13 months

Right before our eyes, Lincoln has turned into a toddler. I've finished with the month by month stickers (insert whimpers of sadness) but want to keep documenting how he is changing month after month. Because really, it is just amazing. 

He's no longer an infant...in so many ways! He has started whining (imagine that with his two big sisters teaching him this dreadful noise) to get his needs met. It's really just a total fake cry....in other words, a pretty darn good whine. If we prevent him from doing something dangerous, he whines. If we pull him away from play time for a diaper change, he whines. If we stop reading books before we've read his favorites for the 40th time, he whines. You get the picture. And he is very good at it.
Here Ryan was trying to get him situated better on his lap, but Lincoln just wanted to face the fire.

But just as he's good at the fake cry, he's also mastered the fake laugh. And that one almost always turns into a real belly laugh as we laugh at his fake giggle. And then he just gets proud of himself for making us laugh and we all lose it in hysterics :) 

When he does something BIG, he gets proud. Like puff out his chest and stand tall kind of proud. The grin on his face shows it too. He is taking a few steps on his own and this, by far, makes him so excited and proud. As does discovering how a toy works or mastering a fork (pre-stabbed with food). All these things will give him a sense of accomplishment and he will be certain to let us all know. 

He still loves loves loves to play with balls. The newest "game" that he and I created just last weekend, was to place as many balls as are laying around (often 5-6) close by him and he will throw them at me as fast as I throw them back at him. We laugh and giggle as the balls go flying around us.

And if he can convince someone to read to him, he will sit (or stand as this was the case) for a very long time. I adore that Regan is patient enough and has the perfect tone in her voice, to make story time fun. He prefers that I read to him, frankly, he would prefer if I did everything, but sometimes, I need to ______ (insert shower, make dinner, go to the bathroom, etc). 

He has officially mastered the busy-boy title. This kid can empty anything in 2 seconds flat. It's seriously comical to watch. He will crawl to a toy box, a bin of diapers, an art crate, you name it, and within a matter of seconds, has it emptied. He has no care for the actual items, it's as though he wants to see how quickly he can toss the items out of the holder. I've never seen anything like it. It's hilarious! One diaper at a time, he emptied this diaper caddy. And it took him no more than a couple of seconds before it was scattered around the floor. He would've done the same with the wipes container had I not stopped him.

At 13 months: 

* he wears mostly 18 month clothing and size 3 Pampers diapers

* no longer is a good sleeper thanks to several 'colds' (these may end up being asthma, but that's another post) and several trips out of town in which he slept poorly and got into bad habits

* walks around holding our hands and has taken his first steps (video to come in another post)

* has started playing more interactively with us and his sisters

* still loves to swing and thanks to an indoor swing hanging in our kitchen doorway, we plop him in and away we go! 

* he now really dislikes the car. I think it has to do with being strapped in and not being able to move/crawl/cruise like he would prefer.

* favorite foods are any fruit. By far that is what he eats the most of. Kiwi, blueberries, bananas and cantaloupe are among the favs. 

* still snuggles and hugs and gives some wonderful slobbering kisses! 

We love you Lincon!