Memphis Visit May 2012

We made a trip out to Memphis for Robyn's graduation and Jaxon's blessing! It was a fun filled family week that is for sure!! It was a full house with 12 people at my parent's home and of course my brothers family of 6 visiting frequently...but oh so much fun it was. We got there with about an hour to shower, get ready and get over to the school for the graduation. It was packed with tons of people, but it was good to be there.

Lincoln made a new friend...sort of. He and Roxy shared lots of food during our stay, but that's about it. Other than that Roxy is Roxy and is very territorial. Linc enjoyed throwing food down from his high chair or holding it out so Roxy could jump up and get it. Roxy was a little bad and snapped at Linc's foot when he got close to her while she was eating. Even after that he still shared food with her. Linc is very forgiving!

Linc had a great time with his cousins! Zoli and Linc loved the piano. They were so sweet together. Zoli sat at the piano and then patted the seat next to him for Linc to sit up there. Linc got up there and they both played the piano like best buds. It is one of my favorite moments ever...

The boys seemed to get a bit restless so they planned a fishing trip...as usual Dave did lots of research and they all went out and got their fishing licenses and poles. They spent the whole day out on the lake and came home very successful! Dave ended up catching the biggest fish (a catfish) and we were so proud of him. Mike and Mikie caught lots of fish and they all had a wonderful time.

 They got home around 9pm and then cleaned and gutted all the fish. It was pretty gross! Everyone was impressed with Mikie's extensive knowledge about everything. Apparently he was the leader in all their fishing adventures. Way to go Mikie!!

We had a great time. There were a couple parties and plenty of celebrations. I got some good relax time and family time. Linc enjoyed exploring with Dave in the backyard/forest and had a fun time again on the zip line. When it was time to go home we started packing up the car and Linc helped daddy pack up. Dave even called him upstairs to help him get some clothes from under the bed. He explained to him what he needed to do (Dave was going to lift up the bed and Linc would pull out the clothes) and Linc did just that. After we were almost finished packing up the car Linc must have remembered that he wanted to take something from grandmas house. He ran to one of the rooms, grabbed a big bag of balls and started dragging it out to the car. It was the cutest thing. He would pick it up and carry it and then take a break and then pick it up again. Lucky for Linc grandma thought it was so cute that she let him take those balls all the way to the car and take them home! Thanks again grandma...Linc has played with them everyday since. Unfortunately, mommy is the one that usually has to clean them up, but it is totally worth it.

The ride home wasn't too bad but we did have to make a food/play stop. Linc appreciated the break and to be honest so did I! It was good to get out and walk for a while and stretch the legs. Linc is such a good road trip guy. I think he only got upset once. He got his first little toy and loved it. I loved the way he would stretch his legs out and put them on the door, so cute. We made it home safe and had a wonderful trip!

17 Month Linc Update

As I write this 17 month update (on Linc's 18 month day) I cannot believe how fast time has flown by! I was supposed to get this done before we all left for Memphis, but never got around to it. I guess it's a good thing I write things down on our calendar so that I can remember what I want to put in his updates. So here goes...Lincoln at 17 months:
-He has been adding more animal noises to his collection and can now "moo", "quack" and "baa"
-He is starting to toss and catch a ball by himself, he will throw it up a little and catch it...mainly does this with a basketball.
-Likes to grab his ear when he hears a noise and looks up and asks "what's that"

-Does the motion for round and round to Wheels on the Bus
-Gives "besos" when asked in Spanish now
-Loves to do big jumps!! Squats down and then throws arms up in the air along with one leg when he comes up
-Starting to use a fork...likes big forks better than little forks
-Makes the refreshing "ahh" sound after taking a drink (he has been doing this for a few months, but I keep forgetting to put it down...I think)
-On 5/18 we were talking on the phone with Dave and as I was getting ready to say bye Lincoln says "ba bye dada". The amazing thing is that he put that together all on his own. I'm not going to lie, I got all teary-eyed.
-While at my parents' home Linc one day was trying to get Dave's laptop and as he was doing it started saying "nananana more", which we figured out he was saying banana more=more Bananas in Pyjamas (the only show he actually watches haha). I think that is when we realized he started putting words together.
-On 6/3 Linc learned how to say gracias!! Yes we have a bilingual child =)
-I ask him where his diaper is and he will pat his bottom
-Dave taught him to put his arms out in front of him to catch a ball. Now if you ask him to play catch he will stick his arms out in front of him.
-Understands when I ask him to "tire la basura" which means throw the trash away, he will also put his clothes in the dirty hamper in his room
-Dave also taught him to suck in his stomach and he will suck it in
-He holds his nose and does pig snorts
-He now holds his hand still when I am trying to do his impressions, which is a big difference from what he did before! He even asks for more...
-He will cover his eyes with his hands and say more, which means he wants to play baby's hiding. It's a song we learned from toddler time at the library
-He loves hiding behind curtains and will sometimes just hide and will sometimes ask for more, which means he wants the song again.
-Hiding must be one of his favorites because he likes to throw blankets over his head, sometimes he will walk around with the blanket over his head. Also like hooded towels on his head and he will leave it on while he plays
-Says: basketball, football (at the store we were looking at scrapbook paper and I kept showing him the different "ball" paper and asking what's that and he would say ball, but when I got to the football paper he said football! 
-You can ask him to walk backwards and he will, usually he will make it all the way to me so that he can get tickles (This particular time he walked backwards right into his high chair...didn't cry, but kinda asked for help. Such a sweet little boy)

-Starting to put more words together: "num num more", he is getting really good at saying what he wants and then asking for more
-likes to share with little babies, will bring them toys whenever he sees them
-shares food and drink with his stuffed animals (and us and real animals)

Bagel day was a fun day! Linc kept asking for food and it seemed like everything I offered him he did not want. I was running out of options and then thought I would just let him pick. I asked him if he wanted some "nums" and he quickly ran to the fridge, I opened it up and told him to pick out what he wanted. He saw the bag of bagels and chose a bagel. I gave it to him and he started eating that huge bagel. He almost finished it! It's like the costco size bagels so for a little guy that was a huge bagel! The other  couple pictures in this collage are of him packing that bag and of course all he fills it with are his sports balls...silly boy!