Interview with Lincoln: 4 Years Old

The little boy who made me a mommy turned four years old yesterday. I'm not really emotionally ready to address that yet, but I didn't want to miss the chance to see how his answers have changed in our annual Birthday Interview. You can view the answers from his age two interview and age three interview for comparison!

When I first started the conversation with him, it went like this:

How old are you? Four

What makes you happy? Three! Nothin', nothin', nothin'! Just nothin'.

and continued that way through the next five questions, so I gave up. Later in the day, I started asking him a few questions at a time and managed to come up with more realistic answers!

(my notes are in italics)

How old are you? Four

What makes you happy? Nonis (macaroni and cheese) and macaroni and cheese and pizza! And cheese! He's on a dairy-free diet right now, so he's missing this stuff a lot!

What is your favorite toy? Octonauts!

What is your favorite stuffed animal? Clifford the big red dog.

What is your favorite real animal? A polar bear!

What is your favorite thing to sleep with? Nothing! The answer is actually Mommy.

What is your favorite color? Blue! Just blue! I just like blue! That's my favorite color.

What is your favorite fruit? All of 'em. (apples, pears, strawberries)

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal!

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Noni...no, pizza!

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? Nonis and pizza.

What is your favorite drink? Water! Just real water, not Vitamin C! Last week, he had a cold and I made him drink Vitamin C powder dissolved in water. He was not impressed.

What is your favorite dessert? Candy bar (Larabars) and marshmallow.

What is a food that makes you want to puke? Vitamin C. "What about vegetables like carrots and broccoli?" And carrots are yucky, I forgot!

What is your favorite thing to do? Play in the snow and get pizza and have cereal. And playing Octonauts.

What is your favorite TV show? Octonauts.

What is your favorite movie? I don't like long movies!

What are you really good at? Running and walking.

What is your favorite song? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

 Who is the Coolest Person on Earth? Me! I'm the goodest, coolest person! Oh boy. 

What do you and your mom do together? Bake cakes (ummm...I don't think we have actually done this all year) and play Octonauts!

What do you and your dad do together? Play Mario game. That's all the things I can do! Oh, and play with my car.

When you were little, what did you do? I don't know. Crawl! Go outside and play!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? The puppy shop. (This may be the pet store? He's never been to one!)

What do you think your parents are too strict about? (He didn't understand this question. I think he finds it ridiculous that we don't let him lick us, we don't like water thrown out of the bathtub, and we limit how fast he can run in the house - especially after he split his chin open last week.)

Who is your best friend? Grace and Connor. No, Bun and Pa! "What about me?" Oh, and you, Mommy. And Daddy. And Addie, too!

What are some of your favorite things to say? Nothing! Fa-fa-fa-faffffffff. Woof, woof. (followed by lots of random, silly noises.)

What is your favorite thing to do outside? The swingset!

What is your favorite book? Pigeon! by Mo Willems.

What do you want to be when you grow up? An "ambience" (ambulance) driver.

This whole birthday interview thing? It was SO much more fun this year, now that he has a wide range of ideas and opinions that are all his own. I'm so glad I started this series two years ago, because the full collection of interviews is going to be priceless when he is grown!

Questions compiled from A Beautiful Ruckus, Ali Edwards, and Paper Nook.  Thanks!

Interview with Addie: 2 Years Old

I almost forgot to do a birthday interview with Addie for her second birthday! While she is talking very well, most of these questions are a little too pointed for her understanding, so most of the answers are me speaking for her. I have no doubt that next year, she will be spewing out answers and opinions nonstop!

How old are you?  Two. Her actual answer when asked this question is "I'm shix!" - 6. She's too smart for her own good.

What makes you happy? Getting her way. Nursing.

What is your favorite toy? Paw Patrol pups, Doc McStuffins, princess purse,

What is your favorite stuffed animal? She's actually hilariously obsessed with our plush Bowser (Nintendo villain) right now. She runs around saying "he's scary!" and "I like him!" and "where IS he?!" We can't figure out why he is so important to her, but it's really funny.

What is your favorite real animal? Dogs.

What is your favorite thing to sleep with? Mommy. She hates being covered in a blanket while she sleeps.

What is your favorite color? Pink! She'll answer this one sometimes.

What is your favorite fruit? Grapes.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Whatever Mommy is eating and none of what is on her tray.

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Whatever Mommy is eating and none of what is on her tray. She'll usually eat macaroni and cheese, plain cheese, shredded cheese, grapes, a carrot or two, broccoli, tomato or broccoli cheddar soup, and apple slices without too much complaining.

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? See above. We had chicken and potatoes for her birthday dinner. I think she ate three bites total.

What is your favorite drink? Milk.

What is your favorite dessert? Cupcakes or the peanut butter cups she mooches when Mommy has purchased them from Trader Joe's.

What is a food that makes you want to puke? Most vegetables aside from broccoli, carrots, or corn.

What is your favorite thing to do? Read books, nurse, snuggle.

What is your favorite TV show? Octonauts, Paw Patrol, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
 
What is your favorite movie? The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Lady & the Tramp (she doesn't watch them all the way through - just the nice and "not scary" parts with daddy while waiting for brother to go to sleep each night).

What are you really good at? Talking!

What is your favorite song? She's been overheard singing the Paw Patrol theme and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a lot this week.

Who is the Coolest Person on Earth? Lincoln. She wants to do everything Lincoln does.

What do you and your mom do together? Dance in the kitchen. Snuggle for naps and nighttime. Read books. Run errands. Put on pretty hair accessories.

What do you and your dad do together? Chest bumps. Rough, crazy play. Watch movies at bedtime.

When you were little, what did you do? Fuss and cry!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Grandparents' houses or the zoo or the aquarium.

What do you think your parents are too strict about? Who needs to sleep all night? Or share their toys?

Who is your best friend? Lincoln.

What are some of your favorite words to say? All the words. She blows me away with the stuff she says. All day long, she talks in full sentences!
 
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Slides on our swingset or at the park.

What is your favorite book? This is tough. She really likes an Under the Sea book that her grandparents gave her last Christmas...or anything with a princess...or Curious George... She rarely turns down a book.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Something in a position of power! Or maybe something that allows her to work with animals. I can't wait to hear her real answer next year when she will likely understand this question!

Maybe it's silly to answer these questions for her, but I think it's fun to have a little piece of her life at age barely 2 recorded!





Just for fun, here's Lincoln's 2nd Birthday Interview.

Questions compiled from A Beautiful Ruckus, Ali Edwards, and Paper Nook.  Thanks!

Interview with Lincoln: 3 Years Old

My second birthday interview with Lincoln was a lot of fun even though he wasn't really talking yet. Now that he is three years old, he was actually able to chime in on some answers (his answers are in italics - you can tell he was in a great mood to help me blog) - and I filled in the gaps for him. I think this is such a fun project to preserve some of the little things about your kids at different stages of their lives.

How old are you? Uh-uh, no. Three. 

What makes you happy? Not me happy! Not happy! Firetrucks driving down the street. Eating macaroni or spaghetti or cookies. Singing and dancing with Mommy. Running around like crazy with Daddy.

What is your favorite toy? He primarily plays with firetrucks, ambulances, little Hot Wheels cars, and "guys" (action figures or Mario plush characters).

What is your favorite stuffed animal? The plush Mario guys. Daddy is excited about this.

What is your favorite real animal? Not me animal. He pretends to be an alligator and a lion and a dinosaur.

What is your favorite thing to sleep with? Firetruck blankie he received for Christmas.

What is your favorite color? I can't get an answer out of him, so an educated guess is red (firetrucks) or blue (his room).

What is your favorite fruit? Apples have been really popular lately.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Honey toast, smoothies (unless Mommy hides too many veggies in them), pancakes, waffles, apple slices, banana.

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Annie's macaroni and cheese or chicken nuggets and fries with applesauce, apple slices, grapes, or some other fruit.

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? He tends to be most excited about pizza or macaroni right now. For his birthday dinner, we had leftover macaroni. But for lunch, we had chicken nuggets at Fritz's train restaurant.

What is your favorite drink? Definitely juice. He only has this a few times a week and primarily drinks water.

What is your favorite dessert? Cookies or birthday cake.

What is a food that makes you want to puke? Vegetables. All of them.

What is your favorite thing to do? Run as fast as possible, avoid sleep, jump on Daddy, climb on Mommy. He also really loves reading books, watching movies, and helping Mommy or Daddy with anything. 

What is your favorite TV show? Little Einsteins, Chuck & Friends, Scooby-Doo, Doc McStuffins.
 
What is your favorite movie? We haven't actually watched a lot of full-length movies lately. He was obsessed with Tangled for awhile and he still likes Lady & the Tramp and Winnie the Pooh.

What are you really good at? Running, climbing, causing commotions.

What is your favorite song? Uh-uh, not my song. He just started singing with us in the last couple of weeks, so there aren't lots of favorites yet. We've heard him sing Jingle Bells, the Little Einsteins theme, and some classical pieces from Little Einsteins.

 Who is the Coolest Person on Earth? I think this title still goes to Mommy and Daddy, but he really loves all his grandparents, too. And firefighters ("fire guys")

What do you and your mom do together? Read books, play cars, eat lunch, go shopping (sometimes), go to storytime at the library, laundry, play with counters, have Imagination Movers dance parties. 

What do you and your dad do together? Run and jump, jumping jacks, go shopping and ride in a car cart, gymnastics, read books, play Mario.

When you were little, what did you do? Cry like baby sister.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Fritz's, gymnastics, anywhere he can run!

What do you think your parents are too strict about? We make him go potty every hour, say he can't watch shows all day, don't let him drag Addie around by the neck, make him sleep at night, tell him not to run around and slam into the furniture...you know, just things like that.

Who is your best friend? Addie, Grace, and Kinley.

What are some of your favorite things to say? "Not me!" "Mommy, I needa read a book!" "Wait! I needa drive a car!" "Inky WITH you!" "I'm Inky James!" "I'm a boy!" "Wee-oooh, wee-oooh!"
 
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the snow, drive cars, play at the park, run.

What is your favorite book? Sweet Pickles series, anything about a firetruck, Berenstain Bears.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Need to drive a firetruck!


Somehow we are already on our way to age four, and that just seems too old. I hope Lincoln continues to enjoy these favorites for a long time....maybe it will help me believe I can slow down time.

Questions compiled from A Beautiful Ruckus, Ali Edwards, and Paper Nook.  Thanks!

Interview with Lincoln: 2 Years Old

A growing trend I've noticed in the Pinterest and blogging world is to interview your children on their birthday each year, so that you can mark all their favorite things and how they change from year to year.  As a somewhat obsessive memory-keeper, I really wanted to start this tradition this year.  However - while Lincoln's vocabulary is improving, it's nowhere near ready for something this detailed.  So this year?  I'm writing the "mommy version" - or what I am pretty confident he would answer if he knew all of the words.  I can't wait until next year to hear his real answers!

Also...I know it's really long.  But I know I will love being able to look back at his answers through the years and remember so many little details about who he was at each stage of life.

How old are you?  Two!

What makes you happy?  Mama, Dada, Baby.  But mostly, trrrrrrucks and cars and buses and boats and planes.  And Mickey Mouse.

What is your favorite toy?  Remote Control Car, Ride-on Toys (Mickey train, Dinosaur, scooter, and derby car), and most of all, my giant collection of Hot Wheels cars!

What is your favorite stuffed animal?  My puppy or Mario star.

What is your favorite real animal? Dogs!

What is your favorite thing to sleep with?  A blankie (not a particular favorite - any will do) and Mommy.  I don't like to snuggle with toys or pillows while sleeping.

What is your favorite color?  I don't have one yet.

What is your favorite fruit?  How to pick just one?  Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, grapes.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Half a banana and probably other fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs, "chos" (Cheerios) or "chick" (Chex).

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cheese - string, sliced, cubed, doesn't really matter.  Crackers, grapes, mac and cheese, yogurt.

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner? Mac and cheese or chicken nuggets or pizza!

What is your favorite drink?  I really only drink water from my sippy cup, but sometimes mommy lets me have "chuice" (juice) and it is awesome.  I also still want milkies (nursing) a few times a day.

What is your favorite dessert?  I don't eat a whole lot of sugar, but beg mommy for "cooks" (cookies) whenever I see her sneaking an Oreo.  It's like she thinks I won't notice!

What is a food that makes you want to puke?  Most vegetables and especially those that are green (broccoli, green beans, peas, etc).

What is your favorite thing to do?  Play with trucks and RUN AS FAST AS I CAN.  Especially outside.

What is your favorite TV show?  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Pocoyo, Chuggington, various re-runs of Mickey Mouse cartoons on YouTube.  And the All About video series - especially the car, truck, and monster truck episodes.
 
What is your favorite movie?  Cars, Winnie the Pooh, Lady & the Tramp.

What are you really good at?  Running, throwing, arranging cars in perfect formation.

What is your favorite song?  The Mickey Mouse Hot Dog song!

Who is the Coolest Person on Earth?  Probably Mommy.  Daddy is a close second.

What do you and your mom do together?  Hang out all day, visit friends or the park, laundry, play with cars and trucks, read books, snuggle.

What do you and your dad do together? Play really really rough, chase each other around the house, go for walks, go to Walmart, read books, watch DuckTales.

When you were little, what did you do?  Play with balls and cars!  And I ate more vegetables.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?  The Choo-Choo Restaurant (Fritz's), the park, and anywhere else that I can run!

What do you think your parents are too strict about?  They think I should sleep at night!  How silly of them!  Also, why can't I just eat cheese and drink juice all day every day?

Who is your best friend? Grace.  But I also still love Mommy an awful lot.

What are some of your favorite words to say?  No-no-no-no-no!, uh-oh, cars, trucks, bus, "chuice" (juice), "coze" (clothes), "dee-wah" (means milk, Mickey, and for a long time, mommy), baby, dog, cheese, "nack" (snack), hot (usually said with the O very drawn out - "hooooooot!"), nose, eyes, ears, mouth, "nummy" (yummy), "uckies" (yucky), "wone" (phone), "die" (diaper), "howsssse" (house).
 
What is your favorite thing to do outside? RUN.

What is your favorite book?  Little Blue Truck Leads the Way.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A car mechanic!


I can't believe how big you are at two years old, Lincoln - and I cannot wait until next year to hear how your favorite things have changed! 

Questions compiled from A Beautiful Ruckus, Ali Edwards, and Paper Nook.  Thanks!