Milestones

I often refer to my life story through chapters. Each time there is a big change, we turn a new page and start a new chapter. I am realizing that a child's story is not read by chapters, but by milestones. The last month I have been slow to blog. I attribute that to a few different reasons. One is December is always harder, and this year wasn't an exception. My quiet computer time was my shop on amazon time. My camera has been hiding in my church bag for half of the month and hasn't been as accessible as I like it to be to take pictures of my cute kids. It is most unfortunate, because the last 6 weeks seems to have been a time of milestones. Both my boys seemed to grow up. Just tonight, I was watching Oliver balance with one hand on a table he pulled himself up onto. Then Lincoln came out of the bathroom having wet his 4th pair of Thomas the train underwear today. Through so many fun memories this month, I want to list just a few simple milestones by boys have reached.
Oliver got his first tooth just a couple days before Thanksgiving. He was 8 months old. He still has just one tooth. He eats all kinds of table food now, and stores most of it in the roof of his mouth. He has cried through 3 hour sessions of 2 different babysitters- I guess we can say he's a mama's boy. Oliver hates being left alone...even if we just leave to change Lincoln's diaper or get a drink, he'll let you know you're walking away while he's just sitting there. That is rapidly changing as he is getting to be a proficient army crawler. Two weeks ago I walked into Oliver's room and was surprised to see him sitting up in his crib. I had never even see him try to sit up. Now, no more than 2 weeks later he can get from a laying down position to a standing position if the right furniture is by him. Oliver still lights up when Lincoln is around and especially when Lincoln decides to give him positive attention. Oliver has a very active tongue and tries to get everything into his mouth. He loves to hold my index fingers and chew on either one. Bath time is splash time and play time for Oliver. He gives great high fives and likes to slap anything that will make a loud noise when he hits it. Including the hard floor when he "crawls". Oliver got his first trip to the doctor, all because his mom overreacted to a high fever. Of course, he was fine the next day. Oliver lights up my life and is really good at being happy just when I need a breath of fresh air battling a very strong willed, independent two year old. Oliver lights up my life and is good at making others smile too.
Lincoln likes to remind me that he has passed those milestones. If I ever give Oliver any attention for things like, standing with help, sitting up by himself, having a tooth etc. Lincoln reminds me he has teeth and can eat by himself, can crawl by himself, walk by himself and well even get his own water out of the frige by himself. Often he tells me that Oliver can't do these things yet, but he will be able to when "he gets big like Lincoln". Lincoln is everything a two year old should be. Demanding, yet so gracious, independent yet needing so much help. He is basically a my way or the highway kind of kid. If it's his idea, it's perfect and as irrational as his idea may be, it's the only way to get things done. As long as I don't have anything pressing to get to, it makes me smile and we move along at a two year old pace...
Another fun thing in my life is "pretending" with Lincoln. He loves to pretend things are happening. He pretends to kick, he pretends to throw and catch, he pretends there is a bird on his shoulder, we love to pretend to eat just about anything, and be just about anywhere. I love to pretend with Lincoln.
More milestones:
About a three weeks ago Lincoln decided to climb out of his crib. He surprised me when he showed up in the kitchen. Since then, I am not allowed to get him out of his crib. When we went to Huntsville with the Poll's last weekend, Lincoln refused to sleep in his Pack'n'Play, so he slept on the big boy mattress. We returned home and turned his crib into a toddler bed. He's done great with it. I'll call it a major milestone. The last two days we have been potty training. He's about 50% right now. I hope to report by the next blog that we have officially reached the new milestone of being potty trained.
It's so hard to believe my boys are growing up. It seems like so much in the last month or two. I love them more than words. Can't wait to see what milestones 2014 will bring.