18-Months-Old

Someone is one-and-a-half-years-old and completely a toddler boy who wants nothing to do but be independent.  He wants to climb on the couch by himself, feed himself and drink from a cup with no lid, and buckle his car seat by himself (I fix it later).  He still does not have a ton of words so he gets frustrated when we do not completely understand what he wants to do, but he is learning even more signs and uses plenty of gestures to get most of his wants across.  Lincoln is a very loving little boy - he gives kisses, hugs, and high fives to his family and friends.  He is beginning to shy away from strangers when we are out which is different from before - he used to flash a huge smile at everyone and now he will put his chin down and shy away.  Brian has said he will sometimes cry at our local grocery store when the cashier says hello which is completely out of character but typical for this age.

Lincoln showed off his lungs at his 18-month appointment.  He cried the minute we entered the office and cried through the entire 20 minute appointment.  He did show his walking and running skills, climbing skills, and excellent listening skills.  The doctor did not seem worried about his speech since he uses gestures, signs, and some words.  We are seeing a new doctor, and I really appreciated his laid-back approach, gentleness with Lincoln, and his sense of style with a bow tie :)  One shot later and I am hopeful his 24-month appointment will be a little bit easier!

Lincoln takes one long afternoon nap now and goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps until about 5:30am.  He wakes up on the wrong side of the crib most afternoons, but a little Barney and a snack will usually calm him down.  He wakes up fairly happy and goes to sleep very easily so we know we are on the right track.

Lincoln keeps busy with outings to the YMCA where he is very happy, playing at our local play cafe called Little Skippers, frequenting the mall play places, and running errands with his Momma.  We go to COSI on the weekends and the zoo when Daddy is home - those places are little too hard with just Mom but when Declan gets older it will be more manageable.  Lincoln is always on the go and happiest when he is out or with other people.  He gets bored at home and that is when I find him hard to please so keeping busy is my job!

Brian wanted to contribute this month as well...

One of the things that amazes me about Lincoln is how perceptive he is. I know all children are super-absorbent sponges, but it is so eye-opening when it’s your own flesh and blood doing the absorbing. One of my favorite “Lincoln developments” of the past few weeks has been Lincoln’s breakfast routine. In the past, he and I had a pretty good routine of coming downstairs in the mornings and me making him a bowl of Cream of Wheat while I eat something else – mostly cereal since we’ve moved to Ohio. As Shelley mentioned previously, Lincoln loves to eat what we eat. So naturally one morning, he reached out and pretty much pulled my bowl over to him and starting helping me eat my cheerios leaving his Cream of Wheat alone. He loved it, and so did I! It was a fun bonding experience and funny to watch him go from dribbling milk and cereal on the table and into his bib, into a very accurate scooper. So we’ve kept it up. The crazy absorbent part is that I have a unique way of eating my cereal, as my sister, who watched me eat cereal every day of her senior year of high school, can attest to. I push down my cereal into the milk before eating it so I never get a “dry” bite. I never noticed Lincoln watching me do that, and maybe he didn’t and maybe he and I just think alike, but he does this too. Granted in his case, it’s more of a half push down, half splash milk everywhere, but he does it. Every morning. It’s pretty stinking cute too! And now that I put a few blueberries in his Cheerios Sunday morning, he’s caught on with that too and loves it!

We are so lucky to be Lincoln's parents, and we can not wait to see what is next in his development and personality.  He is a funny boy who likes to make people laugh (lots of tooting jokes already!) and is always making us smile!