Ava: "Linc-ie! We don't yell when Mommy is on the phone!"

Lincoln is changing so much so quickly! His hair is growing and filling in and he’s chunking up as well. He grabs everything within his reach. He tries to go for stuff out of his reach also. We’re going to be in trouble once he’s mobile… He sits up very well. He has been sleeping like a champion lately! I’m so relieved! He’s in bed by 8:30 p.m. on a normal night and he sleeps until 7:20 a.m. Sometimes, though rarely, he’ll wake up around 4 a.m. and fall back asleep with the help of a back rub. He usually takes a 45-minute to 1-hour nap in the morning and a solid 2-hour nap in the afternoon (sorry, Amanda). He’s beginning to experience stranger anxiety…still nothing like Ava’s bout of stranger anxiety when she was his age. He has two more teeth coming in! I suspected that he might and I was able to confirm my suspicions this afternoon because they’re barely visible under his gums. He seems to grow teeth in pairs. They’re his top two middle teeth coming in. I’ve gotten wise and I give him Tylenol before his long nap and his bedtime! Linc's eye is finally better! The 3rd round of eye-drops worked! Hopefully it'll last.

Ava is a non-stop talker. She really likes to talk on walks outside, literally non-stop. We walk every day and I’m entertained the entire time, even if she’s eating a snack… She talks a lot about monsters and getting married. She has been doing better about hanging out with other kids on the playground; she hasn’t been quite as shy as she has been in the past. She’s excited about making lots of friends. Currently, Ava reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age; all she wants to do is clean and cook. There’s a reason I earned the nick-name “Cinderella.” Ava asks me for a rag so she can dust and she dusts everything! She also helps with the dishes and she likes to make “brek-fek-st” for us. This past weekend we had friends over for dinner and Ava refused to come to the table to eat with us until she finished cleaning up the mess we made playing before dinner. She picked up every single toy and put them away exactly where they go. It was amazing. The downstairs never looked better. When she finished, she joined us at the table with a healthy appetite. Ava is also becoming quite the negotiator. Here is a conversation we had yesterday afternoon:

Ava: “Mama, I want to watch a movie.”

Me: “You watched one this morning. I think that’s enough.”

- A few minutes pass… -

Me: “Have you been to the bathroom lately?”

Ava: “No.”

Me: “Do you think you should go?”

Ava: “No.”

Me: “Okaaay…”

Ava (in her chipper and convincing voice): “Mom, I have a good idea! Maybe I can go to the bathroom and then I can watch a movie! Ok?!”

Here’s a similar conversation from last night…

Ava: “Mama, does your back still hurt you?”

Me: “Hmm, yeah, a little.”

Ava: “It’s OK. I can make you a boo boo bear to make it allllll better!”

Me: “Aww, that is so sweet, Ava!”

Ava: “Can you give me a piggy back ride?”

Chris has a mid-term this week for his summer class. Time is flying! He’s been extremely busy at work lately too. He makes the most out of his time at home and somehow manages to make each of us feel appreciated and loved. I’m doing great with all this new sleep! It’s like a drug! I have more energy, my body aches much less and it’s as if I’m seeing everything in color again. I’m not sure how I survived the last 6 months… I cannot believe how occupied we are during the days. I truly thought I’d be bored most of the day staying home…like I’d be looking for stuff to do. To my surprise, we go non-stop. I try to find time now to squeeze in the laundry and grocery shopping. Looks like we’re going to have a fun-packed summer with lots of family visits, looking forward to that. I’m working hard on loosing these last ten pounds but they just aren’t budging. I don’t recall ever having to work this hard or consciously to loose weight. I’m sure my lack of patience in that department has a lot to do with it. I’d just really like to fit into the clothes in my closet sooner rather than later. For now, I live in elastic waistbands and I’d be lying if I said that bothered me. I recently found all these fun crafty blogs that I listed under “My Blog List” to the right there. I’m anxious to start doing some of those projects with Ava this summer. I love that she loves to do projects. It’s nice that Lincoln also likes to watch us do projects. He’s so easy-going.

I think I just more than made up for my recent lack of blogging. Enjoy the pictures!

He's always sucking on his bottom lip...drives Chris crazy!