Baaa, Doodle-Do (for the rooster) We practice these all the time. I'm working on duck, dog and pig right now, but he's not interested in those yet.

Back - It doesn't always sound clearly like "back", sometimes he leaves off the "ck". He loves to put things back and gets aggravated when I'm not participating.

Bye-Bye - It seems like he should have been saying this one a while ago, but it's a new one. Since he was 10 months old, he blows a kiss when we say bye-bye. Now blows a kiss, waves and says bye-bye.

Night-night - Lincoln begins saying night-night when we get out of the bath, then repeats it over and over when we read the Sesame Street book "Nighty-Night" at bedtime.

Minnie and Nana - He loves his grandmothers and can say both of their names when I show him pictures. (I bet they are both squealing with delight right now!!!!) As for Pops and Grumps, we're working on it. He tries hard to say Pops when he sees the picture, but the sound's just not coming out yet. When I ask him to say Grumps, he makes the silly sound that Grumps always makes. Because he can't figure out how to say the word, he's transferring the name to blubbering!

Fun Party Tricks

Lincoln loves to high five. He gives them to us, the swim teacher, the grocery store lady, and on and on.

He loves his belly button and anyone else's belly button too! He constantly lifts his shirt and our shirts to check them out.

The vacuum cleaner is an amazing appliance! He chases it around while I'm vacuuming and just wants to touch it.

He can retrieve or put away his shoes when I ask him.

I'm most excited about this one: Lincoln always hands the cup to me or very intently stands it right side up on the ground after he's had a drink. No more (well, much less) spilled milk!!!!

Helping with the laundry: I try to get him involved in all the activities around the house. Daddy says the dishwasher is off limits though. He's crazy about those raw chicken germs, even when the dishwasher is clean!

I told him to say "cheese" and this is what I got!
We all laugh so much. He's so happy and loves to laugh.

While Lincoln loves to play baseball, basketball and golf, he always goes back to his books. He loves for us to read to him and to take a break and read by himself. I hope this phase lasts for at least 20 years!

Lincoln showed off quite a bit at his 15 month appointment. He marched around the room a million times, babbled with the doctor, and flirted with the nurses. Dr. K said we're all good! Can't wait to see what 16 months holds!