Monday, September 29, 2014
Lincoln: 3 1/2 Years Old
Somehow, I managed to completely miss Lincoln's half birthday this year. I think that means childhood is speeding by too fast, so someone please send a memo to this little man to quit growing so fast already. I know he won't listen to you, but it's worth a try!
I don't even know where to start...it seems like the past few months have held some of the biggest leaps in Lincoln's life. And while that's a good thing, it's just hard to believe how much (and how quickly) he is changing.
Lincoln, you talk so much now. It is a constant chatter - to yourself, to mommy, to Addie, to anyone who will listen - or your toys if no one will. You have a strong opinion about most of the everyday decisions in life (such as when to get in the car, brush your teeth, eat your dinner, put your plate in the sink, pick up your toys) and you're starting to come up with excuses like "I'm busy right now" or "Not yet" when asked to complete a task. You're able to tell us a lot more about what you're feeling - "that makes me sad!" or "I'm fwustwated!" - which is very helpful to us as parents, especially after your speech delays that had us all confused and frustrated at one another when you were younger. One of my favorite words right now is "willn't" - it means "won't." I told Daddy not to teach you the real way to say it.
You are definitely no longer a baby. Sometimes when you're sleeping, I'm reminded of what you felt like snuggled up in my arms as a tiny newborn, but it has gone by so fast. I can't believe it. You're about 90% potty trained after a long struggle (still need to work on nighttime),
You want to help mommy and daddy do everything. If we say no, you cry as though your heart is broken into a thousand pieces.
I didn't think the day would come, but you don't play with cars and trucks the way you once did. Don't take that the wrong way - you still like them, but now there are schemes and plans and adventures happening when you do decide to sit down and play with your overflowing bin of cars. I want to hop back in time for a day and drive cars with you endlessly, mindlessly, for the sheer joy of seeing the wheels turn. I wasn't planning to cry while writing this post...but it's too late, now. I didn't know how much I would miss having little cars strategically lined up across the entire couch for days on end.
You love reading right now. Your favorite books are Berenstain Bears, Little People Lift-the-Flaps, and all of the tiny lift-the-flap board books (especially classics like Two Bad Mice, Peter Rabbit, and the like). I can sometimes find you with a stack of books, just reading to yourself, and that makes my heart smile. Even busy little boys can love reading, buddy.
We started preschool a few weeks ago, and while we may be a few days behind at the moment, you (for the most part) love it. You memorized Genesis 1:1 ("in the beginning, God "macrated" the heavens and the earth), learned to draw 0's and 1's, and love the color blue. Some of your favorite school activities are coloring with markers, playing the apple tree counting game, and putting stickers on your daily chart. I'm excited about homeschooling, because right now you have such an enthusiastic desire to learn.
You are no longer nursing. We hit the milestone of weaning a few weeks before you were three and a half. I had a lot of mixed feelings about it, but I was starting to feel pretty worn down from nursing two kids for almost two years, and you more or less forgot how to latch (which meant it was painful for me). For the last few months, you nursed maybe once every other day or two. It wasn't very difficult to distract you from the idea once I decided that we had probably reached the end. I am proud that we nursed until you were well over three years old, and will never apologize to anyone for it.
You are always up for an adventure, and if mommy gets dressed before 10am, you chirp "Mommy! Where we going today?!" Some recent favorite adventures were to Texas to visit your baby cousin Jackson, Deanna Rose Farmstead this summer, to see your first musical - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Coterie Theatre, and to ride Thomas.
You know all the basic colors and some others like silver and gold. You can identify most shapes without blinking. You can count almost to twenty and recognize at least 50% of the alphabet letters (and know a lot of their sounds - you definitely know the sounds of R, S, and T). Daddy thinks you'll be ready for basic math skills in the next few months. When asked your name, you can recite your full name - but still consistently tell people that your name is Inky. And I love that.
Your favorite TV show right now is The Octonauts, and "Captain Barnacles" is your second identity. You have declared Addie to be Peso, Mommy to be Dashi, Daddy to be Shellington, and mommy's parents (Bun and Pa) to be Kwazii and Inkling. There are some days that both you and Addie only refer to me as Dashi. It's kind of hilarious. Your Sunday School teacher even recently wrote "Captain Barnacles" on the paper you brought home from class. When you got to meet the Octonauts, though, you were scared out of your mind! I love to hear you sing - you know a few real songs, but usually just string words together in song.
You and Addie remain best pals, but now that she's old enough to (sort of) fight back, I am playing a constant referee. You guys are constantly chasing, pushing, poking, sitting on each other...and so on. You also fiercely love each other and can't stand it if the other gets to do something without you.
Your sleep pattern has improved a lot since we started chiropractic care earlier this year. At the beginning of the year, you ended up in our bed every night - usually by 1 or 2am. Lately, you've been sleeping through the night (from about 8:30pm - 7:30am) or at least only waking once or twice - and staying in your room after waking. Until we get you potty trained at night, we'll probably deal with this for awhile. But overall - it's much improved and you are getting better rest.
Food is a battle, unfortunately. After Addie's early childhood tooth decay, I have been extra cautious about what we are consuming and have been watching your teeth for any signs of decay. You have a couple of spots on your front middle teeth that are showing some early markers for caries, and I can't even stomach the idea of going through another dental surgery in our family right now. So you are on a very limited diet of only whole foods with limited grains and dairy, in an effort to stop and hopefully reverse the decay before it progresses into a large problem. You are taking a multivitamin and cod liver oil supplements daily, and don't fight these as much as you did at the start. Eating veggies is a battle, but Daddy taught you "the water trick" (or, swallowing a small piece of food without chewing) and now I can get you to eat a few bites at each meal that way.
You have a mix of clothing ranging from 3T - 5T. Most of the new shirts I'm buying for fall are 5T and the pants are 4T (though they are a little long still). You weigh about 40 pounds and will actually stand on our scale at home now to see the number.
I don't have words for how much I love you, and I hope that you know that even when your frantic, headlong enthusiasm frustrates me or scares me to death. We're running toward age four at a very unbelievably fast pace, and while I'm so excited to watch you learn and grow and fly...it terrifies me, too. I don't know how to be a four-year-old's mom yet. I guess we'll just take it one day at a time, when we get there.
You're my very favorite boy - and it melts my heart when you tell me that I'm your favorite girl, too. I hope I get the privilege of holding that title for a long, long time, Lincoln.
I love you,
Mommy
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