Lincoln: 4 Years Old

My boy is four years old. If you ask him, he'll tell you that he is still three because he doesn't "feel like four" yet. He's the most inquisitive, awesome, amazing little man on this planet and it's such a joy to be his mama.

Lincoln,

I can't believe that you are four (whether you think you are or not). It seems in some ways that you were just born yesterday. Four is halfway to eight, which is halfway to sixteen...which scares me to death, so I'll just back off that train of thought right away. Your childhood is going by way faster than I ever imagined it would.

Your delayed speech is a thing long forgotten. People always told me "you just wait until he talks, and you'll wish he'd never learned" - but while some nights I do breathe a little sigh of relief when the house is quiet but for the sounds of you and your sister breathing, that warning could not have been further from reality. I love hearing you talk. I love talking to you. I love that we can now have conversations and talk about the way things make you feel. I love that you have your own opinions on everything and yes, I even kind of secretly love the screaming dinosaur "roars" that terrify your sister out of her mind every.single.day.

I love your over-eager willingness to help and I try to let you whenever I can because your devastation when you are told no is so utterly heartbreaking. You want to be involved in every single thing that is going on, and at least five hundred times a day, you ask me "how come?" You never say "why" and I kind of love that you've adopted your own version of this common childhood question.

You get stronger every day, I think, and you don't really know your own strength. You routinely bowl over your sister and hit mommy in the legs with your head. It's not always on purpose, but we're trying to learn about being gentle either way.

Last summer, I realized that you don't play with cars the same way you once did. Right now, your favorite things to play are Octonauts (we have so many toys I've actually lost track) and puzzles. You're exceptionally talented at big floor puzzles - we have an outer space one that you can do all by yourself!

When you play, you have so much more imagination! I routinely hearing you inventing conversations between your cars, or pretending to be Captain Barnacles when you are playing Octonauts. The cars tend to get grouped by size ("daddy cars," "mommy cars," "brother cars," etc.).

We're still working on night time potty training, but other than that you can go all by yourself most of the time. We almost made it to age 4 without another major injury, but last week you had stitches in your chin. You handled it like a champ and haven't even worried about it since it happened.

We started preschool in the fall, but haven't been able to keep up with a consistent learning schedule. I think it may have been a little too much to expect of you at age three, anyway. We've done more unschooling this fall and winter, and as a result you know most colors, the alphabet, and you can count to sixteen or seventeen. We'll do a more official preschool this fall and I think we'll all be ready for it.

Your favorite books right now are Stanley's Garage, Stanley the Builder, Stanley the Farmer, anything about Curious George, and the Usborne Pull-back Busy Train Book.

I haven't heard you call yourself "Inky" in weeks. I almost can't bear it.

You love going on adventures, and every day you want to know what the plan of action will be. If we're searching for something (or if we're in a store), you like to say "let's split up to cover more ground!" In stores, that's frightening for mom!

You learned how to use Netflix within a day or two of our having a subscription. You relish the freedom of being able to choose your own show to watch and put up quite a fight when I say we have to let Addie choose, too. Your favorite shows are Octonauts (of course), Clifford, Wild Kratts, Busy Town Mysteries, and LaLaLoopsy (which mom and dad really can't stand).

You and Addie are best friends, though you spend more time bickering with each other than playing most days. Maybe that's not entirely true. The screeching and fussing at one another seems to occupy a good portion of our time, however. She wants to do everything that you do and you're not always thrilled about it, but we're working on helping you understand that she looks up to you and you need to be a good example.

Sleeping is still not great, but it's also not terrible. You go to sleep around 8-8:30pm, wake up sometime between midnight and 3am to crawl in bed with mom and dad, then sleep until maybe 6:30 or 7am. A couple weeks ago, you slept in until almost 9 two days in a row and I thought we had a miracle on our hands. Unfortunately, it didn't last. I think you are actually tired most of the time, but you run so fast and fight it so hard that you don't even notice.

Food has taken on a whole new meaning in your life. You've been on a somewhat special diet for several months because I was pretty sure you had a cavity forming on one of your front teeth (good news: that's cleared up now), but in January we went to a specialist as suggested by our chiropractor. She ran some tests and determined that you have a pretty significant yeast imbalance, so we are currently on a diet that consists of no dairy, egg, wheat, gluten, and oats. You have done so much better with all of this than I expected, but finding meals to eat has been a little bit difficult. We're still trying to get you to eat vegetables, but they are hidden in smoothies regularly and you swallow small pieces of them without much fight. You're also able to swallow small vitamin supplements, which is amazing! We're not sure if these diet changes will be permanent or not, but thankfully you've adapted just fine - and I think your palate will continue to improve as your body is healthier and we are able to find more options for you to try.

Most of your shirts are 5T and your pants are 4T. You weigh 42 pounds.

I'm not sure I know how to put into words how precious you are to me. I can't believe that you are four, and I really can't believe that means we are on our way to age five. FIVE. For today, I'm going to enjoy my busy, wild, exhausting, wonderful four-year-old Lincoln as much as I can. Here's to a magical, wonderful year of your childhood together. It may be the best one yet.

Love,
Mommy

Past Birthday Letters to Lincoln

Two | Two and a Half | Three | Three and a Half

Adelaide: 2 Years Old

Age two sounds a whole lot bigger than age one. At least, today it does.

My princess Adelaide Rose is having a birthday today. We're having a pretty low-key day. It's too cold to go to the zoo like we did last year, and we just felt like taking it easy. She's playing with new birthday toys and we're taking lots of opportunities to celebrate little moments with her. I'm big on everyday adventures and little things that I know I will end up remembering...so, I'm trying to soak up as much of that as I can while I come to terms with the fact that I do not have a "baby" currently.

Milestones: Oh my goodness, Addie. What don't you know how to do? You are proficient at running, climbing, dancing, singing....you name it, we probably do it on a daily basis around here. You're comfortable jumping off Lincoln's toddler bed, you can scale a kitchen chair to gain counter access, and I don't even always have to hold your hand when you are on the stairs.

We've finally had a vast improvement in your sleeping patterns - you now pretty consistently go to sleep somewhere between 8-9:30pm and sleep for usually at least 3-5 hours before waking for the first time. Now, most people might say that's not very good for a little girl who is two, but in our house, it is nothing short of a miracle. Once you're awake, you'll happily cuddle with me and nurse back to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed, and you usually stay there until morning. You have actually slept 9.5 hours THREE times in the last two months, so I have hope that someday I might sleep again.

We never had reflux officially diagnosed, but we started seeing a chiropractor regularly and between having adjustments regularly and just growing bigger, it does not seem to be as much of a problem as it was before.

You are kind of wishy-washy about eating right now. Some days, you like food, but most of the time you prefer to just play with it and then throw it on the kitchen floor. I won't pretend that's not frustrating! I think you're working on your two year molars, so I imagine it hurts to chew right now. We've done lots of soft foods like soup and smoothies recently, and those go over pretty well. You generally like to eat broccoli, pears, apples, carrots, chicken, tomato or broccoli cheddar soup, macaroni and cheese, raisins, grapes, and a few other things.

You are still nursing throughout the day and night. Whenever you decide that you are ready for another nursing session (often 3.8 seconds following the previous one), you sidle up to me and say "I want to nurshhh!" I think nursing has become an occupation for boredom, so I'm trying to encourage you to find other means of entertainment. Being told that you can't nurse at any given moment is equivalent to the end of the world.

Maybe your biggest milestone is your development of language and understanding. Little girl - oh my goodness! I think you know every word there is to know. You use full sentences, all the time. You know exactly what you want and how to communicate that you want it. I only have to remind you to "use words" if you are in a hysterical tantrum. When you were eighteen months old, I was listing off all of the individual words you knew - and since then, you have truly learned more than I could have imagined. I really love being able to communicate with you so well - it makes life less frustrating for both of us.

A few favorite things that you're saying these days:
-"Not worry, mama" or "not worry, brother."
-"I want to read a book a' (with) you!"
-"Where's Inky go?"

You love singing, too, and know at least some of the words to several of Lincoln's favorite songs - Deep and Wide, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Paw Patrol (the theme song), and probably others.

You love coloring (especially with markers), playing outside (the sandbox and slide in our backyard have been your most recent favorites), going for walks, riding in the Ergo, blowing bubbles, and doing anything Lincoln does.

Loves: Currently, you can usually be found carting around the four plush Paw Patrol pups in our collection, plus a few other stuffed dogs. Sometimes Doc McStuffins and crew are along for the ride. You're obsessed with our plush Bowser right now, too.

You like wrapping blankets around you while you're playing, but you dislike being covered with one while you're sleeping.

You can pretty much hold your own with Lincoln these days, but you know that if you start screeching, Mommy will have to come find out what's going on. I think you use that to your advantage pretty frequently. You love playing with Lincoln, though - in spite of your apparent dismay whenever he runs too close to you or snatches away a toy.

 You have been choosing Daddy to snuggle with over me sometimes, and I think it's sweet. You guys have your own special time when you play and watch movies at night while Mommy puts Lincoln to bed. I usually make it downstairs just in time to see you cuddle up with Daddy. So sweet. You ask about Daddy when he is at work or in another room, even.

You love animals and playing dress up and being girly. You have started to pick out some of your own hair accessories each day. I love that you love wearing the bows that I make for you!

One of the cutest things you do is singing "dance together" and twirling around the room with Mommy, Daddy, or Lincoln. The song is found on your Minnie-rella DVD and you think it's the greatest thing. You also like Ring Around the Rosey and the Hokey Pokey.

Hates: You're getting just a little bit better about meeting new people and exploring without mommy. You've hated the church nursery for months and months, but this week you got to move up to the "big kid" class and you just walked in the door happily - then cried when we had to leave. You prefer to warm up to people slowly - if a new person tries to talk to you, you're very shy and usually try to hide.

You still are not a fan of having your teeth brushed. After your dental ordeal earlier this year, I don't really blame you. We faithfully brush your teeth every day. And weirdly enough, you don't hate vitamins! You beg to take your multivitamin "bears," bone/tooth support supplement, and chocolate-flavored cod liver oil. So weird, kid. Really - so weird.

Like most toddlers, you don't like it when you don't get your way. We are working hard right now on learning about obedience and consequences and the like. I won't pretend that that has been fun for any of us.

You seem a little bit frightened of the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - but you also like to tell us "he's not scary!" so I'm not sure what's going on in your head.

Weight/Height: I think you weigh a little over 30 pounds and I know you have gotten taller because you have no real problem wearing size 3T leggings and jammies. Your clothes are overall a mix of 2T-3T! You're in size two AppleCheeks cloth diapers. I've toyed with the idea of starting potty training, because I think you can do it....but I have not psyched myself up for that process yet.

If your 2-year molars don't come in soon, I think we are all going to lose our minds! Those mean teeth have been trying to pop through for ages.

You finally have a fair amount of hair, and it's coming in so adorably curly! I am going to cry buckets whenever we have to cut some of your hair, little girl. Buckets.


Last night, I tried to take in every little sighing breath, every squirm and wiggle as you made yourself comfortable in my arms in our now-squeaky rocking chair. Saying goodbye to age one is hard...it's the definitive end of the "baby" stage and you're telling me often (both visually and verbally) that you're a big girl now. You don't have to be too big too fast, little princess. Really. Stay small just as long as you can.

I love you.
Mommy

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

Lincoln: 3 Years Old

Three years. Three.

Three, somehow, seems so much bigger than two. I'm doing my best, as your mommy, to appreciate the milestones. But, little boy - my heart aches just a little bit every now and then to hold my first tiny baby - yes, you just after you were born or even when we found breastfeeding to be a struggle.

I remember when you turned two, I thought the time had flown by. This year went even faster, so I can only assume that's going to be what I say every single year from now until forever.

You learned a lot this year. We went from hardly any communication to having real conversations all day, every day. It is amazing to be able to talk to you and have you respond. Yes - even when the only response I receive is negative.

This year, we had fun. We struggled and laughed and grew together. When I look at you, I see a little boy - but even a few months ago, you still had some baby expressions. Those are very fleeting now.

One of the biggest moments this year? Your coffee burn. As traumatic as it was, it really only set you back for a little while. You've more or less forgotten about the incident - at least, I hope you have. We said goodbye to your pacifiers, but vehicles like trucks and trains and cars are all here to stay - probably forever. 

We had ups and downs with reading after you destroyed some library books, but thankfully lately you love it again. We have our battles about food - sometimes you love things and sometimes you completely refuse to eat. Since Daddy and I are both super picky, we aren't really sure what to do to encourage you. We'll work on it this year. You are still nursing, though it's down to once or twice a day. I can sense the end is coming, because you don't always remember to ask. I know I'll be sad to see the end of a milestone, but I think I'm okay with it.

You had a blast adventuring with us - also known as, running around at top speed while we try to keep up. Some of our favorite adventures this past year were apple picking, visiting the pumpkin patch and corn maze, and the Enchanted Forest. We wore the cutest Halloween costumes. And we took a magical Christmas trip that is probably going to become a family tradition.

You know pretty much every color and you no longer pronounce "yellow" wrong. You are great at identifying shapes, too - square, circle, star, heart, triangle, rectangle, and even harder ones like oval. I love all the things you say. We are starting to really work on letters and numbers.

You can almost quote Ephesians 6:1 by yourself, and can repeat Philippians 4:13. I need to make recordings of these verses before the way you say them changes, because it is precious. Your favorite shows right now are Little Einsteins, Scooby-Doo, Doc McStuffins, and Paw Patrol. You've recently started singing and it blows me away with cuteness.

You love your sister desperately. If you don't know where she is, you say "Mommy, where's my Addie go?" You almost always refer to her as "my Addie." I think it is the sweetest thing ever. You spend much of your time torturing her, too - but you two are really good friends at heart.

Sleeping is....interesting. You usually go down to sleep around 8pm and sleep for at least 4-6 hours before waking. Sometimes you just wake up once and go right back to sleep. Sometimes you crawl in bed with us. Sometimes you're up multiple times. And on occasion, you even sleep in your own bed until 8am. That's happened twice in the past year, if memory serves me correctly. You don't nap unless we are in the car too late in the afternoon or you are sick.

You are wearing 4T shirts and 3T pants. There are a few size 5 pajamas that have found their way into your drawer as well - and they fit you just fine. That's crazy! You weigh 36 pounds. We've been doing some serious potty learning in the last few weeks - but that's a long story that deserves its own post.

I know there are more things I could say - more stories I could tell, but these are the few that have left the biggest impressions in my mind.

We love you so much, Lincoln. It is still unbelievable to me that I have the privilege of being your mommy. You make me crazy, but you inspire me, as well. I live for the moments where you wrap your arms around my neck and squeeze soooo tight....for the whispered "I love you, Mommy" at bedtime. You are amazing, my wonderful, precious son.

Let's tackle age three with all the enthusiasm we can. But, please try to slow down just a little so Mommy can keep up.

I love you so much, sweet boy.

Love,
Mommy

Lincoln: 2 1/2 Years Old

Lincoln, you are the most energetic person I have ever known. With each day that passes, I think you become more determined to jump higher, make more noise, and run faster. I can't believe that you are two and a half years old. How has it already been six months since your second birthday?

What a half a year it has been. We planned to have an adventurous summer, until you had your coffee accident. That threw us off for quite awhile, but you have healed well and are overcoming fears that have surfaced since that day. In spite of the setbacks, we have still done most of the things on our summer bucket list.

Finally, after thinking you may never talk, you have realized that communication is helpful and you are turning into a little parrot! Yesterday, Daddy and I were talking to each other and you were repeating a word or two out of every sentence. Some of your latest words and phrases are: eat, drink, cracker (no longer "crackey"), turn around, close the door ("clo-zeee-door!" - adorable), princess, van, blue car (your birthday gift from Nana and Papa), and so many more I can't even count!

You know a lot of colors! You can identify red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, pink, and sometimes orange. I think you have been saying "square" for awhile, but haven't noticed any other shape recognition. You recognize the numbers 2, 3, 6, and 10 - but call most every number you see "twooooos! threeeeees!" You can identify several of the letters in your name (I, N, O) but I think we still have a little way to go on alphabet comprehension.

One of your favorite things to do is watch movies and shows. I try to somewhat limit the number of hours we spend at this hobby - some days are better than others. Your favorite shows are Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Chuck & Friends, Chip & Dale (and other classic Disney cartoons), Pocoyo, Chuggington, Finley the Fire Engine, and Thomas. Your favorite movies are Lady & the Tramp, Ratatouille, Cars, and Winnie the Pooh.

You're figuring out that the world may not actually revolve entirely around you, and we've had some meltdowns because of this. Right now, you are having a lot of trouble listening when Mommy and Daddy tell you to stop your feet from running (usually headlong into the couch, piano, fireplace, or baby) and you enjoy kicking and throwing all of your toys - rather than playing with them. We're trying to work out some solutions to help you understand that these are not the best choices to make!

Though we are striving to slow you down sometimes to keep you safe, we are amazed at your energy and your upbeat spirit. There is very little that can bring you down! You are one of the happiest little kids I have ever known.

We've made some serious progress as far as sleeping goes. When you turned two, you were still waking up several times a night and crying (which woke up your sister). For the last two or three months, you have gone to sleep in your bed (with Mommy or Daddy beside you) and you generally stay asleep until sometime between 4-6am, when you climb in bed with us, then sleep until 7 or 8. This has been a very welcome change. Last week, we started going all day without a nap. I don't think you are really ready for that change yet - but when you do nap, you have a hard time falling asleep until 10pm or even later. Without a nap, you're asleep by 7:30 or 8pm easily. 

After a phase of a couple months where you didn't really want to eat anything, you seem to have regained your appetite. You routinely demolish a 16oz cup of macaroni and cheese when we eat out at McAlister's Deli. You're not partial to a specific "noni" either; you will eat mac and cheese three meals a day. Other foods you love are cottage cheese, string cheese, shredded cheese, sliced cheese (do you see a theme?), graham crackers, waffles, French toast (and syrup), scrambled eggs (with cheese), chicken nuggets, ketchup, applesauce, peaches, grapes, "blue grapes" (blueberries), and baby sister's puffs. I'm glad that you enjoy eating again! I'm almost tempted to try the T-Rex Cafe again, but I think we'll wait awhile longer. You've moved up to sitting in a booster chair at the table at home and you're learning to take your plate to the kitchen counter when the meal is done. You also do reasonably well sitting in a booster chair at restaurants.

 You usually nurse in the morning when you wake up, and at bedtime - and a couple times in between. You were nursing before and after your nap, but since that is mostly gone now, we're finding our way. You may be in a growth spurt or just need some mommy time - yesterday, you said "more dee!" from the moment you woke up until you finally went to bed at night. I don't know why "dee" means nursing, but it does and you know how to ask. I think it's pretty sweet.

You're wearing size 3T clothing all around and it fits well except some of your pants are just a bit too long. We've finally moved past having to put you in 1-piece zip up pj's, because you no longer insist on having your hand in your pants while you sleep (yay)! You are very attached to all of your jammies when it is time to get dressed in the morning. Whenever I try to get you dressed, I am met with "NO!!! MONKEYS!!!!" or "NO!!! TRUCKS!!!" You also seem to routinely have meltdowns when we take off your socks. I'm not sure what that's about.

You love to play in your Sunday School class, and talk about your friend Grace (and her little brother Connor) and your cousin Kinley all the time. Whenever we get in the car, you ask "Kinley? Grace? Puppy? Pa? Papa? Mam? Pap?" - naming all of the houses you know.

You are still completely obsessed with vehicles. Trucks, trains, planes, "ki-yoos" (police cars), "wiretrucks" (firetrucks), buses...you name it, it's your favorite thing. Lately I've heard you say "dump truck," "cream truck" (ice cream), "ment truck" (cement), tow truck, mail truck, and just today - "monster truck." We are still trying to encourage reading all the time, but were set back a little by the $35 library bill.

I can't believe that you are now closer to age three than age two. That seems impossible, little boy. Just impossible.

We have our moments, you and I. Some days I go to bed at night wanting to cry because I am afraid I have failed you. You and I are both pretty stubborn creatures and I don't want to stifle you in an attempt to come out on top. I am so blessed and so thankful to be the one that you call mama. And I can't wait to see what you learn between now and three!

Lincoln: 2 Years Old

Lincoln,

Oh, my little man.  Where have the past two years gone?  It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming you to the world.  The past year, we have watched you learn and grow so much!  This year, you said your first word (ball), went on your first trip to the zoo, learned to love cars and trucks.

We played at the park, spent hours upon hours outside on the deck and on walks through the neighborhood.  We went swimming with friends.  We had a lot of playdates with your friend, Grace. We traveled to Omaha to visit the zoo.  You flew on a plane for the first time, for Uncle Andy and Aunt Rachel's wedding.  We went to the pumpkin patch, the Enchanted Forest and a local festival. 

You discovered Cars (the movie).  You dressed as Link for Halloween.  You moved into a big boy toddler bed.  Got your first haircut.  You are learning so many new words every day. You don't hesitate to tell us what you like and what you don't.  You change so quickly, it scares me.

We somehow survived mommy's pregnancy and welcomed your little sister, Adelaide, in November.  We made it to two full years of nursing,which was something I never expected when we started our breastfeeding journey.

You are big and strong and so very fast.  Sometimes, I can hardly catch you!  You live life with absolute exuberance.  You weigh about 31 pounds and are somewhere close to 35 inches tall.

You are the sweetest big brother.  Every day, Addie gets hugs or kisses and sometimes you ask to hold her.  When she starts moving around, I know you two are going to be the best of friends.

You have so much hair - and most of it has shown up within the last couple of months.  It's so blonde!  I love it.

The one issue we have is your sleep.  I don't know why, little boy, but you do not like to sleep.  We spend an hour or two every night rocking you to sleep or sitting at the side of your bed, waiting for you to fall asleep.  Once you are sleeping, you stay down for a few hours before crawling into bed with mommy and daddy. 

I can't wait to see what this year of being TWO will bring our way.

February 2011 - Lincoln's BIRTHday!

January 2012 (11 months old)

February 2012 (Lincoln's 1st Birthday)

February 2013 - Age 2 (Photo by Lisa B Photography)

Sweet, sweet boy - we love you to the moon and back, forever and always, and no one can ever replace you in our hearts.  Thank you for entering the world by storm, for making us parents, for bringing so much joy into our lives.  A lot of things about being a grown up are hard, but you make every single moment worth it.

Our hopes and prayers are that you continue to grow and learn and turn into the most awesome little man you can possibly be.  Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln.  You are the most wonderful boy in the whole wide world.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy