November 13th

Now - I know that a couple posts back (right before midnight on Linc's birthday) I threw a very short birthday shout out to my littlest sweetie. I was just too wiped out at that point of the day to edit & post all the pictures we took that day - so here comes that gigantic post now! We didn't have Lincoln's party until another day later (oh, that post is pending!)...but Mark didn't have to work on Lincoln's birthday, so we enjoyed a full day of family fun right on Linc's birthday!

Before I move on to posting all these pictures, let me give you the update on Lincoln's "stats":
Height - 36 inches (90th percentile)
Weight - 32 pounds (88th percentile)
Head circumference - 20.5 inches (99th percentile)...first time that hasn't been off the chart
Big kid, but pretty well proportioned I guess.

A few of his words right now that I want to remember later:
More = "mone"
Sorry = "saussy"
I love you = "I wuv woo"
I want a sucker = "I suck"
Please = "pease"
Juice = "deus"
Pacifier/Binky = "B!"
Toothbrush = "E!" (named for when we say "eeee" as he brushes)
Ketchup = "sauce"
All alphabet letters = "e-o, e-o!"

Right now Lincoln loves to:

• Blow slobbery zerberts on your tummy
• Give lots of kisses with really pooched out lips
• Scream, growl, jump, and run
• Fall down a lot (ok, he may not love that, but he does it a lot)
• Eat things with "sauce"
• Sleep with his stuffed doggy, monkey, binky, and quilt that Mark's mom made
• Throw food off his tray as soon as he's done (there's about a 3 second window to intercept)
• Fly like Buzz Lightyear
• Play with trains and cars
• Play with alphabet letters and splash in the tub
• Eat oatmeal for breakfast
• Watch "Sam!" (Fireman Sam) with his brother
• Wrestle, wrestle, wrestle
• Eat/drink weird things (I call it baby pica) like - hand lotion, liquid hand soap, bubbles (blown or in solution form), etc. And he says "mmmm" as he does it (while I'm running to stop him, of course). I luckily caught him the other day as he was getting ready to pump Purell into his mouth...oh, and he likes spicy food (which he didn't get from me).
• Take his shoes and socks off anytime we drive somewhere in the car
• Climb anything
  
• Run to hug and greet daddy when he comes home (if Linc is still awake then)
• Say "I wuv woo" back and forth with me or Mark (over & over!)
• Play with his grandparents
• See if he can clear all the toys off the toy room shelves before I can get there to stop him

Fair warning: This post will probably contain around 50 pictures/video clips. Browse through what you want & just remember that this is my form of journaling, scrapbooking, and baby-booking right now...so I like to be thorough! :)

First thing that morning Mark made Lincoln (and the rest of us) a yummy breakfast! Pancakes with warm apples, coconut cream syrup, sausage, and orange juice. Sweet and meaty - right up Lincoln's alley. Yum.


Then we all got ready and headed out for an afternoon at the Children's Museum. Before getting the boys in the car, Mark snapped this cute picture of Noah giving Lincoln a hug. Linc looks a little less than enthused, but I still thought it was a super cute picture.

The boys in the stroller before heading into the museum. I include this picture because it cracks me up. This is the boys' "Cheeese...hurry up and take the picture so we can play, Mom" smile.

Linc playing with the pneumatic tubes and balls. He played there for a really long time and loved it.

The birthday boy loved banging on these (imagine that)...

We signed the boys up for one of the cute little classes the Children's Museum offers, and they got to make these little puppets. They had fun creating them.








Then it was off to play on the air med helicopter. For those of you that haven't been to Discovery Gateway - the museum is two levels and the top level has an outdoor area with a real air med helicopter. They've equipped it with buttons the kids can push that make it sound like it's taking off and everything. The kids love it.


The boys in the back of the helicopter.

And because toys that you already have at home are always much more fun somewhere else...a little time playing with Mr. Potato Head.


Now for a real treat. Mark found out about a little place downtown that we've somehow never been to - Bruges Waffles and Frites. When Mark lived in Holland he loved to get Frites (fries) and mayo from the stands there - so it was fun to stop and pick some up on our way home. They were delicious and we're looking forward to going back sometime to explore more of their menu!

Here we are trying to get a picture of the boys enjoying the fries on our front steps...it's funny that you can see Mark's & my reflection in the door (trying to get the boys to look at the camera and smile).

Mmmmm.

Lincoln giving Noah a kiss on the cheek.

And Lincoln attacking his big brother.

The birthday boy with his daddy.

Then Mark blew all the leaves into a pile and we played in them for quite a while (until we got too cold and had to go inside). The boys, of course, loved throwing the leaves. Noah decided that, for whatever reason, doing that reminded him of a "rain forest". (See the video clip below):





Laying in the leaves is always fun too.



Noah buried himself in the leaves and we had fun trying to "find him"...I love Lincoln's little voice in the background saying "Noah...where are you?"


And Mark and I both enjoyed horsing around in the leaves with the boys.



A quick clip of us saying "cheeeese" for a picture:


This picture cracks me up because I'm just grinning at the camera and don't even know that Noah is squeezing the daylight out of Lincoln's hand. Poor kid.

The boys took late naps and then after dinner that night we did a few presents and cupcakes! Noah and I had gone to the store earlier for Noah to pick out a present for him to get for Lincoln. It was really cute to watch him try to figure out what Lincoln would want, while fighting the temptation to pick something that he would actually want himself. He was really cute though and did finally decide that since Linc really likes Thomas the train right now, that we needed to find a Thomas gift. So we ended up getting this carpet-like Thomas play mat (that came with a Thomas the train shaped whistle). Linc was pretty excited about just the bow on the gift...

...until he realized that there was something so cool inside the wrapping paper! It was funny watching him process exactly what was going on.

The playmat Noah gave Linc gave him came with a plastic, Thomas shaped whistle. Here's a 30 second clip of Lincoln figuring out how to use it:


And here is Noah stopping to pose for a picture (all on his own) as he gives Linc the other part of his gift.

A die cast Thomas. Funny enough he didn't seem to show much preference between the "real" Thomas and the plastic whistle Thomas.

A cute 9-second "Choo-choo!" clip:



Time to sing Happy Birthday!

I was actually surprised how Lincoln knew exactly what to do all on his own! As soon as we started singing to him he started trying to blow out the candles...and as soon as he finally blew them out he opened his mouth as if saying "Gimme some of that tasty treat!". Check out the cuteness for yourself (30 second clip):


Blowing out the candles..."Fffffff!"


He checked out the little chocolate delight for a second, and then knew just what to do with it.




Noah-dude.

And, lastly, Noah was excited when I asked if he'd take a picture of Mom & Dad with the birthday boy. We showed him how to do it & this is how it turned out! Not bad!

Before we were ready to wrap up the birthday celebrations and begin the boys bedtimes, we let them play with the new train stuff. And Noah even talked us in to letting them watch one episode of Thomas the Train. Watching Lincoln enthusiasm over "Thomas!!!" was just the perfect way to end a great day.

It was fun to be able to spend a day together as a family and celebrate the birth of our little monkey. We had a more formal celebration later, which was lots of fun too, but for the sake of keeping these posts chronological...I'll add pictures from his "real" birthday party in a couple of posts :)