9 months

Whoa - time flies! Lincoln is 9 months old today, and it seems unbelievable! How we have made this far is amazing, and I know Lincoln is teaching me more than I'm teaching him! Here are the details about Lincoln at 9 months:

Weight: 19 pounds (25th percentile) Dr K wants us to work on his weight. He eats everything we give him, so we just need to give him more. I'm working on finger foods, but he prefers me shoveling baby food in his mouth with a spoon. So far he can feed himself sweet potato fries, Cheerios, Puffs, steamed carrots, and chunked pears. Remember the banana incident . . . well it happened again with pineapple! I'll stay away from that one for a while. He enjoyed the taste of chocolate cake I gave him this evening! I wonder where he gets that!

Height: 28 inches (50th percentile) Solid in the height department. He's kind of long waisted with short legs, but I have hope that he'll take after his Daddy!

Sleep: work in progress! He sleeps at night like a champ and always has (knock on wood). Bedtime at 8:00 and up at 7:00. Napping is another story as I haven't figured out how to successfully execute the naptime routine. His teachers tell me the naps will be scheduled and mandatory (taught!) in the 1 year old room, so I guess we'll wait until then to lay down the law.

Lincoln is VERY curious about everything, and nothing escapes his notice. If something catches his eye, he takes off to inspect it. There is a white spot on the brick of the fireplace that drives him crazy! He tries so hard to get it! Our only real word is Mama, and he is selective about saying it. It usually only comes out when he needs something, and I'm sure that will never change! We're working on Dada and Bye-Bye, and he waves occasionally.

We stack blocks a lot! Well, mostly I stack them and he knocks them over! He likes to empty ANY container of all its contents. Every toy box/basket is bare at the end of a play session!
Lincoln's quite the cruiser and can walk around our living room with ease. There's always an ottoman, couch or chair to hold on to. He has taken a real interest in the computer and makes Skype-ing a challenge. He's obsessed with the mouse and wants to click it just like Mommy and Daddy.

He's quite the singer, so he's trying out an instrument or two! His favorite is the drum (popcorn tin), but he'll try anything. The new activity table from Nana even has a piano feature!

The laughs are constant from Lincoln, and I love it! He thinks everything is so funny and can laugh so hard. Silly faces and noises, peekaboo, throwing (him throwing toys and us throwing him up in the air), and tickling get the biggest laughs. He claps for himself often and cheers and kicks his feet when he thinks he's done something great. I love to start Pat-A-Cake or Itsy Bitsy Spider and watch him clap with me. So smart!

What a wonderful 9 months! Being pregnant for 9 months was one thing, but actually having a baby for 9 months is another. Life is truly a miracle from God, and I believe that now more than ever. I love watching every moment!

Packing Helper

Lincoln and I are heading to Arkansas for a few days. He was so thoughtful and helped me pack for the trip!

Apparently it wasn't as fun as he hoped it would be - he dove out of the suitcase after just a few minutes!

Testing

Lincoln has been testing out his new toys! My mom overheard lots of banging and I explained that it was Linc beating up the basketball goal. She said he should be a toy-tester . . . you know to see if it would hold up to rigorous wear and tear! Mattel or Fisher Price, let us know if you're interested.
Nana pushed Lincoln around in the new tricycle/car.

Dad helped Linc score a few goals. He'd still rather chew on the basketballs for now!
Hard at work at the new activity table. Lincoln has had so much fun playing with all the new toys!

Christmas Eve Fun

Because of the weather, not everyone could make it to Christmas Eve this year. Representing at the Kuhlman Family Christmas Eve celebration were Richard, Kathy, Kevin, Monica, Lincoln, Lans, Kathy, Brandon, Preston, Carolyn, Megan, Ryan, Katie, Julie, Jon and Ava. We missed Larry Mc, Marian, Larry K, Joanne, Chris, Ron, Charla and Mason, but the roads were too treacherous to travel. We kept up the Christmas traditions and added a few new ones. Of course, we all posed by the tree for a family pic. The babies added so much fun to all the festivities. Lincoln and Ava got to play together, and we all had fun catching up.

During dinner, Lincoln and Nana entertained themselves with a napkin! Who needs toys when there are napkins to play with!

One more thing to add to the list of gifts . . . we're up to old cell phones, tv remotes, measuring cups and napkins.

White Christmas!

Seriously . . . it happened! Lincoln's first Christmas was filled with snow! It started snowing Christmas Eve morning after the temperature hit 75 degrees the previous day. We headed out to The Marriott at Solana to meet up with the Kuhlmans and drove carefully through a blizzard! (I know you all think I'm exaggerating, but it was snowing so hard with really heavy winds. The weathergirl told me it was a blizzard by Texas standards, so I'm going with blizzard.) Lincoln really enjoyed watching it snow.

The view from our balcony. See -- I told you it was a blizzard!
It hadn't all melted when we got home on Christmas Day. The roads were yucky but not too icy. Our sidewalk was another story . . .

Of course, I made Lincoln check it out! He was cautiously curious . . . it was really cold!

Kitchen Tool or Toy . . .

. . . is there really a difference? Lincoln loves his measuring cups and is eager to chew on them, throw them, and bang them together every night while we're making dinner. He has learned that he can pick one up in each hand and really make some noise! Whatever makes him happy, right?

He laughs when he throws them!
Daddy was coming around the corner, and Nosy Linky had to check out the situation. Nothing gets by him

Another item to add to the stocking - measuring cups!

Early Christmas Fun

We're spending Christmas in Dallas this year, so my parents came for an early Christmas celebration. Lincoln was excited to play and show off his super crawling skills, and they were excited to give him lots of hugs and kisses. As usual, he impressed them with how big he is! Linc got to open presents and had so much fun. I know he's going to love playing with his new toys.

Here he is opening his first present of the night. He would wad up the paper and tear it into pieces. Sometimes the toy caught his eye, and sometimes the paper was too interesting!

Aunt Ally is an expert present opener so she coached Lincoln on the best way to get into them!
Linc and Minnie watching more presents being opened. He loved the Sock Monkey and held onto it for a long time. (Well, a long time for an 8 month old!) It definitely passed the "chew test."

One of the best gifts: curly ribbon bows! I think I'll fill his stocking with these instead of presents.

"Whoa!" With lots of supervision, Lincoln got to ride his horsey.

We all had a great time playing with the new toys and catching up since last month's visit. We'll be at Solana for Christmas Eve with the Kuhlman Clan, and I know Lincoln will enjoy all the festivities. After that I'm taking Linc to Arkansas to see the rest of the group. Merry Christmas!

Evolution of Bathtime

Way back when . . . Lincoln's first baths were no fun! We went with the sponge bath for a while, and we were all ready to move on to a better bath situation.

The dishpan worked well for a LONG time, though Kevin was sure he was too big for it. Lincoln began to enjoy kicking the water around and bathtime wasn't so horrible.
The next step in bathing was the reclining tub, and it was easier on everyone. I held onto this for way too long, but my back thanked me each time . . . knowing what was coming next!

We finally graduated to the big tub at 8 1/2 months! Lincoln was a bit confused and not too excited at first, but then he got interested in the rubber ducky and decided it would be ok. It is much easier to maneuver with all this space, and I'm sure he'll soon be splashing around like crazy. I'm thinking of getting a hose to attach to the faucet. My crystal ball shows me images of Lincoln playing in the dirt, covering himself in food, and other assorted messes. On second thought, maybe a pressure washer is a better option . . .

Holiday Wishes

So I'm a little behind on my Christmas wrapping . . . I just bring in bags from shopping and dump them in front of the tree because I don't have time to wrap them. Well, that's about to change! Tonight while Lincoln sleeps, Little Elf Mommy is going to wrap gifts. I'll try to post a picture when I'm all done.

Notice that Lincoln is about to bolt! It's pretty difficult to get him in a good picture since he's determined to be crawling all the time! I used to call out his name and he'd look right at me with a big grin. Now I call out his name and he dives over to me! This doesn't always make great pictures!