Benchmarks

Brandon brought a cake to our most recent Edge small group get-together and it made all of us laugh.

Now it's time for listing some benchmarks for the purposes of future reflection.

Lincoln has been very interested in his songs in the car. These include hits from Superchick's Karaoke Superstars album such as "Big Star Machine," "Karaoke Superstars," "Super Trouper," "TV Land," "One Girl Revolution," & "Alright." Also, Superchik's "Rock What You Got," and "Hey Hey." Also, Fee's "Glory To God." Also, tobyMac's "Gone," "Made To Love," "Lose My Soul," & "Get Back Up." Also, Newboys' "Born Again." And a few other songs that aren't coming to me at the moment. What makes this all so fun and neat, is that he knows the words to these songs, and he sings along with all of them in the car.

Lincoln has been showing interest in a book about the planets that Auntie Em & Uncle Jeremy got for him a while back. He talks about the big storm on Jupiter, the rings on Saturn, and how small Mercury is.

Last evening we were reading the story of Noah, and when I got to the part about the rainbow, Lincoln said, "Dad, you probably don't remember this because I was a little boy, but once I saw a rainbow in the sky."

One of Lydia's new interests is climbing the step stool and playing with the light switches.

Lydia's also been brushing her teeth lately, and I do mean that she's brushing her teeth. She pitches a fit if we start the process without giving her a turn. This photo is from this morning. I was getting Lincoln ready, and Jenn was finishing getting dressed, and she turned around to find that Lydia had climbed up on the step stool herself.

Lydia has started feeding herself with a spoon. In fact, there are some things that she won't eat unless they're on a fork or a spoon and she gets to hold the spoon.

Lincoln has had the Dizzy Bat Bug in his mind since the Edge Games.

Lydia has also been adding some words to her vocabulary. "Betty" is pretty reliable. And she'll say, "Please," although it sounds more like, "Meeeese." We know what she's saying, though!

Flashback: 2/9/2010 & 2/24/12

Trees Coming Down

Those with coughs in the Gates Home have been getting over them, and things have been going pretty well. We had our last visit with our social worker on Wednesday, and with the exception of just a few more documents, we'll have everything in place to allow our dossier to be completed in about 4.5 months. This is phenomenally fast, and it's all because Jenn is so good at identifying what needs to be done and when, and then following through.On July 29 I mentioned that Lydia was almost to the point of crawling forward. She's officially there now. She's motoring around the room, and she's looking like she's going to me more of a handfull-of-a-toddler than Lincoln was. He never showed much interest in doing anything that might be dangerous, but Lydia has already been spotted trying to pull and outlet cover out of the wall. Yikes! Keep your eye on that little lady! She's also trying to pull herself up on things. She hasn't quite done this successfully yet downstairs, but Jenn did find her standing in her crib a couple of days ago. We'll be dropping her mattress this weekend.

And have we mentioned that she's getting a number of teeth? At last count, there are four. She doesn't seem to be too bothered by their emergence, and she's had them come in 2 by 2, which is also nice. They're mostly on left side of her mouth. As I write this, she's using them to chew on Lincoln's tools. She's also attacking the crib with her teeth... much more than Lincoln ever did.A funny Lincoln story... when we were on our way home from our walk at the Beaver Pond yesterday, he was playing with his phone in the back seat of the Envoy and said to Jenn, "Mommy, be quiet." After a short conversation about how it's important to ask nicely, we found out that he was pretending that he was on the phone with someone. He said, "They have a sick dog." It became clear that he was imitating what he sees Jenn do when she's on call. "What's wrong with the dog?" we asked. "It's very sick... he broke his leg," Lincoln replied. "I told them they should go to the clinic," he said. "Which clinic?" I asked. "Daddy's clinic," Lincoln answered. It was all Jenn and I could do to keep from laughing out loud... it was really cute to watch.

Another funny Lincoln story... yesterday for dinner I mixed up some Canada Dry Ginger Ale with orange juice and Lincoln said he wanted a taste. So I let him have a drink (risking backwash on the full end of the glass, I might add) and he took a taste and said, "It's kind of salty. But I like it!" I'm not sure what "salty" means in his mind, but it cracked me up.

I've also mentioned in the past that Lincoln has been taking photos himself. He's just learned to use the little view-finder, which has decreased the frustration level a ton (his and mine!), and now it's more of a fun thing than a chore. Here are some of his recent takes:And while he didn't take this photo, he did spot these spiders on our walk, one under a branch and the other on the trail.And while he and I meandered slowly watching for things to photograph, Jenn and Lydia kept a brisk pace, nearly making it to Szlay's from the Ira Road Trailhead.

I'm getting backlogged with some photos that are not yet in my possession. Lincoln got to watch the demolition of Grandpa Doug's driveway on Tuesday and then he got to watch four cement trucks come and pour the driveway on Friday. Grandma Paulette set up a lawn chair and a TV-tray for his meals, and he sat out in the garage for hours watching the workers do their thing? How many 3-year-old boys get to take all that in in just a couple of days? And there's even more to watch this week!Today the guys from Sarlouis Tree Service came to take down our near-dead trees, the split pear tree, and other ugly brush from the front of our house. Lincoln has had quite an eye-full this week. It was chainsaws and chippers today!

The folks from Suncrest Gardens will be here on Wednesday to begin putting in our new landscaping.Would you believe that the kids let us sleep until 7:15 today? This is unheard of in our house these days. In fact, Lydia was chatting around 6:00 am, but fell back asleep even with a poopy diaper, we found out. It helps that she's been sleeping with her little bum up in the air lately. After we got things rolling then we hit the road for another morning walk, this time to the Pine Grove Trail. It has been a long time since we visited this trail, but it's great for the dogs and for Lincoln: mostly flat, very pretty, and a loop with a couple of places to turn around should the need arise. Gretel was worn out after the hike, and not because it was so hot. In fact, this was the most pleasant walk we've had in terms of the climate. Lydia rides really well in the pack, and today she chattered for a decent portion of the walk. Lincoln's at a stage of life now where he wants to hold one of our hands on the walk for most of the walk.When I was at Edge on Wednesday evening, Jenn saw this in the sky.

A Fun Family Day

Today Jenn and I had a rare day off together with little to do. So we spent most of the day playing with Lincoln and doing some usual house-keeping things together. Lincoln had some great play time today. His teeth are becoming more noticeable, as you'll see below. Also, I'd reported a while back that he's been interested in standing up (with assistance). In the past couple of days he's been placing one foot in front of the other, and with our assistance, he's been "walking" around the house. It's funny to watch.

Now that Lincoln is able to move around, Bridget has been taking some abuse. But the Best Boxer In The World has been a great family dog.

After the Spinach Episode, we decided to let Lincoln try to feed himself a bit more. We stripped him down to his under-onesie, draped him with burp cloths, and let him go for it. After today's display, we'll leave the soft stuff for some time down the road.

While Lincoln wasn't too successful at feeding himself, he did a darn good job of feeding Betty her afternoon snack.

So until he can maneuver a spoon to his mouth, we'll stick to practicing the hand-eye-mouth coordination with Puffs.

After a decent afternoon nap, he was in an exceptionally funny mood, and was hamming it up on front of the camera. It's been a while since he's given me the "cheesy smile."

I'm not sure what brought this smile on, but once he started, he just kept making this face.

Tooth #1:

Tooth #2:

Jenn is looking forward to her trip to Phoenix in less than a month. After her trip west, there's a couple more trips approaching for us. I'm heading west myself in early May for cousin Aaron Bradley's wedding, and then in late May the Gates-Gates-Hopwood family is going to the Outer Banks. Yea!!! We're really looking forward to this trip with Lincoln's Auntie Em, Uncle Jeremy, Grace and Cole.

First Tooth

At long last, and just shy of 9 months of age, Lincoln's first tooth has erupted. And in classic Lincoln fashion, where little that he does fits with the norm, it appears to be the second upper right incisor, and not a lower central incisor. He was a bit more fussy yesterday than normal, but he's not nearly as "drooly" as we'd expect. When I can get a look in his mouth, which isn't very often or for very long, it looks like there one just medial that's about to come in, too. Jenn and I have said for a while that we'd like for him to not get his teeth for a while, and then for them to come in quickly... we'll see!