Little Man Says

It's time for another "Little Man Says" post! He is talking more and more every day and the words that come out of his mouth are both hysterical and adorable all at the same time!

Every time he see's an airplane:

Mommy airplane, daddy airplane, me airplane! (He's letting us know it's time for a vacay!) 

When the batteries died on the TV remote and mommy told him she would fix it:

No mama, wait wait wait. Hey Dad! Dad!

Clearly he knows who Mr. Fix it is in our family haha!

While driving home the other day and seeing a helicopter:

(Hand phone to ear): Woooeee woooweeee (fire truck)...ahlicoper (helicopter) help! otay. got it. bye bye. 

And then he hangs up the phone. If you're in need of a 9-1-1 call, L's got you covered. haha.

Anytime he wants to run into the next room.

I'll be back. I'll be back mom. No stay here. I'll be back. 

I wonder  where he gets his bossiness from haha!

Every time we drive home from work/school

Ousside (outside)...walk! downtown!

And my favorite word ever of his becuase it's just so darn cute:

tun-nuh-nuh-hun (construction) haha! It took us forever to figure that one out. ;0p

Little Man's "Sock Monkey" Themed Birthday Party!

i mentioned in lincoln's last monthly update that we threw a little party for our little man's big day. i'm excited to share pictures of the party here today! instead of doing a "cake smash" photo shoot, i thought it would be more fun to just have photos of the party (including the cake smash) and so here they are! (All photos from Jennifer DeBarros Photography).

Lincoln James: 11 Months

it is completely unfathomable to me that in 1 very short month, my little baby boy will be turning one! ONE! this year has been without a doubt the most difficult in my entire life, for many reasons, but it has also been the best, most rewarding year yet. and because we’re approaching the one year mark, i’m feeling all the feels, and thinking a lot about this past year and how it’s been one giant roller coaster ride.

being a parent is serious stuff. doing this whole mom-thing, alone a lot, has left me, exhausted, broken down, shedding all of the tears (even when i was sure i didn’t have a single one left), and feeling time and time again like i have nothing left to give, but somehow i keep giving. and then the weirdest thing happened the other day. after one of my “i’m a shitty mom moments,” i thought to myself, you know what. i’m not a “shitty mom.” i have bad (“shitty mom”) moments. but, who doesn’t? (and if you don’t, we can’t be friends…thats way too much pressure ya’ll). and sometimes they seem to outweigh the good ones, but my little man is happy healthy, growing, fed three fairly square meals a day and two decently healthy snacks. has bottles on time (for the most part), takes two decent naps a day (what’s decent ?!?!), gets to go the park on almost a daily basis, has a bath every night along with an evening family stroll, and is put to bed, bathed, fed, and fairly happy every single night. and i’m not trying to toot my own horn here, there are so many single moms and dads out there as well as parenting duos doing so much more than me. and i’ve only had to do it for a short year. soon husband will be home, and we’ll be parenting together, and that day cannot come soon enough. both little man and i miss him terribly. 

all of that being said, little man does officially turn 11 months old today. he is weighing in at 21.6 lbs and is one happy, healthy and increasingly entertaining little boy. i think i’m loving this most recent stage the most. he interacts so much now and it is so fun! he can play games (we play ball - passing it back and forth, he knows how to play peek-a-boo! (he’ll hide from me now too!), waves “hello” and “bye-bye," is “walking” with the help of a walker and is crawling all over the place like a maniac! 

he understands little words like “no” and phrases “where’d you go!” and thinks it’s hysterical to crawl into a “no-go” zone and make me go “liiiinccooooln” and then he responds by popping his head out and giggling because he totally knows he’s not supposed to do what he’s trying to get away with and so it’s turned into this type of game we play. another “no-go” zone game we play is when he sneaks away into the guest room to go splash in the dog’s water bowl, but now he waits for me to “catch” him and pick him up and tickle him and “throw” him on the bed. (side note: how much trouble am I in that he’s already trying to push limits at 11 months…dear god help me when he’s a teenager). 

he continues to be a little houdini/dare devil and try and climb on and out of everything. the other day, i went to answer my phone and he had managed to crawl out of his high chair and was standing on the tray - cue: heart attack. (and again…dear god, help me when he’s a teenager).  these days i tend to give myself high faves and pats on the back just for keeping the kid alive. i’m honestly shocked he hasn’t broken his neck yet! 

he is eating pretty much every thing we eat and has been for a while. I mean i keep the chocolate and ice cream for myself but you know, i’m selfish ;0p we also got the official “a-ok” to start dairy, and that transition has gone really well. we’re working on our sippy cup usage, because those skills need some work. (he takes one or two sips and then decides it’s a toy and dumps it on the floor so he can splash in it!) 

and finally, he’s sleeping through the night again!!!!!!!! i almost don’t want to type those words and jinx myself, but the past two weeks he has gone down between 8-8:30 and sleeps fairly consistently till about 5:30 am! we’ve had one or two 4:30 wake up calls (not fun!) but we even had a 6:30 one! that day was GLORIOUS to say the least. he does still have to be rocked to sleep…the whole sleep training thing went out the door when we were in New York and we’ve never been able to get it back. I gave up on trying when he started screaming for over an hour on an almost nightly basis. the fact that he’s sleeping through the night is win enough for me, and we can cross that “put yourself to bed” bridge later on (aka when husband’s home to help ;0p). rocking him to sleep only takes about 15 minutes and i’ll take 15 minutes of peaceful falling asleep over hours of screaming any night! 

other highlights this month include his first real haircut!!!! first time in a kiddie pool and getting to taste a popsicle! i'm also pretty sure he's going to start walking any day. finally we're out at hat island trying to beat the 100 plus degree heat, mother nature has decided to grace spokane with. little man we'll be spending his first 4th of July out on the island and gets to enjoy fireworks, a parade and all sorts of festive goodies! 

so there it is, 11 months in a nutshell. they say to savor each moment because it all goes by so fast, and no truer words have ever been spoken. next month lincoln turns one and will make the move into toddlerhood, and while i can’t wait to see what the next month will bring, i’m hoping that time slows down a little bit so my baby will stay a baby just a few moments longer. 

Lincoln James: 10 Months

ok...i know it's starting to sound a little cliche, seeing as a i say it at the very beginning of every monthly update, but i can't help it. 10 MONTHS! how the heck is my baby 10 MONTHS?! how has it gone by so fast? it's not possible that in 2 short months, i'm going to have a one year old. NOT POSSIBLE.  my little man is weighing in at 20.6  lbs and around 29 inches long....the little bugger wouldn't sit still long enough for me to measure him!

you guys the last month has been so fun and so so so exhausting. little man started crawling the day before he turned 9 months and it's like he's always crawled, because this kid GETS. INTO. EVERYTHING. he is also the BIGGEST DAREDEVIL in the entire world and will crawl out of anything. ok houdini, you can stop now. his most recent near death experience happened just the other day when he decided he was going to jump/nose dive head first off the changing table. i almost had a heart attack, because i kept grabbing for him and didn't manage to catch or grab onto him until i finally grabbed the back of his t-shirt and caught him literally an inch away from the ground. the kid just looked up at me like nothing happened. meanwhile, i'm hyperventilating and pretty sure i had both a heart attack and a stoke at the tender (i.e. YOUNG) age of 25. 31. ;0p the changing table is now officially out of commission and houdini is getting changed on the floor.

he's pulling himself up on anything and everything and walking along while holding onto things. he babbles and coos and is such a happy kiddo (BIG BIG changes from when he was a little dude, sick and battling reflux like whoa). i totally claimed his "first" word since his favorite thing to babble is "mamamamamamaa" although he just started babbling "daddadaadaddda" and i'm totally convinced i heard him say "hi" and "mom" the other day. however, at the rate we're going his first real word is probably going to be "no" since i'm constantly either telling him "no no don't touch that" and also constantly telling poor porter "no!"

he has absolutely fallen in LOVE with the swings at the park. twice this month when i went to pull him out of the swings so we could leave he started crying and wanted to get back in. the first time, we had to go, so he just had to cry and get over it, but the other day, we had some time, so i put him back in and he got the biggest grin on his face. it's so cute to see him actually express what he likes and dislikes in a real way.

as much fun as this month has been, it has also been more trying than any other month. ever since our trip to New York last month, little man has completely regressed sleep-wise. we had sleep trained him and putting him down was a breeze. we were also lucky enough that he was sleeping pretty much through the night. he would go down around 7:30 and not wake up till 4:30-5, we'd give him a bottle and he would go back to sleep until 6:30-7. oh how i miss those days. now, putting him down is a NIGHTMARE (although it's been a bit better the last 2-3 days, knock on wood) and he has been getting up at 12:30-1, 3 am, 4:30 am and has decided that our new wake up time is 5:30 (SO NOT COOL!).  nap wise, he's down to two naps, and while putting him down for a nap is constantly a battle, he's napping SO MUCH BETTER than before. before he would sleep for about 30 minutes and then we'd have to pick him up and hold him for the next hour because he would wake up. the past few days he's gone down and stayed down for 1.5-2 hour naps each time!!! i'm crossing my fingers this sticks, because it has definitely helped me during the day. needless to say, between the sleep regression and the chasing a now very traveling crawler, I. AM. TIIIIIIRED.

little man and i also made another trip out to hat island over memorial day weekend with the fam. it was so fun letting him play on the beach and introducing him to the sand (which went immediately into his mouth). he wasn't such a fan of the water, but it was pretty cold, so i'm pretty sure that will eventually change. i foresee several trips this summer to the island with nana, since daddy is still working away in new york.

i know i've said it at each stage, but this one really is the best and most exhausting so far. i wish i could bottle him up and keep him a baby, but i know that's not possible and i know that's what every mom says. so instead, i'll just say i can't wait to see what the next month brings!

some quick facts:

weight: 20.6

height: 29 in

sleeps: let's not talk about it. :(

eats: little man pretty much eats whatever we eat now, although he doesn't eat as well if we're not eating with him. he just wants whatever we're having!

milestones: lincoln is crawling, pulling himself up, walking (with help), babbling and cooing.