I am at the beach, where time means nothing, so I totes forgot to do this post yesterday. I’m not even sorry.

Sunday:

Grandpas are popular

My vacation started early because I went to Target alooooooone

That looks like poor choices

Monday:

Evan and Caroline were REALLY excited about Linc’s birthday presents.

Oil change

Pizza crust is his favorite food

Tuesday:

Soooooo much driving

WHY DOESN’T MY TARGET SELL WINE?

There are other beds, they insist on sharing

Wednesday:

Bleeeeeh

This is the church where I got married! Also, it’s very hot. 

Charleston’s version of a splash park

Thursday:

Caroline loves that the city is full of horses

Mermaid

My husband is very much enjoying his scotch…I mean…vacation

Friday:

I love this house

Lowcountry boil time

Hot Mess

Saturday:

Never leaving

A picture of me in a bikini. Almost.

Hanna Jams and reading time

I’m already late for a 10 am pool date with the kids where I am going to mostly ignore them while I float. Because the beach is amazing and you can do that here.

I’m slooooowly editing the 4000 photos I’ve already taken and will post way too many soon. And then next week I’ll repeat it all over for the lake. My life is not too bad right now.

So, I’m not actually sure how this happened. I was totally fine with Lincoln being 10 months old. I love 10 months. 10 month olds are still babies, but they’re interactive babies who can express love and make you realize that all your hard work is totally worth it because you’re keeping this tiny baby alive.

But 11 MONTHS is basically a toddler. I didn’t ask for a toddler. He insists on toddling almost all the time now. He toddles even in PUBLIC, which means it’s only a matter of time before he isn’t on board with all my babywearing. Don’t tell him that’s an option though, he has no idea.

At 11 months old, Linc likes to take 2 naps a day – one short one in my lap/in the car/wrapped in the morning and one long one in his crib in the afternoon. Because he has two siblings who hve schedules and friends and plans those naps don’t always happen when and where he would like. Maybe 2 days out of 7 he gets his ideal naps. Most of the time a few short naps or an extra car nap will hold him over until he can just hang out on the couch with me and relax. And by relax I mean nurse, because he has suddenly decided that is his favorite thing in the whole world. I was starting to maybe sort of kind of think about trying to night wean him right around his first birthday, but I’m pretty sure that would be too much of a nightmare for all of us. I want to get MORE sleep, not less.

At his 9 month check-up (which happened at about 10 1/2 months), Linc was 22 lbs 3 oz, 29 inches tall and his head is 48.8 cm around. I bought him a pair of real shoes finally, in a size 5.5 (he hates them, but they fit). He’s wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes, although really his drawers have stuff from 9 months – 24 months and most of it fits…fine? Baby clothes are weird.

Likes include mama, daddy, anyone who smiles at him, screeching, waving his arms, shouting, grabbing things, flinging himself backwards, walking, climbing, the cat, the dog, music, tickles, the water, being worn, necklaces, pulling my hair, brother, sissy, yogurt raisins, Cheerios, and eating things off the floor.

Dislikes include the shower, being tired, the word NO, and not getting exactly what he wants immediately.

^^^^DO YOU SEE THIS? He’s trying to climb out of the crib. Good thing he hardly ever sleeps in it.

11 Month Milestones (from Caroline’s 11 month post, please also see Evan’s 11 month post here)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – E still thinks he says Dada. Mostly he says “Do!” to the dog or “Dat!” for “That!” when he points. Still no mama.
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – Pretty good at peek-a-boo with a blanket
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Walks.
Cruises – Walks.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands “no” and simple instructions – Understands no, does not obey no.
Puts objects into a container – Yyyyyyyyyes? Not when I TELL him to, but he can.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Says one word besides “mama” or “dada” – Do and Dat, if those count.
Stoops from standing position – Walks. Squats. Leans. Climbs.

I’m almost a full week late with this and I feel really guilty about it. Between the big kid activities, mom friend dates and photography stuff Linc has been a little neglected. Not like, sitting in dirty diapers all day and not fed enough neglected. Just real nap schedule and therefore no happy, peaceful daylight hours at home to take pictures neglected. I think he’ll survive.

If anything is going to kill him it’s gravity. He refuses to accept that flinging himself off of things or out of my arms could end poorly and has the bumps on his head to show for it. He’s started trying to climb UP things as well, so I’m sure the bruises will get worse before they get better. I am trying very hard to be patient with him as he learns how to human but I’m looking forward to the day when he stops the flinging.

Despite this update being late he hasn’t had his 9 month check up yet so I’m not sure how big he actually is, so let’s just go with “big”. He’s at least as heavy as some of his 18 month old baby friends and almost as tall too. Thank God I’m obsessed with the baby wearing stuff – I can work out my back and core and legs without making my wrists super sore. I always forget I have such weak wrists until the baby needs to be held for an hour.

There hasn’t been a lot of sleeping through the night for the last month. Or sleeping during the day for that matter. He’s obviously hitting a ton of milestones right now so I’m not surprised…but I am tired. Co-sleeping is keeping me from being too exhausted to function but sleeping with a baby attached to you is just not the same as sleeping alone. And waking up 4 times a night is still waking up, even if it’s only long enough to roll over. My current favorite fantasy involves a huge glass of wine, some Tylenol PM and sleeping for 18 hours alone in a huge soft bed.

But waking up next to my smiley, cuddly baby is only going to happen for a little while longer so I’ll take it while I can.

Linc’s current likes include swinging, baths, cats, dogs, Caroline, Evan, tickles, being upside down, getting dirty, grass, rocks, sand, bare feet, standing, crawling, cruising, bouncing, pushing, being carried, being worn, the front porch, people who smile at him, being nosey, nursing, clawing my face, pulling my hair,

Dislikes are mommy being out of sight, mommy putting him down when he doesn’t feel like being down, mommy taking a shower, not getting nursies fast enough and falling on his head.

We will title this month’s photos: Can’t Hold Him Down

9 Month Milestones (from Caroline’s 9 month post)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Stands while holding onto something – Very good at standing and has started letting go. Sometimes when I put him down I forget and just leave him standing in the middle of the room.
Jabbers or combines syllables – He definitely thinks we’re having conversations.
Understands object permanence – Ah yes, the “never pee alone” stage.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Cruises while holding onto furniture – He’s an excellent cruiser. He also uses a couple of walkers and the chairs to the kid-sized table to get places the permanent furniture doesn’t connect to.
Drinks from a sippy cup – Eh. I give him some water sometimes, he’s mostly uninterested.
Eats with fingers – He can definitely get food into his face with his hands.
Bangs objects together – I’m not actually sure I’ve seen him do that. There go my hopes he’s a prodigy on the cymbals.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – He doesn’t have that much control over his hands yet.
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – No, he still mostly refers to me with a high pitched screeching.

This week was spring break. We didn’t go anywhere in the stay-over-night-on-vacation sense, but we did go do a lot of things. Especially Caroline and I – we are cut from the same cloth that refuses to just sit on the couch on a sunny day. We need to go “do fun things”.

Sunday:

Can’t stop won’t stop visiting the goats (except probably now, since all the baby goats are getting big)

Treat yo’ self

Evening walk

Monday:

Not a real cow

So excited about the zoo he fell asleep

Art in motion

Tuesday:

Band-aids are really exciting

This is not a good wrap job but the wrap is so pretty I don’t care

If you give a baby a flashlight, he will think that is the best thing ever

Wednesday:

During the treasure hunt, a pirate asked them to sing a pirate song, so they both sang “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!”

That hat though

Seriously. The hat.

Thursday:

I thought a nice long walk would be fun. They disagreed.

Caroline arranged her own storytime at the library, despite the fact that a) she can’t read and b) she doesn’t know that girl

Don’t let the cute messy face distract you from the path of destruction behind him

Friday:

Maybe I should try to teach her to read

Hide out

That’s his concentrating face

Saturday:

She is very disappointed that no REAL birds will get to enjoy the houses she decorated for them

Wearing his new hat while we enjoy dinner on a deck

These kids, you guys

I am BEAT and I feel about a million years old. I wish I could sleep for 24 hours straight. I feel like I’m right on the edge of getting sick and I do not have TIME to be sick. The kids are supposed to start soccer this week but somehow soccer (which is supposed to be Monday/Wednesday) is now on Thursday during the same time as swim. Obviously they can’t be swimming WHILE playing soccer so I’m going to have to get swim moved (there are other swim classes, there’s just one soccer team). But this swim session is really full and it’s going to be SUCH a pain to work out. I’m dreading making that phone call but both soccer and swim cost too much money to just skip. Stupid sports.

The weather is finally warm enough that I’m confident it’s time to switch out everyone’s wardrobes, but that means it’s time to sort out the donate/consign/pass on piles. Just ONE kid’s clothes could keep me busy for a week – and I have 3 kids with way too much stuff. I suspect absolutely nothing from last year will fit anyone (especially Linc, since he didn’t exist this time last year) so I will be forced to buy EVEN MORE stuff. Stupid stuff.

Thank God spring break is over. I’ve become just a whiny as my children.

I think 7 months is too many months. I don’t like it.

This morning I started looking at first birthday party ideas and then immediately had a minor breakdown and decided there was NO WAY I was letting Lincoln turn one anytime soon. I realize that’s not really up to me but since he’s still such a nice little baby-ish baby I’m going to just enjoy it while I can and not plan an elaborate party 5 months early.

For the record, Linc is (probably) not my last baby so I might be a little careless when it comes to truly enjoying every baby moment. But he is taking his time a lot more than Caroline did – even though he is fat and huge he still FEELS like a baby when it comes to the amount of care and cuddles and effort required. I don’t mind as much as I thought I would. It helps that nursing was easy peasy this time around. It also helps that he (mostly) sleeps well, so I’m only occassionally exhausted to the point where I feel like dying. So the “hold me all the time, don’t leave the room, carry me around” part isn’t the worst.

Plus also he’s adorable. I love his squishy little face SO MUCH.

I’m not kidding when I said he is fat – at this age Caroline was still in 3-6 month clothes while Linc is busting out of his 9 month stuff. I bought him an 18 month sweater last week because I was afraid he would outgrow the 12 month size before it warms up around here. I’m assuming once he’s really mobile he’ll burn through all the calories he’s been hoarding. At least I hope so, because he already eats every 90 minutes during the day, I can’t imagine him eating more often. Although he seems to be a fan of people food as well as nursies – pretty much anything I hand him he eats.

The big changes in the last month have revolved around sleep – he decided he wants to sleep on his stomach. That doesn’t work in the rock-n-play so we replaced it with the pack-n-play and he’s back to being a mostly good sleeper. He also has finally FINALLY started napping in his crib. I suppose I could have made that happen before if I had pushed it but with the big kids’ schedules it’s really hard to spend an hour fighting with him about it. Now that he’s ready it’s only a 10 minute process. So far. In a week he’ll probably decide he hates the crib and I’ll just throw the whole thing out.

So for RIGHT NOW, likes include white noise, belly sleeping, being warm, hats, nursies, cuddles, being worn, being carried, his sister, his brother, biting things, water, floating, dogs, cats, old people, riding in the cart, toys that make noise, people food, pulling hair, singing, and blowing raspberries on my boob while he’s supposed to be eating.

Dislikes include air blowing on his face, being tired, and this god damn 8th tooth that is taking forever to break through.

#sorrynotsorry for way too many pictures…

7 Month Milestones (Originally from BabyCenter, now from Caroline’s 7 month post – also, if you go look at Caroline’s post you’ll realize just how bald poor little Linc really is)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Sits without support – If he would JUST sit he’d be really good at it. But he thinks he can crawl which leads to a lot of face planting.
Drags objects toward herself – Yes, grabby baby is very grabby.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Lunges forward or starts crawling – Super close to crawling and monkey-scooting, but not mobile enough that I’ve started babyproofing yet.
Jabbers or combines syllables – He’s very talky, I just have no idea what he’s saying.
Starts to experience stranger anxiety – He gets mad when I leave the room but tried to leap into a nice lady’s arms at the grocery store. My children as a group have no stranger fears.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Waves goodbye – Uh, no. Not even close to waving.
Stands while holding onto something – Yes, but not reliably.
Bangs objects together – Yes Anything that helps make him louder is good.
Begins to understand object permanence – Is that when they understand peek a boo? Because he totally loves peek a boo.