Goodbye July

I can't believe it's almost August already!  On the one hand, it feels like time is flying by and on the other (especially when Joe is on a rough rotation like the one he's in now), it feels like it's crawling by.  My mom softened the blow of the start of this hard rotation by keeping us company this whole week. It was so fun to see Lincoln interacting with his Nana.  There's something special about making funny faces and using a high pitched voice that can motivate an infant to fix his gaze so lovingly at your face and give you a great big, toothless smile.

Here are the changes that I noticed in our 'Lil Lincoln this week.  Week 15

• You love your Nana and you two played all week!

 It didn't take long for Lincoln to memorize Nana's face and give her his biggest smiles.

• Now everything goes in your mouth...including Nana's cheek!  It was funny to watch you take the world around you, mostly through your mouth.  You'll look intently at something, open your mouth and then slowly move your hand out to grab (which is getting more accurate every day).  If you could grab it, it would head to your mouth. 
• Amazingly, you're now into tummy time!  With good control of your neck, you like to watch what's happening around you.  You are still rolling over but now, you're not in as much of a hurry to flip over.  Being on your back? No thanks - this was the first week you didn't especially like being on your back. 

•  We really saw your grow stronger this week. Both Nana & I could tell a difference from even the beginning of the week in your back and neck strength. 
• I assembled a new toy for you, the exersaucer.  Finally, something you can look around in! 

By the way. Be cautious of "some assembly required."  I have a bachelor's degree and had an embarrassingly difficult time deciphering the directions!

• Not a great week for onsies.  Let's just say that after holding it in for over a week, you let loose and your clothes (and some of mine) paid the price.  It was a great week to have diaper reinforcements (aka Nana) during the day.
• First 8 hour stretch of sleep--thank you!  Must have been from all that playing you did with Nana!

I'm sure my mom would be embarrassed that I put this video up. She (and I) were still in last night's clothes and no make up. That's what happens some times.  At only 15 weeks, Lincoln can still kick two adults butts.  We needed the two hour afternoon naps as much as he did!

• I started pushing back your bedtime to 730-8 (if you can make it).  Your papi is on a really hard rotation, working 13+ hour days, 6 days a week so I wanted to make sure he'd get to see you sometimes.  This picture was taken right after he came through the door and grabbed you. Even though you were exhausted, you gave your best smiles to your papi. 

I had to take a picture of Joe on the first day of this rotation (at 5am) in his long white coat!  Abuelita will be happy to see LJ (little Joe) and her Joey!

Here are some other fun pictures from the week

Adventures in Colorado

 

Here's the weekly update on our little man, Lincoln.  

• You went to your first baseball game at Coors Field.  The Rockies played the Pittsburgh Pirates.  You don't know this yet but because you're forever a Pittsburgher, you'll cheer for black and gold! It rained on us but you were a champ in your baby bjorn.  I am always amazed at how easy going you can be. I know you got that from your dad. 

• You had another round of shots.  The next day all you just wanted to be snuggled...I guess I can't complain about that side effect
• You've grown out of most of your 0-3 month onsies
• You are grabbing things more on purpose now always want something in your hands while you're eating.  It's so cute to see you focus so intently on making your hand do what you want

• You rolled on your other side too! Ambi-roller.  Bear gets so excited when you are on your belly, he wants to join you as you practice.  I snapped a few pictures of you two and you were making some great faces

Joe and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary!  I am so extremely grateful that I married my best friend.  Not a day goes by when I am not blown away by who he is and how he could love me.  I know that I am a better person because of him and I realize how lucky I am to have a husband who's so encouraging, thoughtful, respectful and fun.  THEN on top of how amazing he is and how much I cherish our marriage...but our love produced an wonderful gift, Joseph Lincoln the 6th.  Wow, I'm so grateful. Thank you Lord.

With Nana in town, Joe and I got to go on an overdue date to celebrate.  Not only are we celebrating our anniversary but we're also savoring this time together because come Monday morning, Joe starts working at minimum, 13 hour days for 6 days a week.  We knew we'd have difficult stretches in residency and we're about to head into one!

We hadn't gotten a chance to go to the mountains so we figured we'd take advantage of the state's crown jewels for the first time. Joe and I headed down to Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods.

What a fun day together before Joe starts a challenging rotation. I'm not looking forward to 13+ hour days, 6 days a week. I'm know he's not looking forward to it either!

 I love how blue the sky is here.  It's a fact that the sky is literally bluer because of the altitude.  No wonder I get sunburned as soon as I step outside...we are actually a bit close to the sun!

 This one is called "Kissing Camels"

 What a pretty "back drop" to the state

I am not accustomed to seeing these while hiking. I'd better stay away and make sure I wear shoes at all times.

 

Thanks Nana for letting us get away and for taking such good care of Lincoln!

3 months old!!

It's official. You're getting so big that we'll be switching to months now.  I never understood how that worked. Before getting pregnant and becoming a mom, I never understood how to communicate in weeks.  I am still learning about all of your developmental milestones.  To be honest, my weekly emails from thebump.com have been key to knowing what's ahead. When I was pregnant, I loved learning which fruit or vegetable size you were.  It's quite miraculous to think back about that whole process. How you could go from the size of a blueberry into such an amazing little man.  Equally wonderful is the process of learning your personality and watching you grow. If I ever lack faith, I need to remember this journey.  It's hard to ignore the reality that there is a God orchestrating every heartbeat and brain wave.  Amazing.

3 months

• You've started feeling your head and ears, especially when you are eating
• You're getting more and more "chatty" trying to tell us things (well we assume so anyway!).  You watch us when we talk with such curiosity

•  Unfortunately, you regressed a bit on the sleeping front. You were consistently giving me 6-7 hours in a row but now you've decided you'd like to see mommy every 2 hours at night again.  I got great advice from a fellow mommy: everything is a phase, even the sleepless ones.  We can only hope!!
• You finally tolerate your swing (in small doses, but it's a start)

• You're using your exceptionally expressive eyebrows a lot these days because you're concentrating on figuring out things around you.  It's funny that you can say so much with those eyebrows, especially because they are completely blonde

•  You're getting so much better at grabbing. In fact, sometimes its very hard to feed you a bottle because you'd batting at it the whole time, trying to help yourself.
• You had your FIRST SWIM! I'm not sure you knew that you could enjoy it, but it was a start.

•  You rolled over for the first time!  We've been trying to make you do tummy time (which you're not hating immediately any more).  You did it four times in one day, so we figured it really wasn't a fluke. When you'd land on your back, you'd start to cry.  I think you were scared that you moved and suddenly saw the ceiling.  

 

Lincoln - Week 11

I've never been a very good scrapbooker so I figure these blog posts are a sort of interactive scrap book to help me remember all of the little details about Lincoln.  It's crazy to think that one day we will look back on these memories and I'll have to recount them for a very grown up Lincoln!

Week 11

• You are starting to put everything in your mouth

• You are trying to sit up--we can see you using your abs for the first time

• You're still mesmerized by anything with eyes but now musical toys also capture your attention
• This is the first week you've tolerated tummy time and we can see that your neck is getting much stronger.  I've got to force you to do tummy time every day so that you roll over and can crawl on time
• You smile a lot when you get your diaper changed and when you wake up in the morning

• I think you have hit a growth spurt this week because you're hungry all the time and your now fitting into 3-6 month clothes. Plus, you're a little more fiesty than usual. Now that you've taken an interest in people and the world, I think you fight off sleeping.  I put a 3-6 month sleeper on you that looked way to long and you stretched perfectly into it. Your dad and I snuck into your nursery a lot that night to stare at our big boy.  It's very bitter sweet to us as your parents.
• Your distinctly grabbing at things  now.  You can grab items in front of you and started grabbing blankets (like your little monkey blanket) and our shirts when we hold you. You reached out for a rattle and were surprised when you pulled it toward yourself. It bonked you in the head. We decided that stuffed animals may be a safer pull until you get a handle on your coordination.

• You now put your arms over our shoulders when we hold you
• You're starting to flirt with girls around you...you give them your best smiles.
• First 4th of July! We were both in stripes with festive feet

• This is the first week you've taken a small interest in Bear.  Bear loves to give you kisses

• Your laughing easily now--especially while playing with daddy.

• You are starting to notice the incessant camera in your face...and now you prefer NOT to be filmed :)

 Lastly, here are more shots of you sleeping...I can't get enough of your precious face when you're fast asleep (now with your hands above your head). We both try to get extra cuddles when you are asleep