Lincoln is 9 months! Plus--Our summer: Part 1

Lincoln turned 9 months on the 9th! 

 

He wasn't extremely happy about taking a picture.  I thought I'd get a crying shot at 4 weeks to compare it to.  

In reality, he's a great baby.  Really truly.  If he's tired he'll cry.  If he's hungry he'll cry.  If he's hurt he'll sometimes cry.  Sometimes not.  Otherwise he's a great kid.  

One of his favorite things to do is climb up stairs or step ladders and freak out his mom.  He also enjoys opening cupboards and taking everything out. 

He still drums on pretty much everything and keeps me plenty busy setting up barriers to block his way up or down the stairs and away from legos.  Seriously, do not come to our house unless you know how to climb over ottomans and turned over chairs.  We could spend the money to get a gate but it's not worth it because he's so determined to be on the move that once we install it, he'll have had the stairs mastered already.

The kids are great at making him giggle.  Unfortunately by the time I get my camera, he's over the total hilarity of it and just calms down to a little laugh.  This is one of the many videos I have of him after he's belly laughed for a good long while and has settled into a small giggle for the camera.

Lincoln's siblings are constantly baby-talking to him, picking him up, waving his hands and legs for him, playing peek-a-boo with him, you name it.  Usually it's nice but I've caught one child (I won't name them) holding Lincoln's legs while he was trying to crawl and thinking it was hilarious.  I've also caught a child jumping over him and getting further and further away until they pretty much jumped on top of him.  He cried a while for that one.  I suppose this means our family is human. 

Nevertheless, we love our baby.

(Is it me or do his legs look freakishly long in this picture?) 

Oh, and one more thing about Lincoln--he's discovered his tongue.  The picture above is a great representation of how he looks almost all the time: his tongue sticking out just a little.

OUR SUMMER: PART 1

We've been a busy busy family this summer.  It's been a little crazy, this being the first summer of having 4 kids at home all the time.  The kids talk over each other constantly and I go a little batty by the end of the day.  Isaiah has been terrified of us leaving him and stays with us wherever we go.  If I go to the bathroom I need to tell him or else he'll go in a panicked search to find me, even if it's only been a few minutes that I've been gone.  I'm pretty sure it's just a phase, but it takes it's toll.

We bought a telescope at a garage sale and have been waiting for the perfect night to keep the kids up and let them use it.

Caleb and Isaiah went to an art camp one week and had a great time.  In the morning, my good friend Kelly taught them in the art studio and in the afternoon they went to the Clay Studio.   I was so impressed with their "Art through the Ages".

That week was the perfect week for them to be at camp because I was busy getting ready for the multiple vacations that were coming up. 

The morning before going to the Wisconsin Dells with the Feys...

 

I'm great at packing them in.  :)

The first night we went to Buffalo Phil's and had our food come out on the train. 

We swam to our hearts content and ate when we didn't swim.  We did so many things like ride Go-Karts, Bumper Boats, laser tag, hot tubs, boat rides, and much more, but I didn't bring my camera for fear of getting it wet.  So sadly, no pictures of those things.

I did get a few pictures of Lincoln with Grandpa and Grandma though.

 

And I got one picture of Isaiah getting ready to get dumped on...

Grandpa and Grandma bought the kiddos these remote control cars for the trip and since our rooms went right out onto a huge patio, the kids ran these cars any time they weren't swimming.  Cousin Bennett brought his scooter and Livia pretty much took over the scooter and rode that while singing her VBS songs. 

 

And thus ends the first chapter of our summer.  More to come (hopefully) soon!