I want that!

Four words just aren't enough for Beau to communicate all he needs say. He's quite the masterful pointer, and I always know what he wants if I follow his finger. Sometimes he's just pointing at something interesting, but usually I better figure out what he wants quickly. He's not above lunging out of my arms to capture the desired object!

After a yummy breakfast of a banana and a biscuit (which Linc is calling "bones" these days?!?!), Beau decided what he wanted was Mommy! I couldn't resist that look too long!

Spring Training

In the big leagues, pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training this week. In the Kuhlman house, my pitcher and catcher began practice as well. Lincoln is enrolled in Little Sluggers starting next week, so he and Daddy got serious about their ball practice. Luckily the weather was prefect this weekend! Linc has decided that he wants to through right-handed after keeping us in suspense for almost three years! Daddy showed him the appropriate wind-up, and he let loose! (Beau is totally cheesing out in the background. He loved baseball practice . . . and eating grass!)

I'm not sure who was happier about baseball practice - Lincoln or Daddy? Seriously, Daddy already has on his coaching outfit!
Daddy insisted that I post this picture. Something about how Linc's wrist is turned down at the correct angle, and the ball's forward spin something something . . . sorry, I'm not quite up to speed on my pitching mechanics yet. At least it looks cool!

Another cheer from Beau! Not only did he pick all of the weeds in the vicinity, he had fun! (He also had his ears covered to protect from the slight wind because I'm not inviting another ear infection any time soon!)

Is there anything more wonderful to witness than pure joy?!?! Daddy throws the ball sooooooooooo high in the air, and Lincoln squeals with delight!

These guys are pretty amazing! We had tons of family fun and loved being outside. I even played a game of catch with Daddy while Lincoln took a tricycle break. Apparently I have quite the arm . . . who knew? In two seasons of softball, I made it on base exactly once (walked) and picked lots of weeds in right field. Perhaps they should have taught me pitching! I'm too scared to catch Lincoln though, so Daddy's on the hook for that one. Happy Spring Training!

Solo Time

While the boys really love to play together, sometimes they get to enjoy a little solo time. Beau and I were busy after dinner, so Daddy and Linc enjoyed a little ice cream. It was a messy adventure with the chocolate ice cream bar, but it sure was yummy!

When Lincoln began transitioning to the 3 year old preschool room at school this week, Beau and I got a little extra time together at home. He was thrilled that all of Linc's toys were available to him without a bossy brother around!
The transition to the preschool room was complete today, and it was a success. Each day Lincoln spent a little more time in his new room, ending the week with a full day today. He really loves all of the new activities, his teachers are great, he gets back together with some of his older buddies, and his schooling is going into overdrive! There are so many fun things to learn, and the programs are amazing. Next week is Dr. Seuss week with lots of activities leading up to Green Eggs and Ham breakfast on Friday! He was proud to tell me each day that he didn't cry in the new room, and I'm so proud of him! I guess I was more nervous about this change than he was! I know he doesn't turn 3 for 6 more weeks, but we all agreed that he's been getting bored in the 2 year old room and needs new challenges. I am so thankful for a great school for my boys, and I know I'm leaving them with caring ladies who teach them so much each day.

Spring in February

To celebrate the 75 degree day, we lost the jackets and headed outside to play. Lincoln was a maniac on his tricycle!

Beau really enjoyed the fresh air. He looks so big in his car!
The spring-like day put everyone in good spirits. We're ready for winter to end!

Letter Bucket

We spent some time with the letter bucket tonight, and everyone had fun! Linc does a great job recognizing letters and always tells me what word goes with the letters. We have several books and puzzles that give pictures with the letters, and he never forgets them! He can identify 16 letters by sight alone then tells me words that start with that letter from memory. Smart kid!

After our lesson, the silliness began. Beau was dying to get involved, and Linc was happy to play with him. They played peek-a-boo for quite a while!
Beau was intrigued when Linc put the bucket on his head.

Before long he would reach out to snatch the bucket away.

There were lots of giggles tonight! I'm glad learning is fun!

A Good Look

Beau is becoming very interested in my camera. He always wants to come in for a good look to check it out. I snapped a few funny faces when I moved in for a pic.

Happy curious - That camera is neat!

Serious curious - Hmmm . . . I want to get a good look at that!
Frustrated curious - Mom, stop taking my picture and let me see the camera!

Sad curious - I'm so sad that Mommy won't put that camera down so I can see it!

Beau makes the best little faces! I love his big blue eyes, fat cheeks, sweet dimples and even his little poked-out lip!

Then and Now

About this time two years ago, Lincoln was sporting a super tight Razorbacks outfit and looking super cute!

Now Beau is sporting the same super cute Razorbacks outfit and also looking super cute. How did I get the two cutest kids ever?!?! I will never confuse baby pictures of my boys. The differences are glaring: Lincoln-brown eyes, no hair and Beau-blue eyes, thick brown hair. Hair or no hair and no matter the eye color, they are both still the cutest!

Couch Time!

I think Beau is on the mend . . . he was in total play mode tonight! We gathered on the couch with a bag of animal crackers to watch Lincoln's favorite show Wipeout! He squeals and screams when the contestants crash into the water. He told Daddy last week that when he gets big he wants to be on the splashy show. What a noble aspiration! Beau is not into Wipeout, but he is really into animal crackers and climbing all over Mommy and the couch. Fun!

Linc was multi-tasking . . . watching someone get thrown into the water and tickling Beau at the same time. It might be hard to tell in this picture, but Beau was crazy giggling! He really loved playing with Lincoln, and they crawled all over each other and laughed the whole time.
In between tickling (probably in a commercial), Lincoln would smother Beau with hugs. Can you tell that Beau was getting his revenge? He's pulling Lincoln's hair during one of the hugs and loving it!

There is never a dull moment around here! I'm so thankful that there were lots of giggles tonight. I'm so thankful that Lincoln is so playful and loving (usually) with Beau. I'm so thankful that Beau is happy to be played with and loved on (usually) by Lincoln. Thanks for a fun night of laughs, guys!

Beau is 11 Months Old

Just one month short of one year old, Beau is the best 11 month old on the scene right now! We've had a super fun month and lots of development packed into 30 days. Beau is so full of personality and never takes a backseat to a bossy older brother. Right now he's fighting another (or possibly the same) ear infection, but he tries his best to giggle and play his way through it. If he's only had 1 real illness so far, I think he's a pretty tough cookie! I never really know when he's feeling bad because he's such a hard playing kid. He loves to laugh and play, and he doesn't let anything slow him down. I do enjoy a few extra hugs and snuggles when he's feeling down, but he's pretty generous with those all the time! Here are Beau's 11 month stats:

Weight: 23 lbs - When he's feeling good, Beau is a great eater. He still has a bottle at meal times and occasionally baby food, but he's loving big boy food. His favorites are chicken strips, sweet potato fries, green beans (canned only-yuck!), strawberries, bananas, biscuits, and any snacky cracker/cookie. His least favorites are carrots, steamed green beans and pears. He is obsessive about what Lincoln is having for snack and attacks Linc's snack bowl. I have to remind Lincoln every day to put his snack bowl out of Beau's reach if he wants to have any left.

Words: Dada, Mama, Bye-Bye, Uh-Oh - He's quite the talker, though he has to fight his brother for talk time. I hope he continues his love of conversing because he has lots to say!

Walking: I didn't think I'd need to add this category yet . . . Beau thinks I should! He began to take a few steps a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if he realized it yet. Now it seems purposeful, and he'll walk to what he wants if it's only a few steps. I'm still trying to get this on film, but he's playing coy when the camera appears.

Party Tricks: Waving is mastered, clapping is occasional, and peek-a-boo is emerging. He sometimes grabs a bib and covers his eyes, only to fling it aside with a big smile and wait on me to say "Peek-A-Boo"!

We all love Beau to pieces, and I kind of think he likes us too. He gets lots of squeeze hugs from Lincoln, and I'm not sure he's that fond of those but tolerates as best he can. We read lots of books, destroy Lincoln's block towers, and snack like the best of them . . . what more could Beau want at 11 months old!

Valentine's Day 2012

Valentine's Day was full of fun, hugs, kisses and laughs this year! I love that I have three Valentine's Sweeties. Lincoln has been majorly excited about Valentine's Day lately. We've received Valentine's gifts from so many people. Auntie sent us a gift box, Nana and Pops gave us a cool animal shapes waffle maker, Minnie and Bubbles sent a cool Minnie Mouse book, and Patsy and Julia Ann sent us money for extra chocolate candy! Both Beau and Lincoln love all the cards and look at them constantly. Linc picked out Goldfish Valentines to give his friends at school, we gave yummy lotion to the teachers at school that Lincoln was so excited about, and he was constantly telling us what gifts Mommy and Daddy should have for Valentines. According to Lincoln, we should all have flowers and candy on this special day! I took care of the candy-type gifts and Daddy took care of the flowers and surprised the boys with balloons. What fun! Beau got a Mickey balloon and his favorite snack of Rainbow Goldfish, and Lincoln got a Mickey balloon, a Cars plate and a Valentine Pez. (Pez candies are totally disgusting, but Lincoln is obsessed!) Daddy surprised Mommy with lots of flowers! We all enjoyed trading Valentine's cards and really had a fun evening. I know we say "I love you" often, but what's wrong with an entire day dedicated to saying it extra? Sounds like a good plan to me! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Birthday Jumping

Lincoln was invited to help celebrate the 3rd birthday of our best gymnastics friend, Blakely, at Pump It Up. Blakely is such a sweet little girl, but she's kind of shy around Linc. He's such a maniac at gym, jumping and yelling everywhere! We love all the bounce houses and slides at Pump It Up, so we picked out a princess tea party set (Do little girls play with those? I wouldn't have a clue!) and headed to party. Lincoln was loving bouncing everywhere. There are 10 bounce houses, slides and obstacle courses to choose from, and we tried them all.

Linc and Daddy did the big slide together and were all smiles. They were both a little scared at first, but Linc went back several times.
Mommy and Linc played lots of bouncing basketball. This was one of his favorites, and I got quite a workout bouncing and lifting him up to dunk!

The party theme was Little Mermaid, and Karen had the cutest cake made. It was amazing and comprised of cupcakes, chocolate cake and white cake with tons of icing! See the giant blue blob of icing on the right? That's what Linc picked! There was a cupcake buried under there, but it took him ages of eating icing before he got to it. Yummy!

It was super fun celebrating Blakely's birthday. Beau soaked up some Nana and Pops time at home, but by next year he'll probably love bouncing. We've had lots of birthdays to celebrate lately, but March will be a super busy birthday month too.

Wednesday Night Fun

We arrived home to a fun care package from Auntie today. Auntie is so sweet to always send us just what we need! I got a new towel wrap, Daddy got new barbecue seasoning, Linc got M&Ms, Beau got animal crackers and we all got chocolate chip cookies! Thanks for such a fun care package, Auntie!

Linc and Beau were both on their best behavior while playing. Well except that Linc climbed in the storage ottoman and made it his play space. Beau was obsessed with this because he couldn't climb in too! At least they were both happy!
I am thankful for a fun night of playing, regardless of where we played! Beau's ear infection must be better as he showed no signs of irritation. (Not that he showed signs of irritation before he was diagnosed!) He's decided he doesn't need the yummy amoxicillan so I'm trying to be sneaky to get it in. Hmmmm . . . he may be smarter than I am at this point!

Sharing Struggles

It's tough to learn to share. Even grown ups aren't always good at it, so how can we expect kids to share lovingly. Lincoln had quite a lesson in sharing tonight. He was happily playing with his race car ramp when Beau barged in. Beau just wanted to be a part of Lincoln's fun, but Linc was so upset that the cars didn't flip over because Beau had messed up the ramp. Lincoln kept grabbing Beau's hand and pushing it away, but Beau was relentless! Each time I explained that Beau could play with the toys too, and perhaps Linc could give him a car to play with and show him how to use the ramp correctly. That must have seemed like torture to Lincoln!

Beau tried a different angle, but Linc was ready to block him. I made him take turns with Beau sliding card down the ramp, but he was being so possessive.
Beau got tired of all the shoving and whining and took a car elsewhere to play. He picked one that talked when he hit the top button, so he was chuckling away.

It wasn't too long before Beau had to come back over to the ramp. I insisted that Lincoln show Beau how to do it and share the cars. Luckily Beau played nicely and didn't mess anything up. Finally they had a few moments of togetherness!

I really do understand that sharing is hard for little ones. Lincoln has to share toys with the kids at school, and he probably thinks he's in charge at home. Beau doesn't really put up with Lincoln's bossiness, which really heightens the situation. Well, neither of them are going anywhere so they might as well get used to this sharing thing! I was happy that my endless preaching actually paid off . . . for tonight. I'm sure we'll fight this battle again tomorrow, but all the struggles are worth it when the boys have fun together.

A First for Beau

Sweet little Beau has been so healthy for over 10 months, but that couldn't last forever. He was a little snotty and goopy (in the eyes) for the last couple of days. I finally took him the the clinic this afternoon after it seemed like the snot wasn't going away. He has been in a great mood and never ran a fever, but we just needed to find out the scoop from the doctor. Sure enough, he has an ear infection and probably a little cold. The eye boogers are just run over from the extra snot, and I'm glad we don't have pink eye to go along with the ear infection. We got amoxicillin for the infection and Vigamox to clear up th eyes. (The best part of the $60 Vigamox drops is that they work on pink eye, so I'm prepared for the next time someone brings that home!) Beau was still in a super mood and ready to play once we got that taken care of. He missed his first Super Bowl Party but had fun with Nana and Pops. Linc, Daddy and I went to the Robison's to watch the game . . . well, there wasn't much game-watching going on. Linc played with Clare, Jane, Sydney, Conner, Elise, Alexis, and Emily. They were wild and had so much fun!!! Beau's buddies Lewis and Graham were so cute and sweet, and little Stella and baby Harper were just dolls. Samantha had lots of yummy food of course, and we did our best to eat it all! Linc loved the quesadillas, taquitos, carrots and pretzels. He must have eaten his weight in pretzels!!! The grown ups had fun in between supervising the kiddos, and it was nice to visit with the Eoffs, Brosnahans, Smiths (there were two Smiths there!), Devinneys, Nelsons and Robisons. Beau was super happy for us to be home, and he got lots of hugs from Linc. I hope Beau's medicine works quickly, and we're done with being sick for a while. I love my Sweet Beau and want him to feel the best all the time. I'm so thankful that he's been healthy for so long, and I'm so glad this is the first time he's been sick . . . let's get it over with already!

Daddy Date Night

Daddy and Lincoln had a night out on the town at the Stars game! Lincoln has been obsessed with hockey lately. It all started when he saw Peppermint Patty ice skating in a Charlie Brown movie. Hockey season started right about then, and he thought it was cool that they skated too. Every night that the Stars play, Linc wants to watch. Daddy went to a game a few weeks ago with friends then decided he and Linc needed to go soon. Tonight they headed out with big plans: watch hockey, eat a hot dog and ice cream and buy a present. Excuse the picture quality, as Kevin documented their evening with his iPhone.

Linc was all excited to go in while he posed outside the arena.

The arrived early and found their seats before any of the action began.

Linc: Daddy, where are the hockey players?

Daddy: They are getting ready to skate, Buddy.

Linc: Ok Daddy. Let's go get a hot dog and we will wait for them to quit getting ready to play hockey.

So glad Linc got his hot dog. I understand he managed to talk Daddy into a big pretzel too. Yummy!

When we had this hockey game idea, we knew it would be a cheap date. The Stars aren't selling so well right now, and they've lowered ticket prices to $9 a game. Ummmm . . . not for this game. They were honoring Belfour before the game, and it was a sell out. They ended up finding two tickets for sale for $60 each!!! Since they were on the Platinum level, they had private bathrooms. Daddy texted me this picture, and I had to share! Someone (Daddy) was super excited to avoid the germy (steerage) bathrooms!
Before they left, I made Daddy promise to get someone to take their picture. I know, I know . . . how embarrassing. Thanks guys! Luckily Linc was a hit with everyone in their section. He was dancing every time the music played. He decided the best job at the arena was the cleanup girls who swept up the ice shavings during time outs. I'm not sure I want him to be a cleanup girl, but he does love to sweep!

These two boys had so much fun! When the first period was over and the players were heading off the ice, Linc told Daddy it was over and time to go. OK! That was enough hockey for one night. He was a bit confused when the game was still going on tv when they got home, but he got busy telling me all about the fun that he forgot to wonder about it. (I should mention that after the players warmed up and went back to the locker room, Lincoln told Daddy that it was over and time to go. Pops had a similar moment with Daddy at their first baseball game.) Don't worry . . . Linc got his ice cream and present (Stars outfit). While they were saying their prayers tonight, Linc stopped and said thank you to God for Daddy and Lincoln to go to the hockey game and have so much fun. He told me that maybe Mommy and Beau could go sometime, but that Daddy would have to call the hockey players and ask first. I'm so glad they got to do something fun together, just the two of them. Sometimes they are so much alike and butt heads. Daddy will never forget this night, but I hope there are many more Daddy-Lincoln-Beau bonding nights. I hate to miss out on the fun, but it's good for them. Who knew hockey was so emotional?!?!

Valentine Sweeties

We're really in the Valentine's Day spirit and are practicing lots of hugs and kiss. Lincoln loves to call Beau "Sweetie" though it sounds more like "Fweetie"! Nana brought a cool cookie decorating kit for our evening's entertainment, and Linc loved it. He was a very generous sprinkler!

Lincoln was thrilled with his creation!
He had to wait on the icing to dry before mean Mommy would let him have one. It was an agonizing wait!!! He was rewarded with red lips, teeth, tongue and fingers.

Beau didn't make it into the pictures, but he was crawling around under the table and chairs. I bet he was hoping a stray sprinkle or cookie crumb would fall to the floor. He'd love that! It's never to early for to start celebrating Valentine's Day. Next up . . . heart sprinkled brownies.

A Big Mess (again!)

Patience is not one of Beau's strongest virtues at this point in his little life. Apparently I was preparing dinner too slowly for his liking, so he dug the Puffs canister out of the diaper bag and busted it open . . . all over the floor! At first I was going to be mad, then I just grabbed the camera laughing. Oh Beau!!! I'll cook faster next time!

It seems like someone else has gotten impatient for food before . . . Lincoln was just about a year old when he made a similar mess!
Lucky for them, they are cute little mess-makers!!!