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

Things She Says {January 2015}

Disclosure: I received an outfit for Addie to review. All opinions expressed are my own.

First of all, let's take a moment to compare the photos in this post to this one from October, which is the last time I wrote a "Things She Says" post. It's only been three months. Why does Addie look like she has grown up by about a year? Where's my baby?! Wail.

Her communication continues to expand, every single day. Quite honestly, I don't think there are many words she doesn't know - but if she finds something she doesn't recognize, she says "What is THIS?!" I love having these posts to look back on... here's what she was saying about a year ago.

"I guess!" This has been added to a lot of statements lately. It's time to nurse, I guess. I want a cracker, I guess. I like broccoli, I guess.

"Can I...havealittlebite?" She is constantly begging for food. Especially if someone else is eating.

"I not want to." She is two. She declares it. Mostly with this phrase.

"You keep me safe!" Said when she wants to be held and protected from Lincoln, the dark, or an imaginary scary monster.

"There's always a-morrow for dreams to come twue." Ever since the Christmas season, which started off for us with seeing Rudolph at the Coterie Theatre, both kids have been singing the songs constantly.

ANYTHING that Lincoln says. They parrot each other all day. And fuss at each other. And attack each other with hugs.

"Oh, okay!" This is her typical response when asked to do something she's willing to do, or in response to most things Lincoln suggests.

"It's too scawwy!" Her pronunciation of scary is killing me.

"I found she!" She's getting her pronouns mixed up lately and it's kind of adorable.

"Aww...it's so CUTE!" Things that gain this reaction: babies, animals of any kind, dresses (like the one she is wearing in these photos from FabKids), hairbows, broccoli, Octonauts, snow, book characters, and the list goes on and on.

 "I wuv you." The best one of all. Usually said with her hands on either side of my face or her cheek pressed against mine. Precious.

You can find FabKids monthly outfit subscriptions with a VIP membership starting at $29.95/month, or purchase individual pieces with a regular membership.

Thanks to FabKids for providing the outfit featured in today's post. All opinions expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.  

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

Things She Says {October 2014}

This little munchkin blows me away daily with her communication skills. After we struggled to understand Lincoln until he was almost three, I expected the same from Addie. That did not happen in the least! She was already using tons of words by her first birthday, and has only continued to add words, phrases, and even complete sentences into her language. I would say that I understand what she asks 99% of the time - and that is huge!

She's able to tell me when something is wrong, if something hurts, or if she is just grumpy. Her level of communication is a huge blessing. I definitely don't want to forget some of the things she says right now, so just like I did for Lincoln last week, I'm sharing some of her most common words and sayings today.

"Not talk 'a me, daddy." This can be directed at anyone. If she decides she is done communicating with someone, she will say this and walk away.

"Not want to right now." We hear this all the time, about many things - from sleeping to eating to having her diaper changed to riding in the car to playing with her favorite toy to.... you get the idea.

"Flappety flippers." This is the catch-phrase of Peso the penguin from the Octonauts TV show that the kids both adore. Lincoln's alter-identity is Captain Barnacles and Addie's is Peso. And the other day, I heard her saying this over and over again while they were playing. Um, adorable.

"Okay, okay, okay" and "All right, all right, all right." These are her standard answers to anything, if she is in agreement. Sometimes just one "okay" - but usually we're treated to three at a time.

The Eye Roll. Oh my word, this child. I don't even know how she learned to roll her eyes, but it is a skill she has certainly perfected Example here.

"Nope!" She sort of skipped right over "yes" and "no" for nope, okay, and all right. I don't really mind, it's pretty cute.

"I want a blanket." This is a phrase at bedtime or nap. Usually uttered in a pretty pathetic little voice, amidst almost tears.

"Mommy, hold me!" Oh, my heart. I dread the day when no one asks me to hold them anymore.

"Yeahhhhh!" There are a couple variations of this: the sneaky, high-pitched version if she's doing something she shouldn't, and the excited, normal-tone version.

"Not want to go a sleep." Um, we hear this just about every day, since this kid is determined that sleep is not important in any way, shape, or form. Although lately, she's actually asked to nap and go to sleep a few times, so I have some renewed hope that I might sleep again in my lifetime.

"I want milk!" and "I want to nurse!" She still nurses (sort of) on demand when we are at home. We haven't nursed in public in awhile, but that's mostly because she's just too busy to think about it. I think at home, she gets bored and finds it quality entertainment. She also will down a sippy full of milk in a short amount of time.

"Appa-shauce." The best pronunciation of applesauce ever.

"I want to cwuh-der 'ith markers." Markers are kind of the bane of my existence right now. They love them. I love that they love them. I don't love cleaning them off every surface of my home, washable or not.

"Let me check on Ink. Where is he? Brudder?" She can't handle not knowing where Lincoln is or what he's doing. He calls himself "Inky," thus the reference to Ink.

"Oh, sowwy, sowwy, sowwy." She won't say sorry when prompted all the time because she has a serious stubborn streak, but if she genuinely thinks she hurt you or did something wrong, she's pretty quick to say this - usually with a snarky little giggle.

Sound off - when did your kids start talking? Do I have an advanced talker on my hands, or is this typical language for an almost two-year-old? I'm not sure since Lincoln was so different - but I guess that just goes to prove that kids just develop at their own pace!

Things He Says {October 2014}

 

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about Lincoln's language explosion and all of the cute things he had started to say. Once he figured out that talking was a useful communication tool, he took off at lightning speed. He talks literally nonstop these days, and while not everything he says is a specific hilarious Lincoln-ism, I still wanted to write down some of these memories before they are lost.

You don't realize that it's the last time when your kid mispronounces a word one day and says it fine the next. You don't know how much you'll miss the intonation of a little voice calling to you from two rooms away to share the latest everyday observation. Make the little moments count. Write down the cute things they say - even if they annoy you. Because one day, you'll wish more than anything to hear them again.

So, after that emotional discourse - here are my favorite Lincoln sayings right now.

"I willn't!" This word - willn't - means won't. Andrew tried to teach him the right word a couple weeks ago and I begged him to stop, because willn't is my favorite right now. I even find myself saying it sometimes. Ha.

"I need three, cuz I'm three!" This has lately applied to anything that we do. We have to read three books at a time, or do three errands at a time, or have three snacks at a time. Because, he's three!

"Follow me!" and "I will lead the way!" He loves being the first one to go somewhere. He is displeased when I don't let him lead the way when we're pushing a grocery cart or walking through a parking lot, however.

"All day morning." This means "all day long," and it's another favorite phrase that he uses frequently right now. Example: I just wanted to watch movies all day morning! 

"Where's Peso?" He's crazy about the Octonauts right now and has dubbed himself Captain Barnacles. Addie is Peso. They refer to each other by these names constantly and it's pretty much hilarious.

"Dashi, take a picture with your camera." Who's Dashi? Oh, that's me - it's MY Octonaut alternate identity. Andrew is Shellington. My parents are Kwazii and Inkling. He also plays with Tweak - but I think she's an imaginary friend. He's always looking for a carrot for her to eat.

"How come?" He still doesn't know the word "why" - but this is a close second. It is asked about every single decision or statement or instruction that is made in the course of a day. Over and over and over. I know someday I'll miss it, so I try not to become extremely frustrated.

"Hey, a little bit help here!" I hear this all the time. If he gets himself stuck in a puzzle or a game or while trying to put on his own clothing or while going potty, he chirps "a little bit help here!" It's really pretty adorable.

"In the beginning...God ma-crated....the heavens and the earth! Genesis 1:1!" This is his memory verse from our first week of preschool. He can say it all by himself with no prompting!

"Where we goin' today?" If I happen to get dressed - or if I get the kids dressed early in the day, this is the question I get immediately.

"I no like it." Typical toddler answer to almost everything. The other day, he told me "I no like delicans" - skeletons. I can't remember why we were talking about skeletons! 

"I not need any broccoli!" Eating veggies is a pretty big battle, but we are making some progress. Slow progress, but I'll take it. Right now he eats maybe 3-7 tiny pieces of whatever vegetable we are eating - if it can be washed down with a big gulp of water.

"Let me help!" All day, every day, I hear this. He wants to be involved in everything.

I know there are so many other things he says that I don't want to forget - but even when I hear them from day to day, it's easy for them to slip from my mind. What cute things does your preschooler say? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

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

Adelaide: 18 Months Old

Today, my little girl is closer to age two than age one. Yesterday, she was eighteen months old.

That thing they say about time going by too fast is absolutely true. It seems like maybe I'm dreaming - maybe it's a year ago and she's only six months old? It doesn't seem like she was born yesterday, but it definitely doesn't feel like we should be creeping up on a second birthday, either.

We've absolutely seen a massive increase in personality in the last few months, and I want to capture some of it here, before I forget.

Milestones: You have mastered running in recent weeks. You and your brother terrorize each other running circles around the house. You're also gaining confidence in climbing, walking down stairs, and leaping off of Lincoln's toddler bed.

Sleep is still a complete disaster. I've started to be suspicious that maybe we have been dealing with silent reflux for the last year. It would explain a lot of things about your moods, habits, and especially sleep. The next time we are at the pediatrician, I will definitely be mentioning this to get their thoughts about it. I'm not in love with the idea of you being on a daily medication unless it is absolutely necessary, but there aren't a lot of other treatment options for reflux, so we'll see.

You will eat just about anything, though you do have some preferences. You especially love broccoli, apples, pears, peaches, carrot straws, grapes, chicken nuggets, raisins, applesauce, broccoli cheddar soup, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and cheese of any kind. You don't seem to have the same need for starchy foods that mommy does - you'll take or leave bread, fries, or baked potatoes.

You nurse throughout the day and night and seem to think it is ultimately your right to have access whenever needed. You beat on my chest and demand "Nuh!" and wail piteously if you are told no.

When you turned one, you were just starting to babble some "real" words. Oh my goodness. The list of words you know now is definitely more than I can count - but here are the ones I can remember.

Mama, Dada, Bun (my mom), Pa (my dad), Nana (Andrew's mom), Papa (Andrew's dad), Ad (yourself), Ing-ing (Licoln), chair, ball, Doc, "meemie" (Lambie), Belle, princess, mermaid, car, bath, flower, bird or sometimes "tweet-tweet", shark, fishie, Pooh, choo-choo, "Mah" (Tramp from Lady & the Tramp), colors (crayons), blue, block, turn (as in "my turn"), shoes, bow, cup, "who-who" (owl), "uh-huh" and "uh-uh" for yes and no, awww, and eyes.

You also will recite the sounds of lots of animals - woof-woof (dog), moooow (cat), mmmm (cow), quack-quack (duck), tweet-tweet (bird), ssssss (snake), ooh-ooh, aah-aah (monkey), roar (lion, tiger, dinosaur), "who-who" (owl), and more that I can't remember.

You also tell me when you are pooping. The look on your face is priceless. I'm hoping this means potty training you will be easier than it is for Lincoln.

You recognize items in books or in our house and point to them when prompted. You can stand on your tiptoes to peek out the window at a firetruck with Lincoln. You like to scribble with crayons. You understand simple instructions, even if you don't like to listen. You love going down slides (and shouting "help! help!" when you get to the top but can't quite get your feet positioned correctly. You love to dance, especially with Mommy and Lincoln.

Loves: Your favorite toys are your two plush Doc McStuffins, plush Lambie, and plush lamb that you think is another Lambie. It's actually getting to the point where your refuse to do anything without all four of these toys and that's getting ridiculous.

You love playing with Lincoln and roughhousing with him as much as possible. You're not quite big enough to keep up with him, but you try your best - and if you don't get a turn at something, heaven help us all.

You really miss Daddy when he is gone at work and ask for him throughout the day. You like to snuggle with him when he comes home and while Mommy puts Lincoln to bed at night.

You like going to the park and going for walks in the stroller (usually). You love all the animals at the zoo! You also really like your headbands and ask for a bow if we leave the house and you don't have one on your head. I'm a proud mama.

Hates: You still only have a few people in your circle of trust - grandparents, Daddy, and sometimes other kids. Other than that, you don't love interacting with anyone else and you greet anyone who tries to approach you with a scowl. You especially hate the church nursery.

You hate having your teeth or mouth touched. I have another post in the works to talk about our ordeal with early childhood caries - or dental decay - at your extremely young age. Sigh! You've been poked and prodded in the mouth a lot in the last couple of months, and you clam your lips shut if anyone even comes near your mouth now.

You don't like to be told no, and we've had some pretty epic toddler meltdowns over this recently. You're kind of grumpy for mommy a lot of the time, but as long as you get to nurse frequently, you are not too whiny.

Weight/Height: At your pediatrician's visit last week, you weighed 27 pounds, 10 ounces (95th percentile). You're 32 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile). You're wearing almost entirely 18-24month and 2T clothing! You're in size two AppleCheeks cloth diapers.

You now have 12 teeth (4 front on top and bottom plus 1-year molars), but you're working on all four eye teeth. They are worse than molars! Of your 12 teeth, 4 of them are decayed....unfortunately probably past the point of us being able to fix them without a dental procedure. I want to elaborate on this, but it will turn into another novel - so I'll save it for a new post later this week or next.

Your hair is coming in finally, in little tufts that stick up all over your head. I'm holding out hope that we can do real pigtails soon! Every time I've tried so far, you have not been pleased about it.


I'm in shock that it's almost time for me to start planning a second birthday party, but that seems to just be how life goes! I'm so blessed to have this beautiful girl as my own, and every day I cherish her more. I'm holding her tight - trying to keep her little for just a little while longer.

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

500 Posts + Celebrating Age 3

Well, hi there! You may have noticed that every so often on this little old blog, I randomly disappear for a few days. These unplanned absences (yes, I say unplanned because I sit here looking at a calendar that listed a post to write every day last week and every day this week) always seem to coincide with major events in our home: drama performances, Halloween sewing marathons, and of course - birthdays.

The little boy who lives here turned three years old yesterday. THREE. Now, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the craziness that I've been a mama for 1,096 days of my life - but we've been having fun celebrating Lincoln this week. At the same time, I'm planning a firetruck birthday party, taking care of sick little ones, and oh yeah - running that Etsy shop. All I have to say right now is thank goodness for Grandma.

In other news, this is my 500th Blog Post!!! That's a little bit crazy if you ask me, since I've only been blogging with purpose for a little over a year. All of those old vacation photos and Wordless Wednesday posts got us to this number, but it's exciting, anyway - right? Here's to the next 500 posts - and let's assume it won't take me four and a half years to get there, as it did for the first set!

I will be back with more content next week! Lots of fun things in the works...giveaways, party ideas, and all about my favorite cloth diapers!

Words She Knows {January 2014}

When Addie started saying "mama" and "dada" several months ago, I was shocked. Lincoln didn't say any words until he was sixteen months old. Even though he has turned into quite a little chatterbox, I kind of wondered if he would ever talk.

Addie, on the other hand? She's already talking up a storm - all the time. Before I lose track of what she learned when, I want to record all the little things she already says.

Addie's Words - January 2014.
-Mama
-Dada
-Nana (meaning both bananas and Andrew's mom)
-Pooh
-Belle (in reference to most every princess)
-Brother ("bru-buh") - sometimes.
-Chair
-Shoe
-Ball
-Hi
-Pa (my dad), Papa (Andrew's dad), Pap (my grandpa)
-Choo-choo
-Turtle ("tuh-tuh")
-Bye-bye
-We think she says firetruck, but can't figure out exactly how she says it!

She knows the color blue - or at least, she knows that it is a color. Most of the time she gets it right when we ask her to identify the color of something blue. However, she also answers that just about anything is blue, so we're still working on it. She also repeats "puhpuh" for purple, but I don't think she has a complete grasp on that one yet, either.

She is also very talented when it comes to animal sounds. I am proud to say that she knows the answer when asked what a monkey, cow, duck, horse (this is a giggle), dog, sheep, dinosaur, owl (I attribute this to her first birthday party), or lion says.

At this rate, she'll be saying full sentences before she is two!

What were your kids' first words?

Adelaide: 1 Year Old

One year old. That's the latest around here. We celebrated Addie's first birthday on Monday. I know I talk a lot about how I'm not in a hurry, but somehow time keeps marching right on anyway. But it's not marching. It's racing down an absurdly steep roller coaster track, getting faster and faster every day. It really seems like it was minutes ago that I felt like we had waited forever to meet our Adelaide. Her amazing birth can't have been so long ago.

The time has flown with you, baby princess. I am striving to enjoy every minute, even in spite of whatever craziness may come our way. This week is, again, crazy - because I am working on your upcoming birthday bash!

Milestones: There is no more crawling in our house, ever. You are on your feet, trying your very best to keep up with Lincoln, all the time. You love to grab things you know you are not supposed to have and "run away" with them. Your version of running is to take several quick steps away from me (half the time you fall over from all this effort), and while I do my best not to laugh at you while you are being naughty, it's one of my favorite things that you do right now.

You're pretty consistently taking one or two naps a day right now. This may not seem like much to the average parent, but for me, it's miraculous. You are an incredibly light sleeper, though, so it's a tough task to keep Lincoln quiet while you are resting. Nighttime sleep has not really changed at all. You just don't want to lie down and be away from me. Every few nights, I am able to put you down for an hour or two and that helps my sanity.

We're still practicing baby-led weaning and I have been offering you more foods in the last month. You've tried lots of new things lately, and the only one you completely turned your nose up at was carrots. You still want to nurse frequently during the day and at least a couple of times in the night. We made it easily to a full year of nursing and I have no plan to stop until you are ready. If you take after your brother, that could be quite some time, since your first birthday also marked one year of tandem nursing for me.

You say "mama," "dada," and "brother" fairy consistently still, though sometimes I doubt whether you understand them. One word that you clearly know is "Piper" - Grandma (Bun) and Grandpa (Pa)'s dog. Or, possibly you just think that all dogs are called "Piper" because we've heard you refer to other dogs the same way. You are startle to babble even more, with "words" that are sounding more real all the time.

Maybe my favorite milestone? Just a day or two before your birthday, you started to give "loves" to your toys and books. You will do this on command now, and it is the cutest thing. You'll give love to just about anything or anybody right now. I don't want this stage to end!

You also have recently started to dance whenever you hear music - or when we say "dance, Addie!" You swing your arms from side to side when you dance and it is adorable.

Loves:  Right now, you adore baby dolls, Lincoln's cars, and especially books. The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning is toddle over to the bookshelf, select a favorite, and find a lap to sit in with your book. You'll bring the book up to me, hand it over, then turn around and back yourself into my lap, ready to read. I love it. Lincoln loves books too, but in a very different way. I am enjoying the little bookworm I have on my hands!

You and Lincoln have become better friends in the last month, but you're still too little to understand that you can't play as roughly as brother. Lincoln receives multiple admonitions each day because he pulls you over or knocks you down or sits on you. Sometimes you don't mind, and the two of you giggle yourselves silly. Other times (more often), you start screaming. He is very affectionate right now - he'll come up to you and hug your neck and say "awwww, cute baby!"

You love snuggling with Daddy when he comes home from work each day, and you try your hardest to be involved in the roughhousing that goes on around here.

Hates: You do not like it when you don't get your way. You're developing quite a little attitude. Surprisingly, you did not hate your Halloween costume. I expected you would since getting dressed and changing your diaper is almost always a battle. 

You have a few choice people that you know - mostly grandparents - and anyone else who tries to talk to you is met with the most sorrowful face you could ever imagine. And heaven help them if they try to hold you or even touch you!

You still utterly despise your car seat. We went out of town just before your birthday and you were most unhappy about having to ride so long in the van.

Weight/Height: You stood on our scale a couple days ago and it said 24 pounds. 24 pounds! 12-18 month clothes are fitting pretty well lately. Baby girl outfits are ridiculously adorable, and I love picking out what my tiny fashionista will wear every day.

You still have just 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom), but I am expecting a whole bunch of them to pop through all at once, anytime now. You've had teething symptoms for weeks.

I put your hair in tiny baby pigtails last week and it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. You weren't very happy about it, but we'll try again when you have a little bit more hair.

Precious little girl, you have changed our lives for the better and we are so glad to know you. I can't wait to see what the next year brings - and I have an idea it will fly by even faster than this one did.

Wordless Wednesday: Teeny Tiny Baby Pigtails!

Oh my goodness. I DIE.

Adelaide: 11 Months Old

Miss Adelaide, writing your eleven month post means that we are just a few short weeks away from your first birthday. I really just can't believe it. At all. This year has gone so quickly.

Milestones: Well, we have a big one this month. I thought you might take your time, but you sure showed me. One measly day after you turned ten months old, you took about three steps. It was after Lincoln had gone to bed and we were downstairs watching a movie or something. You pulled yourself up and stood there for a few seconds...then took one step. And then, a couple more. And then you were quite proud of yourself. It's taken you most of the month to get the hang of it. For the first couple of weeks, you just took a step here or there and kept on cruising around the couch. But for the last few days, it has seemed like you are walking more than you are crawling. And, you're getting faster.

Sleep is still a battle. You won't sleep at night unless you are with me. I'm used to that now, but I do get pretty frustrated that I don't have any time when "the kids are in bed" to write or work on craft projects. One of these days...I'm sure I'll miss the snuggles, so I try very hard to appreciate them. 

You haven't cared about food quite as much in the last couple of weeks - unless it is whatever Lincoln has. You don't want to eat pouches or pear puree. You want crackers and cheese and spaghetti. I've been letting you try a few more things and will probably continue to introduce more foods in the next month. We love baby-led weaning! You nurse often, 6-8 times a day and (I think) anywhere from 2-5 times a night.

I'm pretty sure that some of your words - "mama," "dada," and "brother" are real. You repeat lots of sounds and babble constantly. You'll definitely be talking sooner than Lincoln did at this rate!

You won't clap your hands or wave on command anymore. It was so cute - I wish you would do it again.

Loves: You still love Lincoln the most - even though I have to watch you two constantly because he tries to smother you with love multiple times a day. He's also starting to push you away if you get close to whatever he is playing with, so we're trying to teach both of you the art of kindness and sharing.

You are thrilled when Daddy comes home from work and you love to laugh and play with him. You love seeing your grandparents, too. Today, Grandma - or "Bun" as Lincoln calls her - ran some errands with us, and when she walked away from you, you were so sad!

Hates: Just take a look at these pictures and I think it's obvious that you do not like to be told what to do. You have your own opinion about how things should go, and lately you've been pretty unhappy if anything happens to the contrary. You've already perfected the arched back and screaming of a full-blown tantrum!

Now that you can walk, you're even more determined to be involved in everything that goes on. You find it quite unacceptable if anyone is doing anything that looks like fun without you.

Weight/Height: I'm not sure what your measurements are exactly, but you're still on your way to growing into those 12-18 month clothes! Some of them already fit you pretty well, but the pj legs swim on you when you try to walk. The pants I bought you for fall are 18-24 months and they fit you fine already! It's partly the cloth diapers, but partly those chubby little legs.

Your hair is still coming in - slowly, but I can see progress. Yay! You've figured out that it is fun to pull headbands off of your head, but I'm trying to discourage that practice.

One more month until your first birthday, little baby princess. Mommy is in shock. I hope that I don't forget any of the sweet little things that you do - and that you (somehow) don't grow up too fast. I love you, precious baby girl.