Saturday, July 30, 2011

Lincoln at home

After the morning out in the heat, Lincoln was happy to be home and out of the stroller.


Lincoln is smiling a good amount now, but I have yet to catch a real picture of it. Here's another "almost smile."


Touch a Truck

We took the boys to a Touch a Truck event today. Ben had soooo much fun climbing on and exploring fire trucks, buses, ambulances, construction trucks, etc. I couldn't even get him to stop moving long enough to get pictures, he loved going from truck to truck...







(Lincoln slept through the entire trip in the stroller.)

Friday, July 29, 2011

Ben Talk

As Ben talks more and more, his sentence structure goes through lots of changes. Right now, while his sentence structure is not correct, it's adorable. I know soon he will correct some of his (consistent) mistakes and I will miss his little way of talking. I've decided to write down some of the things he says daily so we can remember them. See if you can figure out what he's actually saying:

- No can working.
- No can reach it.
- See it.
- Little help.
- Mommy tell what it is.
- Ben have it snack.
- Ben have it Mommy's elbow. (remember the obsession with my elbow? this is how he phrases it when he wants anything, but "Mommy's elbow" is certainly one he says often.)
- Mommy trying reach something.
- Making noise.
- Read it book. (often followed by: "Read it book....PLEASE")
- Ben walk big boy.
- Ni-night time's over.

Lincoln's one month stats

It's official, Lincoln is growing at a rate faster than his big brother!

Weight: 11 lbs, 6 oz (75-90%)
Height: 22 1/4 inches (75%)
Head: 14 1/2 inches (10-25%)

Ok, so his head is a bit small and I don't have a ton of confidence in the length measurements at our doctor's office so I'm going by weight. Ben was 11 lbs, 10 oz at 1 month (and started at 9 lbs....compared to Lincoln's 7 lbs 11 oz). I guess we'll chalk it up to Lincoln being a good eater!

Also, just wanted to add that both boys gave me a gift last night to celebrate Lincoln's birthday. Lincoln ate last night at 7:45 PM and didn't wake up to eat again until 4:45 AM....then slept again until 7ish. Ben wasn't great at bedtime last night, but made up for it by sleeping in until close to 8 AM. Can we do that again tonight, please??

Thursday, July 28, 2011

A few more from today...

(Seriously, could I have taken more pictures today to document Lincoln at one month old?)

Napping....at the same time as Ben for about 20 minutes...yea!!


Exploring the activity mat.



Ben is obsessed with this John Butler music video that's on my phone. He watches it over and over again every day. Here, he was insisting that Lincoln needed to watch the video. As you can see, Lincoln was very interested.



Auntie Jen visits

From yesterday.....Ben cuddling with Auntie Jen after his nap.


Jen loving her nephews...


Lincoln wasn't loving the moment. Ben's actually saying "chheeeeeesssseee."


A few expressions




The little chunky monkey


Happy 1 month Lincoln!

It's hard to imagine a whole month has passed since Lincoln joined our family. As I did with Ben, I am going to take monthly pictures of Lincoln on his new chair. He pretty much cooperated and was certainly more awake than Ben was in his one month picture!



(Ben at 1 month)


(Back to Lincoln)



Ben looks like he's strangling Lincoln....I promise, he was fine.


Ben was singing "Happy Birthday to Lincoln"


Brothers cuddling.




Lincoln has been a good eater and definitely gained a ton of weight. We are anxious to see how much weight at his doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. He eats every 2 hours (seriously, he's like clockwork) during the day with MAYBE one stretch in the afternoon. Overnight, he's waking up to eat 1 or 2 times. He is definitely in the eat, poop and sleep stage and it's an endless cycle. He has a little bit of awake time each day and has showed us that he is enjoying his tummy time and is working on lifting his head and moving it from one cheek to the other when he's on his tummy.

Ben is still completely enthralled with Lincoln and smothers him with hugs and kisses constantly. I worry about inadvertent squishing, but I'm thankful for the endless love he seems to show his little brother.

It's wonderful to watch Lincoln grow each day and we look forward to when he actually interacts with us. I'm not sure Ben realizes that Lincoln is NOT interacting with him. How amazed he will be when Lincoln gets older and they can play together!

Happy 1 month, Lincoln!!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Ben at the pool

We are so happy that Jen is here so I had an extra set of hands at the pool.  Ben was even happier to be able to enjoy this beautiful day with one if his favorite playmates!

Lincoln playing with Auntie Jen

Lincoln relaxing by the pool

Monday, July 25, 2011

An armload of adorable boys

At bedtime tonight, Ben asked Nick to carry him WITH Baby Lincoln. Nick was quick to appease Ben and grabbed Lincoln from me. The result was a very cute picture!



While Nick read books to Ben before bedtime, Lincoln had some (unique) awake time (before passing out completely from exhaustion). We almost have a smile here. He has been doing a lot of "smiling" in his sleep, but I have yet to capture it on camera since it's usually when he's in my arms. I will try to get a picture of it soon since it's so sweet.


Cute profile.


Playing in the rain


Lincoln Taco

Lincoln doesn't seem to be thrilled with the insert I got for my baby carrier. He looked a little confused.


After a little adjustment, he seemed a happier. He doesn't know it yet, but as soon as it's a little cooler outside, this will be his "favorite" place as I will need to use the carrier whenever Ben wants to play outside!


A new gadget in the house

Just like his dad, Ben is interested in any new gadget that he finds. The newest "gadget" in the house is my breast pump. Ben is VERY interested in it and "helps" me by pushing the power button every time I pump around him. He investigates while I'm pumping and oversees my pouring and storing of the milk. I found him in the kitchen here checking out the pump while it was not in use. Right before I took this picture, he lifted his shirt and was placing the shield on his tummy. I wish I had gotten the camera on fast enough to capture that moment.



A few days ago, Ben climbed onto his bed, deliberately placed his pillow on his lap, lifted his shirt and held his new platypus stuffed animal to his chest. I'm hoping this is completely normal procedure for older siblings of breastfed babies.

Sleepy baby and Mommy

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Friday, July 22, 2011

Handsome boy!

Nap time...

This is as good a place as any other, right?


Car Seat Safety

They say this can hold a baby up to 30 pounds. Ben's not much more than that. I know there's a height requirement too (32 inches)....but I'm thinking that's a stretch in the product description. Ben was warming the seat up for Lincoln here before Lincoln's first real play date.

Shields Family Visit

Brian, Aimee and their boys came by for a quick visit last Sunday. We were so happy to see them....only wish the visit was longer!


Wow, that's a lot of boys!


Aimee holding Lincoln.


Two old friends, hanging out and catching up.