Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Fireman

If I were going to give an update on Ben, I'd be writing about the fact that he is a fireman ever single day. Snow hat, gloves and boots double as fireman hats, gloves and boots...and he keep our family "safe and sound."


So happy!


And happily playing in the middle of the fire-fighting craziness. :)



Introducing Brendan

Jen brought her boyfriend, Brendan, up to visit this past weekend.  We had a great weekend visiting!  Thank you so much for coming.  We look forward to many more fun times together!



Lincoln is 7 months

Happy 7 months, Lincoln!






This is what Lincoln's been up to the last month...

Last month, I wrote about Lincoln's sitting.  He sits without even trying now and has learned a lot more about moving his body around.  He rolls both ways, goes from sitting to laying, laying to sitting, rotates 360 degrees, crawls backwards....and as of yesterday, crawls forward!  I'm in trouble now with baby proofing and not leaving the room when he's on the floor.  What fun he will have exploring now that he can move around!

He continues to eat better and better.  I love the way he opens his mouth like a little bird and if I'm giving him finger foods like puffs, cheerios or small pieces of pear or banana, he reminds me of an animal at a pet pet farm with the way he goes after my hand.  He even occasionally pulls my hand closer to his mouth!  He loves food and I'm now making 100% of the food I'm giving him.  It is easy and cheaper......and the funniest thing is that Ben wants to eat it too!  Pureed squash for both boys at dinner. :)

Still no teeth although I mentioned last month that he was gnawing a bunch and drooling.  Maybe in the next month.

Lincolns is VERY aware of his surroundings.  It's getting harder and harder to feed him when ANYTHING is going on in the room.  Ben playing/talking is the worst, but even his Daddy asking a question distracts him from the task at hand.  He will learn so much about the world...he doesn't want to miss a thing!

I have really committed over the last 3 weeks to getting Lincoln on a schedule.  It's been hard on all of us...even Ben as we haven't really gone anywhere too exciting.  We have been focusing on getting him on a set eating schedule (nursing 4 times a day and eating 3 meals), a regular nap schedule (we are working on 2-3 naps a day at consistent times and trying really hard to get them longer than 40 minutes at a time), and sleeping through the night (earlier bedtime - around 7, no nighttime feedings, no more partial swaddling, trying to teach him to self sooth without using a cry it out method that doesn't seem to be the right approach for him).  It's been a busy and stressful few weeks, but I AM seeing progress so I feel like we are doing something right!

I suppose this is a big month of changes for Little Lincoln.  Happy 7 months!  We love watching you learn to move. :)  I will get a video of his crawling up here soon!!

The post wouldn't be complete without Ben posing in Lincoln's chair. :)



Friday, January 27, 2012

My boys...

Brothers playing at home...(pictures in a funny order and I can't seem to move them around.)











Thursday, January 26, 2012

After removing the tape...

Tape is off! Here's how Ben's scar-to-be looks:



I'm really not sure what's happening here...sometimes Ben does this close talking thing. 
















I think Ben was kissing him...

Saturday, January 21, 2012

First Snow

We woke up this morning to a few inches of snow.  Ben wanted to go out from the moment he saw the snow!  



He enjoyed helping Daddy shovel the driveway. 



We're Mobile!

While Ben was busy having surgery over the last two weeks, Lincoln was learning to MOVE!  I say this "officially" after I left the room and he was sitting in front of the exersaucer and I came back in the room and he was behind it and under the chair (pictured below)!  Time to increase my baby proofing....and keep Ben's tiny toys off the floor.


Here, I will document Lincoln's method to movement.  He cannot crawl, but he has no trouble moving around.

He usually begins sitting:


The he leans forward and gradually works his way over that right foot...

 



Then up on all fours and he crawls BACKWARDS.  He also can roll both ways and can rotate 360 degrees.  At this point, he can pretty much get wherever he wants to go...but I'd love to hear thoughts on how long it will be before he's crawling forward!


This adoring look is simply Lincoln looking up at his brother.  I love how much Lincoln loves Ben!


Ben's Surgery

Hello!  It's been a little while since my last update.  Last Friday, Ben had surgery to remove (what we later learned to be) a tumor from his right cheek.  Because of his age and the placement of the tumor, we had a plastic surgeon remove it and he was completely asleep during the procedure.  While it was a pretty small "surgery," it was a pretty big deal to us because he was asleep.  Nick took the day off and Kathy and Don came down to watch Lincoln.  Nick and I were so proud of Ben because he was so good.  I think he was the first person to ask to keep the mask the anesthesiologist used....and still hasn't stopped playing with it.  He calls it his oxygen mask....because he's a fireman every day.  We waited anxiously during the surgery and were there when he woke up.  I have to say it was actually quite amusing when he came out of anesthesia.  Have you even seen those You Tube videos of kids on the way home from the dentist after being under anesthesia?  I understand the reason those parents turned on the cameras.

We laid low that weekend while his cheek started to heal.  Here, Nick is cuddling with his boys while watching a movie.  Ben had his bandage on for 2 days following the surgery and then got the stitches out in two separate visits to the plastic surgeon.


This picture is taken on Monday after the first half of the stitches were removed.  Ben was great getting the stitches removed.  I don't think his cheek bothers him at all - I have to remind him to be careful not to bump it.  I don't have pictures after he got the rest of the stitches out because he has tape on it (still).  He will be able to take the tape off on Tuesday and I can take another picture to see how much it's healed.


The same day, Ben and Lincoln were making some music together. :)





Saturday, January 7, 2012

Randoms from yesterday

Finally got his hands on the toy he really wanted...



While I was getting Lincoln ready for bed last night, Ben became obsessed with getting HIS baby ready for bed.  He insisted on using Lincoln's diaper and pjs and feeding him a bottle.


I'm totally serious....he was "pumping into the bottle before feeding the baby."