Life of Lincoln

Lincoln is busy busy busy. The most curious boy ever. Very inquisitive, very stubborn. He wants to do everything on his own. we bought him a harness aka leash, to start practicing for our airplane trip to Kim's wedding next week. it's a lil puppy backpack. 

We went on a walk to the office. It was a lot more freedom than he normally gets, and took a LOT more time than it usually takes us to walk across the parking lot! every flower bed and each worm on the sidewalk deserved a minute or two of examination. he loved it, and he really wanted to wear it around the house. I realize to some, it's like walking your dog or a taboo subject, but I won't have a stroller in the airport!  I think its perfectly acceptable. Not to mention he got a lot of compliments already! 

 I wanted to blog some of our daily activities. life from Lincoln's view since we've been here, our home activities since i'm without a car. 

Playing nesting cups. 

Napping! this was before he was weaned. I haven't said, but this boy gave up the boob so easily! I should have done it earlier. But then it might have not been so smooth, so I guess we were both ready. he really hasn't thrown any tantrums about it. I cut him off last Monday! Mother's Day was his final hoorah. he likes his cuppy. he drinks 2 a day now, about 20 oz. milk/ almond milk, chocolate or strawberry milk, or bolthouse smoothie.  Because of the weaning, he became way more interested in food! He's gained a pound+ since we've moved here, which is SO good! It hopefully means no specialists, or pokings, or nutritionist. I hope it was the push he needed in the right direction. here he is making a bowl of pudding(which I secretly add fruit and veggie purée to) into a finger painting experience! 

 We go on stroller rides to target a couple times a week, and occasionally we stop into the petsmart. It's a mini zoo for Lincoln. He loves pointing at the birds, guinea pig, fish, and especially the kitty cats! 

 we also try to see the dog cousins dexter, wiggin, and Watson a couple times a week. Yesterday, we played on the grass with dexter and uncle clint. crazy giggling ensued. Lincoln loves puppies and exploring the wilderness- a winning combination!  We stroller through the grass area a lot. 

I tried to show him how to blow the dandelion, but he just ate it :) 

he loves the iPad, so I try to keep it to a minimum. Kids these days are too smart! He can swipe it and pick which icon to open to get to his games. he knows the home button will take him back out, so we bought the fisher-price apptivity center. It blocks the button and has a protector screen and case, making it more durable from drool and drops. I'm just hoping it entertains him for hours on the plane. 

Playing with some linking beads. it's so funny, he grunts like he's pushing with all his might, even when he's not pushing them really at all, tricking me into helping him.  You see the truck in the background? We push trucks across the floor, table, ottoman all day long.  He says truck and crash when they fall off/over!  Best game ever. 

he's been practicing a lot of words lately. He says mmm deshushush( delicious), trash,  Crash, cracker, chicken, Juice, no no no, Yes, truck, moo, this, that, doggie, sock, shoe, pants, puppy...among others, and he loves to poke our eyes and nose because he can say those too! he acknowledges way more words. Toes, feet, hair, diaper, highchair, eat, lets go, milk, sippy cup, crib and so on. He will follow basic direction- put that back, get your shoes, hold my hand...it's so fun watching them learn! he loves to put the laundry into wash. he loves to give high fives and bumps...

He is very attached to a lil puppy woobie, but we call it bear. Confusing the poor kid, I'm sure. 

We found this awesome ikea rocking chair by our dumpster( ghetto, I know). We had just been talking about getting him his own chair. We bleached it down, cut off the hello kitty pads and voila ! An instant hit. especially great for 5:30 am cartoons and the occasional rocker surfing :)  

We play dress up. he loves clothes. Our clothes. We have to keep dirty clothes in the hamper for sure, because he often comes out with underwear around his neck, or head stuck in a pant leg! cracked me up when I found a chicken nugget in my pajama drawer. 

we play bubbles! what's more fun than popping bubbles and singing songs?! we do this often. 

Needless to say, he keeps things interesting! we have a lot of fun together and I feel blessed to never miss a second. 

This is the cutest mischievous face ever! 

Dc is the place to be

So we took a trip to DC the first Sunday out here but I went out of order in my blogging. Andrew and Hannah live near DC. It doesn't matter how much kalob loves America, we went to see his brother.  

 It was very neat to see the Discovery space shuttle. It's actually my elementary school's namesake. It's built of all these tiny tiles that are numbered, so if it gets burned up or comes off, they can create a new one specific to that space on the shuttle! Who knew!? Being close to all this education stuff is so cool! 

Lincoln is being such a brat about taking pictures! He hates it! So he really wasn't looking in any of them! it's so funny to me, that 2 summers ago, I stood on the steps of the other air and space museum on the national mall, and said " I sure hope its a boy, so I don't have to go see this stuff anymore!" Luckily I was right, but I should have appreciated more how neat seeing all this stuff is! he's too young to appreciate it now even, so I'm sure we will be seeing it all again some day! kalob was talking about how much he will love having boy days and taking Lincoln to learn about space and science, all the good stuff kalob loves. 

Kalob is so handsome:) and we made a cute kid. Today in the mall we were approached by a lady about Lincoln getting into modeling ( I know I know). She is paid to stop you and get your information. it's some sort of scam, yes I know. But it doesn't hurt my ego that he really is beautiful! 

 after the space ship museum, we went to the Jefferson memorial. It's really a breathtaking place with all that marble. look at these three brownfield men! so cute. 

After our fill of historic knowledge, we went out to a fabulous dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to fill our bellies! Mmm it's so yummy. it was such a fun day! 

lets hear it for New York

Sunday is family day. We have 16 Sundays left this summer. Sunday is the highlight of the week! a day of rest, a day of good food, and always good company! we have to make the best and the most out of our time here! So every Sunday needs to be jam packed with great adventures! so of course hitting New York City was one of our top priorities! So this was our trip in a nutshell!  

 we( us, clint, riley, jency, and ty) drove to Newark, New Jersey.

took a ferry by the Statue of Liberty. 

landed in manhattan. 

Lincoln got a black and white cookie! 

walked to Wall Street and the financial district where I bought knockoff designer glasses. (I undoubtedly lose my sunglasses every trip we take! I am not responsible enough for an expensive pair, so 2 for $15 can't be beat!) the wind was so intense! Crazy, suck the air out of your mouth, blow your hat down the street kind of wind! 

We saw the bull statue.

road the subway to time square.

shared a street vendor hotdog.

Ate a slice of pizza and watched some basketball.

walked to Central Park where Lincoln saw the horses pulling carriages and played in the park.

It was a cement playground. I know there are multiple play areas( when my family came years ago, we played at an all wood one) he loved getting out of his stroller. 

went to the 30 rock statue.

went to a mall to go to the h&m. Clint needed a sweater(the wind) and Lincoln needed some shoes he would be less likely to pull off. it was wishful thinking, but they are darn cute shoes. 

Shared a frozen yogurt. 

oh yah it was Mother's Day! 

Hopped back on the subway, it smells as bad as it looks. armpit, straight armpit. 

waited for the ferry, where an intense kooky bag lady freaked out on Clint for taking a picture; she believed he caught her in the background. but he didn't, he tried showing her, but she was just a pissy lady. 

All pooped out, we rode the 18 minute ferry back to Newark, then walked back to our cars and drove home! we basically tried every mode of transportation, but plane and bicycle I guess. 

 it was kalob and Lincoln's first visit to the big apple! We plan to go again before the summer is through. 

Please touch museum

We've been here for a couple weeks now. we are feeling settled , though kalob and I are sleeping on 2 twin beds pushed together! Clint and his roommate have been too busy to switch them out for our queen that's 5 floors down in their room.  They refuse to sleep on it together so Clint has been sleeping on the couch every other night. They tell us it's very comfortable. tomorrow is the day though! Tomorrow night I plan to be sharing a blanket on the same bed as my hubby!

 We have been doing lots of fun things, which I plan to write about in little snippets and share lots of pictures.  

I'll start with Lincoln and Ezra's trip to the please touch museum in Philly earlier this week!

they had a great time exploring and sharing germs.  

 Lincoln played on a giant floor piano,

water play, grocery store,

 construction site, space,

shoe store, farm ( they had a potato harvest) 

McDonald's,,,,lots of different play areas! my phone died half way through so sadly my pictures were lacking. not only that, but this kid is all over the place! He will not stand still or smile for a picture.

If you catch a squinty grin, it's because he anticipates the flash!

 He and Ezra ran themselves ragged, and us too, we all needed naps!  oh and yesterday, breaking news said the please touch museum was on fire! Im glad we took our trip earlier in the week, and I hope it's still standing because if you can't tell from the pictures,,, these boys had a great time! 

New Jersey!!

I have yet to see orange people. I have yet to see hair like the Situation. is that even his name?? I've never watched the Jersey shore. I did however see multiple grandmas wearing velour track suits in the grocery store. that seems a popular trend for the oldies, along with lots of jewels and big hair.
we tried to grocery shop two times at the nearest places- shop rite and wegmans. Very much like whole foods, you want to buy everything, but your wallet hates you after two aisles. We've got to find cheaper alternatives or kalob will only be working to cover our food and rent back in Utah.
Lincoln and Ezra are so funny together. We were working in the office and it got very quiet...we look in the kitchen and both boys were in a ground cabinet on the shelf. they are the cutest mischief makers you can handle. Lincoln just wants to kiss Ezra too!
We haven't heard any test results on Lincoln. but out of the blue, he's decided to eat more. He's becoming a good listener, so when I say, do you need a snack? go to your high chair if you need a snack. he walks over and waits. it's so neat when you know they are understanding you! he helped me wipe up his spaghetti mess today too, Mommys lil helper.
It's hard to adjust to kalob being gone. we really can spend all our time together. but of course it's not realistic :) people gotta work!
I'm looking forward to my brothers and Jency getting here next week. it won't feel as lonely knowing they are out here working too. Sundays will be our happy day of rest! Exploring our new surroundings, eating good food, and relaxing!
so here are some boring pictures of our place. 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms. A washer dryer combined machine- it takes four hours per load, I guess it's cool for people that forget to change the laundry over to the dryer. decent kitchen,,,with oh so many cabinets!
Lincoln put a strawberry slice in his nose today :)
he makes a squished face when he knows I'm taking a picture of him.
he loves watching movies now. especially while driving. He points and says doggie doggies to the car screen.
He's started eating hotdogs, blueberry muffins, strawberries but most of all Bananas. he Loves Bananas, he can eat the whole thing pretty much. one a day at least. he likes to hold the entire thing, he peels as he goes. while driving he got so upset (30+ hours would be upsetting to anyone) that he was cramming banana into his eye. his way of saying kill me already people! and we just let him fall asleep with it. clutching it. smashed everywhere. when he finally got to the hotel, people saw him and kinda snickered at us. yup , my white trash baby, covered head to toe in crusty banana.