18 Months - 16 weeks

I think I should title this post 18 months going on 18 years! Lincoln is turning into a little grown up right before my eyes, and he does something new and cool and independent every day. This is an awesome stage, and I don't want it to end. Maybe this is the fun before the Terrible Two's begin . . . am I supposed to hold on to the memories of my sweet, lovey, cuddly little one? He gives amazing hugs and kisses. He loves to "help" with whatever I'm doing, and I have to let him be a part of everything. He carries laundry, pushes the basket, puts his toys away, organizes the books, tries to cut his food, always uses his fork, and so many more grown up things. I love every little second! Here are the stats for Linc:

Weight - 24 big ones! He's still in the 25% percentile for weight. His current favorite foods are hot dogs, rice, peas, graham crackers, bananas and of course strawberries. He ate 10 berries just this evening! His dislikes change every day.

Height - 32 inches! He is definitely getting taller, though he still has short legs right now. Gotta keep growing so we can ride more rides!

New words - I can't keep up with the new words because they come so fast. He repeats everything and loves to point and name things. He is combining words all the time. Bye bye, Dada. Hi, Mama. Water all gone. More milk. He even said Hi Doctor at our visit yesterday. So impressive!

Tonight we went to the neighborhood Mexican place for a yummy dinner to celebrate Linc's 18 month birthday. Here he is enjoying a few chips!

Baby Kuhlman is doing well at 16 weeks. All our doctor visits have been great, and the little one is growing just fine. I am sleeping pretty well, not sick at all, and feeling good. I do get tired more easily, after all I'm keeping up with Linc. My baby bump is increasingly huge . . . way bigger than 16 weeks last time. I'm just trying to ignore it, but I know I will be in maternity clothes soon. Lincoln points to my belly and says "baby" all the time. Unfortunately we have another month before we'll know whether to buy pink or blue. It is going so slow this time, and I can't wait to know. Stay tuned for more updates soon.

He's a Looker!

Lincoln makes the most intriguing expressions . . . enjoy a few shots from this evening.

State Fair Fun

It's that time of year in Texas . . . time for The State Fair!!! We all happened to have Friday off and heard it was opening day at the fair. Why not try out the cool food without all the crowds, right? Our first stop was to say hello to Big Tex.

We made our way through the zillions of food vendors, took a stroll down the midway, and checked out the rides. I'm definitely not a person who likes carnival rides. I mean, they just put that together yesterday - that can't be safe!!! Well that thought went out the window quick because Linc was the first kid on the spinning balloon ride!

He was so proud to be 32 inches - he could ride with Mommy!!!

Full disclosure - Lincoln got a little scared once the ride got going. We were spinning around and going up and down, and he let out a little whimper. I held him tight and the scaredness faded.

By the end, I heard him saying "Weeeee!" He wasn't very excited when the ride stopped. I see lots of rides in our future . . . he'll just have to get taller. There's a pretty small selection of rides for the 32 incher.

Our next stop was the food! We had heard about lots of new fried goodies and settled on a few old favorites and a couple of new items. To start - a Fletcher's corndog for Kevin, a burger for me, potato tornadoes for all of us to share, and lots of vanilla wafers for Linc. Venturing out - fried beer and fried chocolate covered strawberry waffle balls.

Here are the results of the fried beer:

If you can't tell, Kevin is about to puke!!! It was so gross. They put a spoonful of beer in a ravioli and fried it. Seriously yuck! I don't know how it won an award at the Taste Test. Although we don't have photographic proof, I can attest to the deliciousness of the fried chocolate covered strawberry waffle balls. YUMMY! I may have to go to the fair again this year to have another taste. We also visited the auto show and watched the waterfall (a lot!). What a fun Friday! If anyone happens to be at the fair in the next few weeks, pick up an extra fried chocolate covered strawberry waffle ball for me!

Backyard Fun

One of Lincoln's favorite words is outside. He asks to go outside a lot, and we spend a lot of time going for walks, running in the stroller, greeting all the neighborhood dogs, and patrolling our street in general. We have the same conversation about going outside each day.

Lincoln: Rain, rain? (like the beginning of rain, rain, go away)

Me: No rain today.

Lincoln: No rain?

Me: No, no rain.

Lincoln: Outside!!!

So outside we go! Today we played in the backyard and enjoyed the swing. He's getting more daring and wants to really go!

We also blew lots of bubbles. Lincoln wants to blow his own bubbles and looks so cute attempting it. No bubbles ever appear, however. Luckily Mommy is an expert with the bubbles! (If only I could find that battery-powered bubble gun we used to have. Hmmm!) Notice that he always carries the tray of bubble solution with him. I can't get him to set it down for anything! He's so independent!

We'll enjoy this beautiful weather (meaning not 100 degrees) any afternoon.

Glove Love

Have I discussed Kevin's love of gloves lately? If I haven't, let me explain that gloves are a part of everyday life around here. Kevin doesn't like germs . . . simple as that! He's so much more relaxed than he used to be, but he still relies on gloves for all the germy chores: diaper changing, trash, dirty dishes, cat litter, etc. Needless to say, there are boxes of gloves in all the obvious places. Lincoln also loves the gloves and tries to wear them like Daddy.

For Father's Day, Kevin got all the boxes of gloves Walmart had. Anyone need a Christmas gift idea - hint, hint. This gift pleases both Kev and Linc!

No no no!

The kitties were getting in trouble for misbehaving, and Lincoln was thrilled to tell them "no, no, no!" He hears that a lot and repeats it often. Lots of times he's doing something he's not supposed to while asking "no, no, no?" Sometimes he even wears a cute little smirk while saying it. He usually minds pretty well, but it's hard for a toddler to always do what he's told. Luckily he was the one handing out the discipline this evening! He chased the cats around the house, shaking his finger and gladly raining on their parade!

A Sidekick for Pops

Pops and Nana invited us to the Maguire Family Picnic this weekend. They promised good food and lots of entertainment for Linc, and they delivered! We got there just in time for bbq, but Lincoln was not interested in the food. There were too many people to charm. He mostly hung with Pops and met all the guests. You'd think Lincoln owned the place the way he was strutting around! He climbed the stairs a million times, got an awesome balloon bunny (complete with orange balloon carrot), played with the giant bubble wands,

ran around on the tennis courts,

and found cool sunglasses in his goody bag.

We took a diaper break and found great hide and seek spots in the ladies locker room. This is definitely his favorite game right now, and I'm constantly "losing" him!

It was a fun evening, and we were glad to see all the Maguire ladies again. Linc definitely enjoyed being a sidekick to Pops. He followed (or lead!) him around everywhere. Thanks for a fun evening!

Break

Sometimes a pregnant Mommy needs a little rest. I'm so lucky Lincoln is willing to keep me company!

Good Lookin' Sunday

Someone was looking especially cute today! We went outside before church to burn some energy and had lots to do. There were airplanes flying up above,

dogs barking across the sidewalk,

and lots of cute smiles all around.

Mmmmmm, Milky Way!

The candy dish provided a sweet surprise today! Lincoln can reach the candy dish and usually digs through it without any luck. I guess the candy is usually wrapped pretty well. The Milky Way he discovered today opened with just one little pull. Hmmmm . . . he looked at me questioningly? I nodded and waited for the reaction. He took a little bite, and I was sure the caramel and nougat would be too much for him. Nope! He loved it! (He doesn't get candy that often. We stick with strawberries, pears and blueberries for our treats.) He excitedly ate the whole "fun size" Milky Way, looking at me with a sly smile with each bite.

There was quite a bit of chocolate drool to clean up, but it was worth it! I hope I haven't created a monster!!!

Double Duty

There's so much to do and no time to rest . . . Linc was vacuuming and mowing at the same time! He loves to push both around, usually separately! He backed into his little hiding spot but couldn't get the toys with him.

Back to work! He decided to vacuum instead of mow, but kept the mower close just in case. Notice the jar of peanut butter on the chair? He ALWAYS gets the peanut butter from the pantry and carries it around. Weird!

Labor Day at the Zoo

What to do on Labor Day? A visit to the zoo, of course! We headed for the Dallas Zoo on Monday morning to take advantage of the cooler weather. I haven't heard many nice things about the Dallas Zoo - the deadly gorilla escape/attack, the lonely elephant debacle, the clientele/locale - but we were pleasantly surprised. The animals were plentiful, the exhibits were fine and it was easy to get in and out with a toddler.

Linc had to get dressed in his dinosaur outfit to get in the spirit!

He was amazed by the turtles. I couldn't think of what a turtle "says" so he just stared in silence.
The alligators were a little creepy. Actually the entire reptile house was a little creepy, but we were determined to see every inch of the zoo!

Daddy and Linc waving to the monkeys. This was definitely his favorite part. Linc made the monkey sound all morning!

The new "Wilds of Africa" exhibit was great. We saw elephants (4!), a giraffe, tigers, and many more safari-like animals.

We had a fun visit to a "real" zoo! I hear the Fort Worth Zoo is really great, so we'll have to check it out soon. I guess I better figure out what a turtle says!

Go Rangers!

We made it to another Rangers game this year, and we got to sit in style! Uncle Matt got us hooked up with an awesome suite for the A's Saturday night game.

The pros:

It wasn't 100 degrees!

We had our own private (and clean) bathroom!

There was a TV tuned to the Cowboys preseason game!

We got to visit with lots of friends!

There was lots of room to hang out inside the suite or outside in our private seats!

The one and only con:

There were 3 steps inside and 3 steps outside. Lincoln is OBSESSED with stairs! I sat on the bottom step at the rail the entire evening to prevent any falls, and he was in and out a million times to walk both sets of stairs. I bet he had sore leg muscles the next day!

We read lots of books on the way to the Ballpark. What a smartie!

There were plenty of plastic spoons to play with, so Linc was thrilled. He can drum them, clap them, chew on them, and so many other things. Seriously, I always keep a couple of spoons in the diaper bag because he loves them!

"Say Cheese, Daddy! Too bad Daddy doesn't have a cool Rangers jersey like me!"
It was a packed house, and Linc really took it all in. He loved to watch the activities on the field, but I'm not sure he knows this is what we watch every night. He did clap and cheer with the rest of the fans and tried to yell "Go Rangers."
Because we're such cool parents, we let Linc stay up past his bedtime for one night only! He didn't go to bed until almost 9:30 . . . over an hour late! Thanks to Matt and the Goodmans for having us. It was so much fun. (And I'm sure much easier than sitting in the regular seats with Linc. Can you imagine how much stair walking he would do in a whole section???)