57 Weeks

How old? 13 Months 3 days

Weight: 22 lbs  13oz

Sleep: Back to good...holding out hope it stays that way.

Food: Lincoln enjoyed his second meal off of a kid's menu this past weekend.  We went to Red Robin after doing some shopping at BJs (Pampers for 18c a diaper, I big pink puffy heart wholesale clubs & awesome coupons!) and he got a grilled cheese, while Mommy had chicken & Daddy got a burger.  He did get a bite of chicken though he seemed much more impressed with Daddy's bite of hamburger. 

He seems to be a bottomless pit when it comes to pasta.  I made an old stand by this week, spaghetti pie, and boy oh boy was that a hit!  I think he had two baby bowls full, a few cooked carrots (most of those ended up on the floor/eaten by puppies) and pears.  He continues to be our good little eater!

Word List:  Mama, Dada, Daa-dee, nana (banana), uhoh (when he drops something), bye bye, touchdown (he started saying this at daycare the Monday after the Superbowl)

Best Moment This Week: We did not make it to Tot Shabbat this past weekend, we decided that Linc needed to rest up a little more that day to make sure he was sufficiently getting over his cold.  We slept in and played in the morning, during nap time Todd and I did some chores around the house, and then we did a little late afternoon shopping and dinner out.  It was a nice day. 

Sunday was more of the same, resting and playing, and then we headed to Tysons for a Purim PJ Party at Barnes & Nobel.  There was a photographer there from the Washington Jewish Week and he took the picture to the right,  you can see Todd holding Linc on the left and I am sitting on the floor right next to them.  Linc did pretty well listening to the books being read, but he did get distracted by a nearby bookshelf.  After the Purim stories were read they let the kids make gragers (noise makers) and crowns.  And they even got a tote bag filled with some small toys & Hamantaschen.





Worst Moment This Week:  MOLARS, our child has started to get molars, well one anyway, top right to be specific.  This is crazy to me!  Poor baby, no wonder he's been so miserable - a horrible cold, ear infections, and teething a molar.  Rough week for the Lincster!

What We're Looking Forward To: Surprise trip to Cleveland this weekend, for Grandma Isaacs birthday!  It will be a quick trip, but it will be fun!  Cross your fingers that Linc does well in the car.

Movement: Lots more walking and quite a bit of dancing going on, especially in the kitchen while I am trying to make dinner.

Milestones: Don't be surprised if your hearty eater's appetite has shrunk. It's typical for kids this age to eat a bit less and suddenly become more picky. This change may seem strange, considering how active your child is now. But because he's growing more slowly, he really doesn't need as much food.

Try not to pressure your toddler to eat more. Instead, let his appetite determine how much food he takes in.
Of course, even though you can't control how much he eats, you are definitely in charge of what he has to choose from. Keep offering a variety of healthy foods at every meal
Dreams become a reality
Even if your child has been sleeping soundly for months, he may now start waking up again at night. Of course, that can happen at any stage during the baby and toddler years for one reason or another. But one new potential sleep disturbance at this age is dreaming.
Between 12 and 14 months, kids start actively dreaming, and a dream can actually startle your child awake. Sticking to routines and creating a beloved bedtime ritual are a huge help in keeping your toddler's sleep on track.

Shake, Rattle, & Rollin' Around

Here are a few shots from today's outing to JW Tumbles.  I think it was a hit with the Lincster!

Climbing Those Steps

Ready Or Not Here I Come

Having A Ball (Or Two)

48 Weeks



Now - 11 Months

Oh My, How We've Grown



Then - 1 Month

 How old? 11 Months 2 days

Weight: 22.4 lbs

Sleep: The past few nights have been a rocky road traveled...I'll elaborate more down below.  Let's just say it's not been the best week for sleep in this household. 

Food: Linc enjoyed trying several new things while visiting Grandma & Grandpa Isaacs this past weekend.  He had his first taste of matzo ball, which he liked very much!  Ironically he also had his first taste of honey baked ham as well - also a hit with the Lincster.

We are inching up on the time where we will be introducing whole milk to Linc and backing down on the formula - interesting times are a commin'.

Best Moment This Week: We had an awesome visit to Cleveland seeing the Isaacs family, celebrating the holiday and Andy & Taryn's engagement!  I am not sure I've had that much lox in one weekend...well, since maybe the last trip to Cleveland. ;-)

The continued celebration of Linc's first Hanukkah tops the list again.  He is so special that he gets his very own 9th night of Hanukkah...well part of that may have to do with two things, 1.  Daddy had to work late one night so Linc had to go to bed before he got home for presents & candles, and 2.  We had plenty of extra candles to use since we were out of town for a few nights!
Anyway Lincoln loves all of his gifts - Hanukkah books from Uncle Matt & Aunt Cyndi, books, a ballpit & 250 extra balls (though really I think this is just as much for Todd as Linc), Scout the Leapfrog Learning Puppy, PlaySkool Busy Gears board, a tent & play tunnel, and probably others I am forgetting from Grandma & Grandpa Isaacs.  Linc is a lucky little guy that is for sure! 

Worst Moment: If you have a weak stomach you may want to go ahead and stop reading here.  

I am going to go with the event that took place last night around 11:30pm.  Around that time Todd and I were in bed asleep (early for once) and then Linc was up crying.  Todd went down to check it out and took Linc out of his crib to calm him and decided he needed a diaper change - it was messy we'll leave it at that - and then when he was about to put him back in his crib Todd realized that Linc had gotten sick in there and before he could do anything else Linc was projectile vomiting while Todd ran with him to the bathroom.  He yelled for my help and I came right down to find them in the bathroom both covered.  I took Linc and we worked on getting them both cleaned up - along with some carpet.  So as Todd was striping his bed, I was changing Linc into new pjs, that's when round #2 hit - all over the new pjs & the changing pad & cover.  After a call to the nurse line - they assured us that according to his symptoms and lack of temperature, they thought what he had for dinner it just didn't agree with him and we should give him some water and make sure to keep him hydrated and comfortable.  So after a quick change into the third pair of pjs for the night & a couple of ounces of water it was back to bed for Lincoln. 
He was so tired this morning & just not himself, but no fever or anything that would indicate it was a bug or the flu or anything like that...but he was just so sad and pitiful.

Poor guy.
What We're Looking Forward To: Well even though I lost out this week on my guess for when the Alderson Cadets will make their appearance (Todd is still in the running) - we are super excited to welcome them into this world!  11 days & counting kids!  Linc can't wait to have playmates!
Movement: We are slightly under debate about this, but if you ask me I say Linc took steps this week...Todd is a little less convinced.
Milestones: Your baby probably enjoys looking at books and leafing through the pages, though turning those pages one by one doesn't always happen. Indulge in great picture books or stick with sturdy and inexpensive board books that can stand up to small fingers.

43 Weeks

How old? 9 Months 28 days
Weight: 21 lbs

Sleep: Well, the great sleeping held out through the weekend where Lincoln gave Mommy an early birthday present by not waking up during the night at all and slept in past 8am Saturday & Sunday!  AMAZING!  That awesomeness did not exactly carry over into my actual birthday since the little man was up at 3am bright and early and then again at 5am.  The week didn't go too much better after that sleep-wise, but much of that can be contributed to the fact that his ear infection is still hanging in there...more on that later.

Food: Lincoln is such a good eater, he will try just about everything and up until now hasn't full out refused a single thing...except eggs.  Hates em'!  Will not eat them, had it in his mouth for all of .5 seconds and immediately spit it out.  If I had to guess I would say it is the texture that he doesn't dig, but who knows.  On a good note Linc tried and loved provolone cheese, pasta noodles, and pork chop this week.

Linc is also doing very well in the good manners department, that is to say he behaves himself when we eat out at a restaurant.  We pretty much have it down to a science now, at least when it comes to gear we have to take with us, including but not limited to the following: silicone suction cuppy placemate, silicone bib, highchair cover, spoon, sippy cup, sippy cup attachment strap, puffs, baby food, & lots of wipes for cleanup!  He is so good though as long as we make sure we don't cut it too close to bedtime - so we are early dinner people now.

Best Moment This Week: Another action packed weekend at the Isaacs'!

Saturday we got up bright and early - well, 8ish, got ready, picked up some Einstein's Bagels, and were on the road into the city by 9ish for the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear with Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert at the National Mall.  We got to the West Falls Church Metro at about 9:30/45 and walked up to see lines spilling out of the station into the parking lot (I wished we had thought to take a picture, but trust me it was crazy), we stood in line for a little bit and then Todd offered to scout up ahead to see if this indeed was the line to get into the station or just for tickets.  Hooray, it was just for tickets, and since we are officially DCites (er, Washingtonians?) we have SmartTrip cards and were able to "pass go & collect $200" and head down to the tracks and jump on the PACKED Metro (and we hadn't seen nothin' yet)!  A very nice couple gave up their seats to us so Todd held Linc and I held the folded up stroller, and by the time we made it two more stops there was not a single person that was going to fit into our train car.  We stopped at station after station filled with unhappy people who were not able to make it on a train.  Finally made it to our stop and again it was pure craziness, but we got off and made our way toward the Capital building along with 250,000 of our closest friends.

We made it as "close" as the last set of jumbo tron screens and shortly after The Roots began their set followed by John Legend, and then the Mythbuster Guys for a stint.  Then Mr. Stewart came out and spoke, Colbert made his entrance, and then there was some hilarity and hijinx that followed.  At some point Lincoln had a bottle and then took a nap, and around 2pm he had all the sanity he could take and need a diaper change...so we did the best we could do and took him to the Hirshhorn and ended up changing him on a chair in the 3rd floor hallway amongst some sculptures - you could say it was performance art...  Thanks for making your one set of bathrooms so accessible & well marked Hirshhorn.  Then we made our journey back to the Metro & back to the Tyson's area where we were ready for some early dinner so we went to Maggianos where we feasted on bread, salad, & pasta!  BIG DAY!

Sunday we slept in until 9.  Got dressed, had breakfast, and carved our pumpkin on the balcony.  The weather was beautiful!  We ran some errands and then got Lincoln all dressed up and took him to the Fair Oaks Mall for his first Trick-or-Treat experience.  He was oooo'd and aaahhh'd over by the mall workers handing out candy - I am pretty sure we had the cutest dragon there! ;-)  We checked out the bubbling cauldron (they dumped a bunch of dry ice in the center fountains, & it was pretty cool) and enjoyed seeing all the other kids in costumes (maybe got some ideas for next year).  Then it was time to head home and get ready for our own Trick-or-Treaters to come, and do a little more Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood. 

Monday - Birthday Day - I got breakfast - freshly baked scones & coffee - in bed.  I took the day off of work so that I could, oh my god, go grocery shopping all by myself at Wegmans.  Well that's not really the only reason why I took the day off, but it was nice to be able to do that...it's the little things!  We actually had family pictures planned for that afternoon at a near by park.  The weather was great again, just a little brisk, but sunny - perfect fall weather!  The colors & leaves were just perfect, it looked like a soft blanket of orange, red, yellow, & brown over the ground.  I think we got some really cute shots and I am excited to see the finished gallery in 4-6 weeks.  After that fun we headed to Sterling to Benihana for (yet another early) dinner.  It was Linc's first hibachi dinner, and he was enamored to say the least.  He even got to try some hibachi veggies, rice, and chicken.  I think his favorite part was when the chef took some onion rings, stacked them, poured some oil inside and then lit it on fire, then steam came out from the top of the stack, and he scooted it around the grill top with his spatula and made clanging noises like a choo choo train.  LOVED IT!  At the end of our meal they took our picture since it was my birthday, sang the birthday song to me accompanied by a tambourine & bongos, and I got a small cup of green tea ice cream that we shared and even Linc got a taste. 

I got great birthday presents from family & friends...including some yummy wine, adorable pictures, & a new netbook.  I am a very lucky, 30 year old, girl!

Worst Moment: Lincoln just seemed out of sorts, was not sleeping well, and his eczema/spot on his face was acting up.  I made an appointment for him to get his flu shot booster and have a follow-up exam of his ears/face.  Unfortunately his ear infection has decided to stick around a little longer in his left ear and they think that he might have a bacterial infection of his eczema - so we are back on antibiotics and have a new prescription cream for his face.  We are also trying another new everyday lotion (new lotion #4 by my count, it is a baby lotion grave yard in his changing table cubby) and a new type of bath wash for sensitive skin...so we'll see, hopefully it helps. 

What We're Looking Forward To: After all of our crazy weekends in October a little bit of rest is in order.  Other than Tot Shabbat tomorrow morning and some cleaning, we have very few plans for this weekend.

Movement: Linc is getting more and more brave with letting go of furniture and you can kind of tell he is thinking about taking steps.  Sort of in the movement category, he is loving banging things together right now, and hearing the loud sounds.

Milestones: Your baby is just beginning to understand many simple words and phrases, so it's more important than ever to keep talking to him. Give your chatterbox a head start on good speech patterns by repeating his words back to him using adult language. If he asks for a "bah-bah," for example, gently reinforce the correct pronunciation by asking, "Do you want a bottle?" At this stage of the game, it's best to try to avoid the tendency to use baby talk — it can be fun, but hearing the right words is better for your baby's development.

Though it may sometimes feel silly, having a conversation with your baby is a great way to encourage his language skills. When he rattles off a sentence of gibberish, respond with, "Oh, really? How interesting." He'll probably smile and keep chattering away.