Lincoln gets his green thumb

At Christmas Lincoln received a couple of Sprig toys from Nanny and Poppy. If you haven’t heard of Sprig they are a company that makes eco-friendly toys made out of a special mix of recycled wood and reclaimed plastic and they are battery-free. The toys actually smell like wood! Both the sand truck and heli-scoopter came with wild flower seeds that we decided to plant the other day. We planted them in a couple of flower pots so Lincoln could watch them grow.

Here we are prepping the pots with fresh soil.

Thankfully the seeds came packaged in a flower shaped disc that Lincoln could easily place into the pot. Of course they both came out a couple of times before we were actually finished but at least no seeds were wasted.

Lincoln needed to inspect it one more time before he was satisfied with its placement in the pot.

Lincoln using his trusty dump truck to transport more soil to put on top of the seeds.

After a little bit of water we moved the pots over by the pool. There are no signs of life yet but we are excited to see what kind of flowers grow.

Lincoln loves dirt and had a lot of fun planting his flowers. He often helps dad out in the garden and this is our second year planting our vegetable garden. Most of the plants have popped up and the garden has been loving the rain! We are proactively putting a deer fence up this year – we were lucky last summer but don’t want to push it, especially since something already ate the basil. And no, it wasn’t Lincoln 🙂

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Lincoln says the cutest things

Lincoln loves to talk and here are a couple of his latest babblings.

Cute babble number 1

Lincoln: “Was that?” while pointing at something.

Us: That’s a [insert object here]

Lincoln: “Oh”

– this is very cute and we often repeat the “oh” back to him. We must say “oh” a lot in our daily life because he isn’t at the age where he is picking this stuff up on the playground yet. I guess it will soon be time to watch what we say around Lincoln. We already have to spell ‘ball’ and ‘walk’ around Glenn and I think the spelling stage with Lincoln is just around the corner.

Cute babble number 2

Lincoln has started saying “uh oh” whenever he drops something. The dropping is either unintentional, like when he accidentally drops a toy he is holding or mom & dad drop something, or intentional, like when he is in his high chair and drops his cup/spoon/food on the floor. We have stopped picking up the intentionally dropped items from the high chair in the hopes that he will soon tire of this game. He even did this while at daycare yesterday afternoon. Little bugger.

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Getting used to things

Lincoln officially started daycare on Monday. It was a soft start, he only went Monday and Wednesday morning, but it was a success! Baby Lincoln, as Kristi’s two children call him, had fun exploring the new place and even had a nap. We sent his monkey and blanket with him to help him feel at home but I was told he had no problem falling asleep.

Here he is ready for his first day.

The funny thing is, Lincoln decided that he would sleep in on both days. It almost got to the point where I thought I was going to have to wake him up. Thankfully Kristi doesn’t mind if he arrives in his pj’s and is happy to give him breakfast. I will probably take advantage of this once I am back to work and running late. I already see nighttime showers in my future.

Glenn and I brought Lincoln over in his stroller and then went for a walk afterwards. I think Glenn was excited to have some alone time with me. After our walk I came home and mopped the floors – oh the joys of being a mom. The morning actually went by fast and the look on Lincoln’s face when I came to pick him up was worth it.

All strapped in for the stroll over to daycare.

Lincoln was tired out and had a nice long nap that afternoon. When I peeked in on him I laughed at the position he fell asleep in. I’m not sure if he slept this way the whole time because he was standing by the time I went in to get him after his nap.

I try not to think about going back to work but at least I know Lincoln is in good hands.

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Summer, summer, summertime

The pool is open, the deck chairs are out, and the sun is shining. Summer is here! It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were eagerly awaiting Lincoln’s arrival and now he is busy enjoying his afternoon snack by the pool.

Chilling with dad and Glenn.

Crackers and water – poolside!

Diaper-free time on the deck. He is wearing his swim shirt that Uncle Greg, Aunt Christina and cousins Ainsley & Maren gave him for Christmas – he should get a few uses out of it this summer.

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Glug, glug went the little green frog

Daddy caught Lincoln his very first frog on Sunday! It was hiding in the winter pool cover that was drying on the lawn so dad put it in a container with some water and a rock until Lincoln woke-up from his nap. Lincoln was very interested and mom is afraid of all the reptiles and bugs she will soon have to catch for her little man.

Lincoln's first encounter with a frog.

The frog made no attempt to hop away and Lincoln was eager to touch it.

The frog had a quick little rest on Lincoln's leg.

I'm going to get you!

Nice froggy!

Overall Lincoln was very nice to the frog and only used his pincer grip once. No harm was done to the frog – our neighbour has a koi fish pond so we gave him a new home.

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Lie down, stand up, repeat

Ever since Lincoln learned to stand up on his own nap time has become his favourite time to practice his new skill. As soon as we put Lincoln down in his crib he begins standing up again. Mom or dad then goes in to lay him back down. Lincoln then stands up again…and repeat. I must admit that it is darned cute to go in and see him standing in his crib with a big smile on his face; however, this can go on for as long as 40 minutes until he eventually goes to sleep. Thankfully this new routine has yet to occur at bedtime (knock on wood).Our fingers are crossed that the novelty will wear off and nap time will soon return to normal.

Lincoln's first chair. He also has one for hanging out by the pool.

Now that the weather is nice we have been spending a lot of time outside. Lincoln doesn’t mind getting sunscreen slathered on yet but he refuses to keep his hat or sunglasses on. I find it interesting that he doesn’t mind his hat in the winter but hates his bucket hat. We have a pair of kid sunglasses with the velcro strap and he still pulls them off. We keep in the shade as much as possible and will keep trying with the hat!

Hanging out with his friend Oliver. Lincoln loved Oli's car.

We took the cover off the pool yesterday and the solar blanket is on. Lincoln didn’t quite know what to think when his dad jumped in the pool to retrieve the thermometer at the bottom. It will need to be a little warmer for Lincoln but it’s going to be a fun summer!

p.s. The pool temperature yesterday was a refreshing 5 degrees celsius.

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Vancouver relaxation

Phew! It seems like forever since I’ve updated this blog but I have a valid excuse. We just spent five wonderful, relaxing, sunshine-filled days in Vancouver visiting with Joel and Julia. We were treated to great food, great friends and amazing accommodations at Julia’s mom’s water-front home in Kitsilano. Lincoln changed a lot while we were away! In a span of two days he learned to pull himself up, climb stairs and crawl “normally”. Needless to say, the baby gate was a top priority when we came home. I will post a video of the little dude in action soon, but for now here are some pictures from the trip. Thanks again Joel and Julia!

Lincoln doesn’t sleep in the car like he used to so we had a picnic lunch in Hope for a little break from the car seat.

Beautiful sunset view from the deck.

First morning after our arrival. Fresh fruit in the sun! We had beautiful weather the entire time – it didn’t rain at all.

It didn’t take Lincoln long to figure out the stairs. He went from the lower deck, up two flights of stairs, back into the house. Don’t worry, mom was close by incase he took a tumble (which he didn’t).

We celebrated my first Mother’s Day at the beach. This was Lincoln’s first time visiting the ocean. He didn’t mind the sand but the water was a tad chilly for his little feet.The day was topped off with sushi and DQ for supper. It was a wonderful day!

Dad and Lincoln at the beach.

After the beach we had a picnic lunch on the grass. These are Lincoln’s dirty little feet. A prelude to the summer ahead of us. He is such a boy!

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Playgroup

Lincoln and I usually spend Monday afternoon in Grand Forks at a mommy & baby playgroup. We didn’t go today because the tires are being changed on the car so I decided to write about it instead. There are a handful of regulars who attend and all the babies were born within the same last week of June. It is so interesting to see them all together, especially since all of them are at such different stages of development. I used to be concerned that Lincoln wasn’t moving/crawling around like the rest of them, even though I know I shouldn’t compare him to other babies. Of course, now he is a crawling maniac and I am thankful for the eyes that magically sprung up in the back of my head – the boy can move!

This was pre-crawling but he was already trying to pull himself up.

It’s nice to hang out with other moms. I quickly learned that although Lincoln was slower to get moving he was ahead in other aspects. Like sleeping. Lincoln loves to sleep at night and we couldn’t be happier. He usually goes to bed between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm with little to no fuss, and it’s not uncommon for him to sleep until 7:00 am or 8:00 am. I now know it’s important to focus on what Lincoln is doing and not on what he isn’t doing.

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Last week was the most active Lincoln has been at playgroup since we started. He was trying to pull himself up on the playhouse and even attempted to crawl through the tunnel – backwards! One of the other moms had to help him out on the other side because he couldn’t quite make it over the edge. He was also interacting with the other babies rather than sitting and watching them. Sometimes Lincoln can be such a quiet observer when he is in a large group.

After crawling backwards through the tunnel.

We will miss next Monday’s group as well because we are going to Vancouver to visit Julia and & Joel. I’m excited to watch Lincoln at the next one we attend now that he is crawling – those other babies won’t know what hit them!

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