One year already?

There is no way this little guy is one year already. I know, all moms say that when their kids have birthdays. But because Lincoln follows a special timeline, one year seems to have come impossibly soon. At 18 pounds and 27 inches, he doesn't even register on the "normal" growth charts. Strangers in the grocery store can't believe it when I tell them he just turned one. And I'm kind of enjoying that the baby stage is lasting a little longer, allowing me to cuddle him a little more. But he is meeting milestones like crazy.

• Four teeth, and counting (the two more on the top have still not broken through, but he's been suffering for weeks)
• Babbling sounds like mama, dada, baba, gooey-gooey
• Feeds himself (still only using the palmar grasp, but it gets the job done)
• Eats most of the foods we eat (that he's able to chew), and is learning to like foods with a little spice (I know he's had enough when his eyes tear up)
• Grins (real and fake)
• Giggles, (he laughs like crazy when he strokes daddy's face, and loves cheek-to-cheek contact)
• Watches people intently, and we think more mimicking is around the corner
• Crawls (or bear walks if he's wearing shorts on the tile)
• Pulls himself to stand
• Always has some kind of battle wound on his head (from his brother's or his own doing...it's probably 50/50)
• Cruises the furniture
• Can stand holding on to something with one hand, squat to grab a toy, and stand back up
• Can maneuver in and out of any position Bree and Mason drag him into
• Sucks his thumb when he's tired

My parents and Adam and Heather joined us for a birthday celebration. After lunch Lincoln opened his presents (it was difficult to get the tissue paper away--that was all he wanted to play with). He got some new things to chew on, because putting things in his mouth is Lincoln's life.

 And then there was cake. After we sang "Happy Birthday," Chad blew out the candle for him, and got an "Excuse me, why would you blow in my face?" look from Lincoln.

Lincoln quickly figured out that sugar is his new best friend.

The sugar made for one happy boy.

And, sadly, I accidentally switched my video camera setting to "time lapse" when I was adjusting the white balance. That's the setting you use when you want to record something really slow, like a plant growing. So all I got was a super-fast recording without sound. I slowed it down in movie maker, so I suppose it's better than nothing.

Happy Birthday Lincoln

4/15/12