Terrible 2's here I come...

Lincoln has been especially toddlerish this week. We have been trying to give him a little alone time everyday in his room. Yesterday I came in and he had stuffed all the unused, clean diapers in the diaper garbage, including the wipes and all of his lotions. He had pulled out a ton of tissues ripped them up and then tried to stick them back in the box. He sanitized his stuff animals with the hand sanitizer and last but not least ripped all the pop-ups out of one of his books. I am sure you are thinking why did I leave all this stuff in the room, well I didn't think he could reach most of it. I guess we are going to have to do a little re-arranging.

Earlier this week when I came in to get Lincoln after his nap, he was sitting on top of the changing table. This means that he climbed up there from inside his crib! I guess that means we need to change his crib into a bed now.

I forgot to mention in my last post that Lincoln can hold a cup and drink by himself now with minimal spilling. He mastered this trick while we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Jensen. He has also added several new animal sounds to his act and is finally learning to say "Yes" instead of uh, uh, uh for yes. Shawn and I are especially pleased with this development, because as much as we love him, it drives us crazy when he whines. Lincoln has also gotten pretty good at repeating words. I guess that means we can't swear anymore... just kidding, Shawn and I would NEVER swear.

Shawn and I got Lincoln a talking Elmo toy earlier this week. Lincoln has been very thrilled with his new toy. He has taken him for a ride in his wagon, shared his breakfast, reading time, and posed for pictures. Lincoln also enjoys watching Elmo on Sesame Street. . .with Elmo.

Lincoln and Shawn were being silly one evening, while Lincoln was getting ready for bed.

Lincoln got these 3 plates out of the cupboard and sat at the table. Then he came over to me, said "yay!" and then told me that he wanted to eat. I couldn't get him to look at the camera, because he was so intent on telling me that he wanted to eat.

Lincoln also has a new favorite movie: WALL-E. He constantly comes up to Shawn and I and says "WAAAAAAAALLLLEEE!" just like they do in the movie when he wants to watch it.

For the record, Linc's favorite superhero now (and Shawn hopes forever) is Batman!

22 Months

33in 30lbs
(He is finally growing faster than he is gaining weight)

Lincoln has been especially cute lately adding please and thank you to his act. He is really coming into his own little personality which as far as we can tell is a big time teaser! Lincoln loves to tease and "tell jokes". He has also perfected the art of saying "cheese" to the camera.

Just before we left for Utah we did Christmas with my parents. Lincoln pretended to read off of a gift card we received and would "read" and laugh and "read" and laugh...he did this for 15 or 20 minutes. It was like he was doing a little stand up comedy routine.

I can't believe Lincoln is almost 2. I guess all parents say that as their kids get older.

First Time Sledding

We took Lincoln sledding for his first time on New Year's Day 2009 and he really enjoyed it. We went to Rock Canyon Park, next to the Provo Temple and slid down on inner tubes. We had Linc all bundled up in an old snowsuit we borrowed from some neighbors. He could barely move in it and it was reminiscent of Ralphie's little brother on "The Christmas Story."

At one point Monica and Linc were walking up the hill when a little girl on a sled barreled right into them and knocked Lincoln flat on his face. We were all watching from the top of the hill, yelling, trying to get Monica's attention but she didn't hear us. Everyone was ok after the crash. Looking back on it now it was totally one of those America's Funniest Videos moments. Too bad we didn't have the camera rolling then.

Merry Christmas from snowy Utah!

Well, we're here in Utah and Lincoln and Shawn are enjoying the snow; Monica, not so much. As we speak we're getting hit by a huge winter storm! The roads are a total mess but the backyard is spectacular. This morning, we all went out and played in the snow. Shawn showed Lincoln the fine art of snowball making. . .and throwing, and helped (forced) Lincoln to make his first snow angel. It was awesome!

Throwing snowballs at Grandpa Jensen

A few moments before Monica retreated to the warmth of the house

Lincoln's First Snow Angel

A few of our Favorites

Wearing Uncle John's shoes

Showing us his teeth

Using Uncle Joseph's hand grips

Lincoln wants to make sure he gets to go on Daddy's next trip!

Watching TV

Introducing....

Lincoln's smile. Up until now, we have never been able to get Lincoln to look directly at the camera. We have tons of pictures of Lincoln's profile or the top of his head. I am sorry to say that Lincoln will most likely have all of my dental problems, but it is a darling smile, none the less.

Happy Thanksgiving

Lincoln had his first play date on Tuesday. I was babysitting for a neighbor in our ward (child not pictured) and I wanted to make sure that we had fun activities. I was REALLY nervous about having 2 kids. I decided to be a little crafty and after a couple of phone calls to Nelay, Sara and Cat I was able to figure out how to make these little candy turkeys and get ideas for what we should do all day.

I would like to say that Lincoln helped make these, but really he just helped eat the gum drops.

Lincoln and I really enjoyed coloring this turkey. Interestingly enough, I found the coloring to be surprisingly therapeutic.


Lincoln is still eating gum drops in this picture!

All in all I think it was a fun play date. We chased each other around the house, played cars, colored, went to the park, made cookies ( the pre-made, pre-shaped, frozen kind you just put on the pan), obviously the candy turkeys and coloring. I think it was a good day.