103 Weeks

How old? 23 Months 22 days

Weight: 28 lbs

Sleep:  Not horrible for sleeping in a different bed for the week.  We are surviving.  Naptime has been a little tricky given Lincoln's new obsession with trains, as Grammy's house is very near train tracks so he gets really excited when he hears the train whistle and pops up right out of bed and wants to run to the window.  

Food:  Indiana is full of new and exotic fare for Lincoln, well really just Hacienda and John Wongs but still.  We always have to hit up my faves when in town and now Linc gets to partake as well!  I think he liked them just as much as I do!   
Cute Things Lincoln Says:  He has started calling my Mom, Gammy.  He was going back and forth calling my Dad Granpa (he leaves out the D) & Carpa, he was combining Car & Granpa, since he was being given "car" rides in a cardboard box from Granpa.

Best Moment This Week: Oh so many good times back in Indiana!  So many in fact I will have to make several posts this week or this entry will go on & on forever.  So keep checking back for lots of Team i6 blogging action!
But most notably our friend Cortney volunteered to help us out by taking the pups to the kennel for us!  She is the bestest ever and we owe her more than a bottle of bubbly.

Worst Moment This Week:  Nothing really other than the fact that we all flew to Indiana sick on Monday.  We had a family cold and were all kinda snotty and tired and grouchy...and well 4:00am came way to early.  The good news is our cab actually showed up on time and we made it through all the airport rigmarole with out any problems.  Mommy & Daddy even got a little nap on the second flight while Lincoln quietly played with apps on my phone.  I have said it before but g-d bless the iphone, could not live with out it.

What We're Looking Forward To:  

Bringing in the New Year with The Alderson's like its 2002.
Linc's 2nd Birthday Bash at Gymboree
Milestones: Recording memories; Want a wonderful memento of your child's early years? Start a quote book. As he grows more verbal, some of the funniest comments will spring from his lips. Toddlers tend to ask surprising questions ("Hi, Mommy, are you awake?"), make observations cobbled from limited vocabularies ("Grandpa hair all gone!"), and use metaphors in the most delightful ways ("moon cracker" for a crescent-shaped bite).

Many of these sophisticated expressions don't show up until age 2, when language skills really explode, but if you get in the habit now of jotting down fun sayings, you'll wind up with a terrific record. We always think we'll remember these quips, but many of them fade from our memories over the years.

It Was A (Indiana) White (2 Days After) Christmas

Hanukkah Wrap-Up

We took a little trip to the Northern Virginia JCC to check out their Hanukkah Fair they put on Christmas Day. We were all getting a little stir-crazy in our house and there is only so much Caillou that Mommy an Daddy can handle.

We had a nice time, and we even ran into some friends from Gymboree and some families from our temple.
Linc had a blast conquering the giant blowup bouncy obstacle course.
We had a few latkes and some pita as snack to refuel.  And met Cliford The Big Red Dog at story time.

Then it was home for a nap and then traditional dinner of Chinese food with The Aldersons, with homemade latkes as an appitizer of course. Can't get enough of those potatoe pancakes this time of year! ;-)

We lit candles and Linc opened some more presents from his Grandpa & Grandma Isaacs.  He got a super awesome easel to use for all of his art projects at home.  He LOVES it so so much! 

102 Weeks

How old? 23 Months 15 days

Weight: 28 lbs

Sleep: For the most part all is well, but Wednesday night our little Lincoln woke us up in the middle of the night by crying and saying "help help".  Todd went down to see what was up and it turns out that he opened up his sippy of water and dumped it all over his bed.  So Todd striped down his bed and got him some dry blankets and his pillow pet and put him back to bed.

Food:  Tuesday he dined like a king at Cafe Asia on california rolls & chicken fried rice.  This was after he had an appetizer of latkes and sufganiyot at the Menorah Lighting downtown. 
Cute Things Lincoln Says:  He calls dinosaurs, "saurs" and almost immediately roars after he says it.  He calls waffles, faffles...and meatballs, peoples.  He kills me with cuteness.  Seriously.

Best Moment This Week:  Friday was pretty low key, we had Ledo's pizza for dinner and then cuddled and watched Caillou. 
Saturday we had Mr. W's monkey/safari themed bday party!  Linc had lots of fun playing with all of W's toys, especially his School Bus ride-on toy & Elmo cell phone...total hits.  We all enjoyed snacking and having birthday cupcakes w/ blue homemade frosting!  YUM!  Linc was wore out from all the fun & playing and was asleep before we drove out of the neighborhood. 

He needed to rest up for the fun he would have with Mary that night while we hit the town with the Aldersons.  While we were on our little date night I heard Linc made quite a few phone calls to girls, we'll have to keep our eyes on him...  We had a fantastic time in the city for drinks, dinner, more drinks & dessert!  

Sunday was our standard Gymboree class and mostly just relaxing the day away.  That night we started Hanukkah just a little early and exchanged gifts with T&Z before bedtime.  It was a great kick-off to the Holiday. 

And we continued to celebrate with our annual trip into DC for the National Menorah Lighting Tuesday night for the first official night of Hanukkah.  (See my post below for more pictures!)

Worst Moment This Week:  Lincoln's had some rocky moments lately at daycare drop off, nothing too bad, but a little separation anxiety when we try to leave.  They tell us he is fine 20sec after we are gone, and I do believe them but it doesn't make walking out the door any easier.

There was a bit of a mix up with our Kennel and they lost our reservation and no longer have room for Alex & Guinness.  Well, it is the traveling season so pretty much everywhere is full, but we did find one place that will take them on the 27th and the Aldersons are gracious enough to take the dogs out for us on the 26th (THANK YOU)...now we are still working to find someone to take them to the new kennel on the 27th.  So if anyone is around and would like to play dog chauffeur for about 30mins on Tuesday we promise to buy you a really good bottle of wine or something! ;-)


Just look at these sweet puppy faces

What We're Looking Forward To:  

Wheels up to Indiana Monday morning

Linc's 2nd Birthday Bash at Gymboree
Movement:  Some tantrum throwing going on as the "terrible twos" are hitting our radar...they are very few and far between, but they do happen.  Usually it entails one of us on the floor.
Milestones: Safety matters; The approaching second birthday is a good time to rethink your child's safety. You've thought about childproofing before, but every stage brings new hazards as your child grows taller, more mobile, and more adventurous. Reevaluate potential dangers from his point of view.

Increasingly, your toddler will be able to get into places you never dreamed possible. He may climb onto stools, tables, and counters; open containers he never showed an interest in before; and move into dangerous zones (a pool, the basement tool bench) faster than you'd think.

You'll still want to keep as many potential threats out of reach as possible, though. Remove sharp knives from accessible drawers, and store medications and vitamins in childproof containers.

Holiday Teacher Gift Project

I am sure that I have said it on here before, but I will say it again...we LOVE our daycare.  It is the best place ever and I feel good about taking Lincoln there everyday.  I must because I drive 40min there & back every morning & night, yeah yeah I know that's an easy commute around here but I am spoiled!  We have had the best experience there and I highly recommend them to anyone and everyone that asks me about childcare.  So that being said I wanted to do a little something special for his teachers this Holiday Season...and this is what I came up with.

These were inspired by this project I did for his teachers in the room he graduated from this summer.

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I found reusable travel mugs that look like Starbucks cups on Amazon.com and filled them with yummy packets of hot cocoa & made cute gift tags to put on them held in by the little green drink stoppers from Starbucks.  Yeah, I might be a regular at my local Starbucks, so thankfully they don't look at me too weirdly when I ask for extra drink stoppers & cup carriers.

I hope his teachers love them! :-)

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Come light the menorah

Let's have a party, we'll all dance the hora
Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat
Dreidels to play with and latkes to eat

And while we are playing
The candles are burning low
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago
One for each night, they shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago

101 Weeks

How old? 23 Months 8 days

Weight: 28 lbs (per the dr visit Saturday)

Sleep: We moved a little Fisher Price garage into his room this week for him to play with before bed or in the mornings if he is up before we are ready for work.  We figured it would be good quiet entertainment for him.  Sometimes after I leave his room in the evenings he'll sit on the floor and play with it for 10 or so minutes before he gets into bed, and you can hear him  saying "vroom vroom" as he plays.

Food:  Pretty much the whole time he was sick this past weekend the only thing he would eat was grapes and cheerios. 

Then he seemed to get his appitite back Saturday night and Aunt Cyndi had some cheese pizza left over from the party and he went to town on that.
I think if we let him he would eat mini pancakes for every.single.meal. but we are big ol' meanies and we don't.   
Got some turkey meatballs this week and he is digging those quite a bit.

Best Moment This Week:  We had lots of down time since Linc was not feeling top notch, so Elmo was pretty much the star of the weekend.  He laid on the couch and slept or watched Sesame Street pretty much the whole time. 
Linc was bummed to miss out on Tyler & Zack's first Birthday Party, and he would have loved it since it was Sesame Street themed.  But he will hopefully get to celebrate and wish those guys Happy Birthday real soon!
We did make it out of the house for a little bit on Sunday when he was feeling better so we didn't get too stir crazy, but that only lasted about an hour or so.  Linc was excited because it did feature a "choo choo" ride.  Then it was pretty much back to Elmo & the couch, poor little guy.
OH and I can't leave this off the list this week...Todd got a new phone!  Can I get a hallelujah?  HALLEEE-LUUU-JAHHHHH!  For those of you that know, well you know...and those that don't, well he needed to do this like two months ago.  But it is done now, and I am happy, so that means everyone is happy. ;-)
Worst Moment This Week:  So Friday was kinda of a wild night...it is kinda a long story, but basically Linc started to not feel quite like himself.  Still not great Saturday morning so we made a trip to the Dr, and he seemed ok-ish - no fever, just kinda blah for Lincoln.  Dr. said keep him hydrated and try to get him to eat something if he was up for it.  15min later at breakfast - in a restraunt - he threw-up all over.  Poor dude.  From there we battled a 103 fever off and on all weekend.  Which means he missed T&Z's birthday party and was just generally miserable most of the weekend.  And then the rash came, all over his torso.  Yeah we can now check Roseola off our list of infectious diseases.  CHECK.  He is on the mend and seems to be just dandy for the upcomming weekend...so at least there's that.
What We're Looking Forward To:  

Mr. W's first bday party
A DATE NIGHT - WoooHooooo!
National Menorah Lighting 12/20 (Hanukkah!!!)
Indiana trip in December

Starting to plan the little man's big 2nd Birthday Bash

Movement:  walking: check, running: check, jumping: check, climbing: check, dancing: check

Milestones:  Growing up; If it seems like your little one's growth has slowed down dramatically compared with his first year, you're right. The average child triples his birth weight by age 1, but only gains 3 to 5 pounds in the second year. By now, your toddler also looks much less like a baby. He's upright, he's mobile, he's active, and his baby fat is melting away.
The way he holds his body and moves around has changed, too. The back-and-forth gait of a young toddler has evolved into a smoother, more coordinated stride. By their second birthday, most kids can pull toys behind them and carry things while they walk, and they will begin to run.

Spoiler Alert (oh and Happy Holidays)

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100 Weeks

Whoa, 100 weeks feels like a milestone, yes?  While it's not quite two years and that is another milestone that we will reach very soon, 100 weeks with a child seems huge to me.  Amazing & huge.  100 weeks of cuddles & smiles,with a little bit of crying thrown in there too if we're being real here, but mostly it's been a really awesome ride.  Life as a parent is fantastic, perhaps you should remind me of this paragraph when we have reached roughly 800 weeks.

How old? 23 Months 1 day.

Weight: 30-ish lbs

Sleep: Like a log.

Food: Pretty standard fare.  Still asking for yo-gut on a daily basis.  

We attended a birthday party for Miss Q on Monday night and Linc  had a great time & really enjoyed the birthday cake (egg & gluten free).  He enjoyed it so much so that he has started to request cake all.the.time.  He rarely gets that stuff and now he is all like, cake? cake? Momma, cake?  Yeah, no kid you are not having cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Unfortunately for us - fortunately for him - we have like three birthdays in a row where I am sure there will be cake.  



(Sorry about the crazy white eyes,
I can't seem to edit them out)



Best Moment This Week:  We had another playdate with Miss J and her parents this past weekend.  They came over for breakfast at our place and then we headed out to the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.  It turned out to be Dollar Days down in the Inner Harbor so all the attractions that were normally like $15 were $1.  SCORE!  And you would have thought that the Science Center would have been packed, but really everyone had headed to the National Aquarium and so the Science Center was just sort of busy, not bad at all.  The kids had a great time checking out dinos and playing in the Kids Zone at the giant water table and all the other exhibits in there.  After playing so hard we all worked up quite the appetite and headed to Hard Rock Cafe where we chowed down on lunch and Lincoln rocked out at the table using a fork for a guitar and Miss J accompanied him with using her spoon and the table as a drum.  It was a fun filled day that is for sure - we were all exhausted by the time we got home.

Monday we had Miss Q's bday party at Gymboree and it was a blast!  It got us looking forward to Lincoln's bday even more.  We are super excited to be having it at Gymboree too, and I think I mentioned last week that he is going to have a train theme.  He is "choo choo" excited.

Theme Sneak Peek!

Worst Moment This Week:  So they say bad things happen in threes fours...please can we be done for a little while, k thanks universe.

What We're Looking Forward To:  

T&Z's bday party next weekend
Mr. W's first bday party the following weekend
A DATE NIGHT on 12/17 - WoooHooooo!
National Menorah Lighting 12/20 (Hanukkah!!!)
Indiana trip in December

Starting to plan the little man's big 2nd Birthday Bash

Movement:  walking: check, running: check, jumping: check, climbing: check, dancing: check

Milestones:  Language learning; Your child may be learning as many as ten new words a day now. Here are some of the language skills you can expect from your child by around age 2:

• Forms two- to four-word sentences ("Bird fly high.")
• Sings simple songs
• Follows simple instructions
• Uses pronouns, though not always correctly ("Me do it" instead of "Jake do it," but probably not "I do it")
• Repeats words heard in conversations
• Recognizes names of people, things, and parts of the body

Encourage budding verbal skills by continuing to read often with your toddler. Reading introduces new nouns, verbs, and ideas your child might not encounter in everyday life (such as a tiger in the jungle). Books with wordplay such as rhymes help kids make associations between like words.

99 Weeks

How old? 22 Months 25 Days...GUYS we are almost only a month away from the little man's 2nd Birthday!  HOW did this happen?!?  I couldn't be happier that I have taken the time to publish this little blog so that I can read back through and see just how far we've come & remember "way back when", cuz ya'll it goes by so so fast.

Weight: 30-ish lbs

Sleep: It's all good in the Toddler-hood.  Sleep is going pretty well.  We have started to push bedtime up a little and we have found it to be true once more that "sleep begets sleep" by putting him to bed earlier he will sleep longer.  Tuesday he was in bed by 7:30pm and didn't wake up until we had to get him out of bed at 7:10am.
He has started waking up and sleep talking, it is so funny...I forget what he was saying the first time he did it a few weeks ago but this morning he was asking to watch Caillou in his sleep.

Food: Well, Linc seemed to enjoy all our Thanksgiving trimmings and whatnot, and he didn't object too much to eating leftovers through out the weekend.  He definitely liked the pumpkin pie that we got from Mom's Apple Pies Bakery. 

Best Moment This Week:  We had a nice little Thanksgiving and after we relaxed and ate and relaxed again, we put Linc to bed & Todd braved the lines at Best Buy from 10pm-12am.  He emerged from the store victorious with a brand new sparkly 55" lcd flat screen TV.  It is awesome and also still in the box.  We have to come up with a game plan on where exactly it is going, main level or basement, but it will be awesome where ever it ends up.
We did a lot of cleaning over the weekend, so that felt good.  The garage and basement are now nice and tidy, next up is to tackle the guest bedroom since we will hopefully have some visitors come January (Yay Isaacs Family visit) and perhaps more in Feb/March timeframe as well (I am looking at you, Carmeans).
We also took Linc to a Music class at Gymboree & met a new friend there Mr. N, and hopefully we'll have a playdate setup in the near future.
And we hung out with Miss B (one of kiddos in our neighborhood) and took her a 1st bday present.  Linc & her had a jam sesh and played the drums & other instruments. 
Lastly, Linc will have a new little play buddy when we go back to Indiana, well, maybe not quite this visit but in a year or two anyway.  My cousin welcomed a second little boy yesterday, Blaine, who joins big brother Braxton who is a good little playmate of Linc's when we are in town.  We are so excited to meet Blaine in just a few weeks!  Congrats to the Witmers!
Worst Moment This Week:  Took my car to Jiffy Lube this week and they royaly messed up my car, so it's been a real repair shop the past few days.  This has caused Todd & I to carpool which isn't all bad since I don't have to drive, but it does present scheduling challenges.
UPDATED to add:  Another worst moment and the reason the blog is so late is that Friday evening one of my teeth started to hurt and I was not feeling so great.  Well that little bit of discomfort turned to A LOT of pain and so I found myself at our dentist Saturday morning while Todd & Linc went to Tot Shabbat.  Now I've got some prescriptions to keep my comfortable until my scheduled re-do of a root canal on my #14 molar.  Yay.   ::insert sarcasm here::
So they say bad things happen in threes...hopefully we are done for a little while, k thanks universe.

What We're Looking Forward To:  

Miss Q's 2nd bday party Monday night at Gymboree
T&Z's bday party next weekend
Mr. W's first bday party the following weekend
A DATE NIGHT on 12/17 - WoooHooooo!
National Menorah Lighting 12/20 (Hanukkah!!!)
Indiana trip in December

Starting to plan the little man's big 2nd Birthday Bash

Movement:  walking: check, running: check, jumping: check, climbing: check, dancing: check

Milestones:Toddler toys; Wondering what kind of toys to give your child for his upcoming birthday? Whatever you choose, be sure to check the boxes or labels to confirm that every item is safe for the under-3 crowd.

Toys labeled for age 3 and up pose a choking hazard or other risks to younger children. (See more tips for toy safety.)

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Toys that let kids pretend: play cash registers, brooms and dustpans, phones, toy dishes, toy food, dress-up clothes, trucks, trains and cars, dolls and doll strollers and cradles
• Toys to manipulate: dolls with buttons and zippers, blocks of all types, the toddler version of colorful plastic building bricks
• Action toys: ride-on vehicles, wagons, balls, climbing structures, carts
• Musical toys: Drums, tambourines, xylophones, cymbals
• Books: Your child can never have too many!

Linc is super into music & dancing.  He loves trains & trucks & buses & tractors, pretty much if it is big and it goes he likes it.  He is digging watching Yo Gabba Gabba, Calliou, & Elmo (big time).  He asked repeatedly to color & likes to play with playdough too.

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98 Weeks

How old? 22 Months 18 Days

Weight: 30-ish lbs

Sleep: Non-existent in Chicago.  The sleep situation was dire there.  He was out of his element and we threw off his schedule pretty good and then add in the time changes, we knew it would be trouble.  The first day he napped for about 1hr or so and boy did he put up a fight.  So I thought for sure he'd at least sleep good that night - well he went down pretty easy but was up bright and early at 5am central/6am eastern.  We took him downstairs and let him watch tv quietly and play while we tried to catch a few more winks on the couches.  That was pretty much how the weekend went.  But some how there weren't too many meltdowns and we survived just fine...AND once we got home Linc has fallen right back into his "night night" routine and has been in bed asleep by 8 and stays that way until at least 7am. 

Food:  Linc got to try his first Chicago style Lou Malnati's pizza, not sure he liked it but Mommy & Daddy LOVED it!  
He loved Aunt Rose's cooking, especially the night she made salmon, potatoes, and asparagus - we all thought that was very tasty.

Best Moment This Week:  SO MANY!
We had an amazing trip back to Chicago to see our good friends The Carmeans and we all roadtripped down to Purdue to see The Schwartzs and roam around campus a little and visit The Schwartz casa for the first time, OH OH and how could I forget a trip to Insomnia Cookies. 
Linc had a great time seeing Amber again, they played pretty well together for the most part.  They are both learning how to share better.  They had some really cute moments and we joked that we should start a rehearsal dinner photo file, you know for someday...

Breaking In the AEPi Dance Floor Early

Saturday, earlier in the day the boys all went to the football game and the girls went to lunch and shopping for Purdue gear.  Linc got an awesome jersey, I got a shirt, & Daddy got some winter wear and we picked up a few other things I'll put away for Hanukkah.  After the game we all met up and took some pictures by the Purdue sign near the Union and then took the kids through the Union (uh they have a Starbucks there now, whoa) and around campus.  It was so good to be back there and see all the old buildings and see what new stuff has popped up too.  The only thing missing was to have the kiddos see the Boilermaker Special, but they will have that to look forward to next year at our little reunion - Uncle Seth is going to get us the hook-up.
Oh and we got to go check out the new AEPi house up in the Acres.  Todd & Andrew were both excited.  I had to have a little chat with Lincoln to tell him not to touch anything though he really didn't listen, the house was basically one big death trap for a toddler, but we still made it out ok.

Future AEPi Hanging Out Playin' Some Halo w/ The Guys

Sunday back in the Chi-town area we hit up Legoland, and had a fantastic time exploring and playing.

Monday we visited Monkey Bizness and Linc & Amber played even more - these two have lots of energy!  It was a good workout for Linc before our flight back home.

Worst Moment This Week:  

What We're Looking Forward To:  

Attending a couple of Bday parties for little ones in the up coming weeks
National Menorah Lighting
Hanukkah!!!
Indiana trip in December

Starting to plan the little man's big 2nd Birthday Bash

Movement:  Uh, yeah.  Now Linc loves to have us take him for "rides" around the house on a blanket that we pull around on our hardwood flooring.  He will come running out to the kitchen with a blanket in hand and say "ride please" and look so darn cute, how can we say no to that?  (Note to self, thank Uncle Carmean for this development)

Milestones:Developing good taste; What's the best way to get your 22-month-old to try new foods? Keep on serving them. Even if he refuses to touch, much less taste, what's on his plate, exposure is the name of the game. It can take ten or 20 or more exposures to a new food before a toddler will consent to try it, nutritionists say.

Keep portions small so they're less intimidating. Try serving refused foods in a different format: A broccoli spear looks very different from, say, broccoli in cheese sauce or a soufflé. Never force your child to taste something or clean his plate. You want him to develop pleasant associations with mealtimes. Besides, nobody likes everything.

Don't expect perfect table manners at this point. Smelling it, handling it, and smearing it are some of the ways your child gets acquainted with a new food.