6 Months!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. We'll have some Christmas photos soon, but for now I'd like to point out that today is Lincoln's 6-month birthday! It's been a crazy and wonderful 6 months, and Lincoln has gone from a small 7-pound newborn to a little man that can play with toys, smile and laugh with mom and dad, and is awfully close to sitting up all by himself! I can't wait for the next 6 months (and the 6 months after that, and the 6 months after that....)

Fabulous Surprises!

Just in time for Christmas, my Secret Pal sent me another fabulous package! Where to begin...instead of one pattern, I recieved two patterns - a fair isle (mult-colored) sock pattern and a felted entrelac tote pattern. There was also yarn to complete the socks - two skeins of brown and two multi-colored. I'll use both skeins of brown and one of the multi for the fair isle socks - which one would you pick? The "tropical" colors would make some cool retro socks, and the "bright" skein would be a bit more traditional. I also got a tool bag and a set of needle sizers (so I don't forget what size needle I'm using if I put a project aside for a while). There was also a set of "kitchener stitch" stitch markers. Kitchener stitch is used in socks (and sometimes sweater shoulders) in lieu of a seam. It's a bit fussy to do, and these markers provide a quick reminder of what to do....Awesome.

There was also non-knitting spoiling going on...a set of gingerbread cookie cutters, a "hand spa set", and some recipes for teething biscuits for Lincoln (and a treat for me!). Am I spoiled or what??

His Father's Eyes...

Well, the wait is over...I haven't been able to get a good picture, but Lincoln's eyes are definitely brown now. They're almost exactly the same shade as Scott's. I had been thinking for a while that they'd still turn out green like mine, but there's no doubt now. I have a brown-eyed baby!

Mmmm

Says Lincoln: "There's nothing better than a delicious bowl of unflavored tepid rice mush, except...

tepid rice mush I get to feed myself!" As you can see, Lincoln's been eating some "solids". He does about a tablespoon of rice cereal twice a day. After Christmas, he may get to try something new!


Edited to add: As I was making this posting, Lincoln was quietly playing in his jumparoo. I realized that he was playing a bit *too* quietly, and when I looked over he was fast asleep, his head leaning against the yellow tray. Keep in mind this is the same boy that *hates* taking naps. You'll be happy to know that he is now safely in his normal nap bed in the bedroom. Sleep tight, little man!

Jumparoo!!

Check out Lincoln's new toy - it's a Jumparoo. Lincoln can bounce and "hang out" in any doorway. So far, he mostly enjoys playing with the tags, although I'm sure he'll eventually learn to "bounce".

Frankenhorace

I love knitting things for Lincoln, but I've started to realize that I am not very skilled at toy knitting. Case in point - I have finished "Horace", the lovely pattern given to me by my secret pal. My "Horace" looks decidedly mouse-like, however, and has a stuffing malfunction. Lincoln doesn't seem to mind Horace's weaknesses, however...

On the other hand, I can at least do a decent Christmas stocking (here modelled by Dr. Zaius). This is a Knitpicks pattern, but I subbed the yarn, using Cascade 220 for the body and a combo of Cascade 220 and Caron Bliss for the cuff. I can't wait to fill it for candy for mysel...um, I mean Lincoln.

Sorry for not posting for a while...I was a bit under the weather last week.

One more Thanksgiving photo...

Here's a nice photo of Austyn, Lincoln's cousin. Isn't she cute? In this photo, she's hanging out with me, Lincoln, and (great!) aunt Angela.


After visiting the Kings, we went to the Hauner's where Lincoln showed off the New York onesie Mary and Randy bought in (where else?) New York. It's a little small, but I think that adds to the charm. So would you call these pants capris, culottes, clamdiggers, or something else? Whatever you call them, Lincoln always appreciates the ease and comfort of cotton pjs.

The blog post karma just didn't work...

I guess the karma generated from me making a Huskers post before the Big 12 Championship wasn't enough for Nebraska. We did our part...Lincoln was dressed head-to-toe in Husker red. Now we'll have to put that outfit in storage until January 1st.

Go Huskers!

Saturday is the Big 12 championship game, so I hope everyone out there will be rooting for Nebraska. Lincoln will be wearing his best Huskers outfit, and we'll be cheering them on from Mary and Randy's.

5 Months! and some Thanksgiving Photos...

Our baby is 5 months old today!! A friend told me there's an old saying when it comes to children: the days are long but the years are short. It's true -these past 5 months have really flown by!

As promised, here are the first Thanksgiving photos. We started our trip at the King's, where Lincoln tried to impress his grandparents by helping out at the store. As you can see, first he helped grandpa inspect the garland and then went back to the office to do some paperwork. A little while later he took a break to pose for a photo with grandma and grandpa and great-grandma Lutz. Whew - what a busy day!!

Back at home...

We're back home after a week of visiting family (and finally settling back into our routine), and I'll be posting photos from our trip over the next few days. For now, I'll show you the "toy" Lincoln fell in love with at Scott's parents' store. While he enjoyed looking at everything on the shelves, this paintbrush turned out to be a winner. The only problem? The sponge tip absorbed spit and made it possible for Lincoln to "paint" his face with saliva. Yum!!

Also, yesterday Lincoln was weighed again and he's over 13 pounds. My little man is growing up fast!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving today. Scott and I have many things to be thankful for this year - not the least of which is our beautiful baby boy (and he is thankful he gets to visit both grandparents this holiday).

My secret pal has asked me if I stay home with Lincoln. I am thankful that I am able to stay at home during the day with Lincoln, and teach an Economics class at UMKC (University of Missouri-Kansas City) two evenings a week while Scott watches the baby. I am *still* trying to finish my dissertation, but it's slowed down a bit with the baby...

So...what are you thankful for this year?

More Surprises!!!

The rest of my Secret Pal package arrived today - and it is awesome! True to her promise, my spoiler had things to spoil both me and Lincoln. First off, notice the "King" can of Pringles the Lincoln grabbed for himself. There was also a very lovely scarf pin, and a pattern and yarn for "Horace" the bear. What really impressed me, though, were the stitch markers that my secret pal made herself - the photo doesn't do them justice, but they're siver with a deep purplish red bead. They're much nicer than the yarn scraps I had been using as stitch markers.

Since I am such a selfless mommy, I've decided to make a horace bear for Lincoln before I start on the sweater for myself...

Another first caught on tape...

While Linda was in class tonight, I was lucky enough to get proof that Lincoln can roll from his back to his front. It's not the best angle, but I didn't have much time to prepare. Lincoln has now gone from tummy-to-back and from back-to-tummy, so soon he'll be rolling all around.

Lincoln gets some advice...

We visited Mary and Randy last weekend, and Randy took the opportunity to hang out with Lincoln and offer some "uncle-y" advice - or was Lincoln the one offering advice (he seems to be the one talking)? Perhaps they were having a discussion about football...Randy is an OSU fan, but we still love him. GO BIG RED!!!!!

Fall Leaves

We've been having beautiful fall weather her in Kansas City, and we decided to take advantage of all of the leaves in our yard to snap some pictures of Lincoln. As you can see, our first attempt was less than successful - Lincoln didn't like the noisy leaves very much. Attempt #2 the next day turned out much better.

Some of my knitting projects...

The grey sweater is one I've been working on for myself (Zaius couldn't resist getting in the photo). I'll finish the sleeve on the right, add a bit of length to the body, and then join the sleeves and body and knit up to the collar. It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman basic pattern, and it's been going really fast. It's made with Cascade 220 superwash wool.


The other sweater is another completed sweater for Lincoln, and is my reason for hating cotton yarn. Unlike wool, cotton is not very stretchy, so it really made my hands sore to knit with it.

Getting to know my house...

Lincoln has been having nap issues for the past few weeks. He does not want to go to sleep for naps, even though he gets very tired and overly cranky. On good days he falls asleep in his boppy after just a bit of fussiness. On bad days we have to take him somewhere in his car seat. So, whenever he falls asleep I will do whatever it takes to keep him asleep.

I have recently discovered that there are several creaky floorboards in between the TV room and the living room. I think of it as the "creaky moat", since if Lincoln is sleeping I have to jump over them to get from the living room to the kitchen or the bathroom. Funny, I never knew they were there until Lincoln arrived.

Also - Lincoln was very brave at the doctor yesterday. He had an official weight of 12 pounds 8 ounces (though I think he's a bit heavier than that), and he very much enjoyed flirting with the doctor and the nurse practitioner...he's going to be a heartbreaker some day!

A Thief is Caught!

Here's the final installment of "What will Lincoln eat?" Scott loves Pringles, and there is usually a cannister left out on our coffee table during the day. Sometimes, Scott will notice that there are a few of "his" Pringles missing, and he always blames me for the theft. Here is irrefutable proof that I am not the person responsible for the missing Pringles. Lincoln is so wiley!!

Also, today Lincoln is going in for his 4-month doctor appointment and immunizations. I'm sure he'll be a brave little boy, but there are no guarantees that I'll be a brave little mommy.

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!! Today is Lincoln's first Halloween. He won't be trick-or-treating this year, but he'll be wearing his costume!

Open mouth, insert foot

Here is part two of "what will Lincoln eat?" He has discovered recently that his feet make wonderful chew toys, and sometimes his toes get wrinked from being slobbered on so much. If he maintains this level of flexibility, he can always have a fallback career as a contortionist.

There is other big news today - Lincoln is 4 months old today! My little baby is growing up fast!

Watch out, little birdie!

This photo is first in a three-part series I've titled: "What will Lincoln eat next?" Lincoln loves putting things in his mouth, as this poor little red bird found out. Stay tuned to find out what else Lincoln tries to eat...

Lincoln's New Skill

Not much to say about this, except that you just need to watch the video. Lincoln does this all the time. We've been spending a lot of time lately wiping spit off of Lincoln's face.

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hauner

My parents came to visit last weekend and had lots of fun spoiling Lincoln with attention. We watched Nebraska *almost* beat Texas (we were sooooo close!), and Lincoln showed off his new "talking" ability...(video to follow soon).

Company Picnic

Last weekend we travelled to Blue Springs for Scott's company picnic. Lincoln is very "distractable" at this age, and Scott and I spent most of the picnic trying to keep him calm enough to eat. True to the spirit of his "monster truck" hat, Lincoln wanted to be where the action was and eat manly hamburgers - not drink from a pansy baby bottle. Of course, even with a monster truck hat it's hard to pass for a "big boy" when you're wearing a Pooh outfit...

Jes' Workin' Out

This is Lincoln's exercise gym. I think more Americans would be physically active if they had something this fun to work out in. One of Lincoln's favorite things to do is to grab for things and put them in his mouth. Mmmm...

Lincoln's First Sweater - A Knitting Post

I'm calling this "Lincoln's First Sweater" because it's the first sweater I ever knit - *not* because it's the first sweater he'll wear. I finished this sweater vest on the day that Lincoln was born! It's made out of a super-soft yarn (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino) and was really fast to make. The white ribbing on the bottom is a "design element" that occurred when I ran out of green yarn. The pattern is a generic pattern from "The Handy Book of Sweater Patterns".

This sweater shows just how little I knew about babies at the time. I actually knit it the exact size I wanted (no gauge issues) thinking that Lincoln could wear it at Christmas. As you can see, it's big enough to double as a blanket for him right now, and he probably won't wear it until Christmas 2007. Oh well.

12 Pounds!

Lincoln has met yet another milestone - as of Tuesday of this week he passed the 12-pound mark (12 pounds 2 ounces to be exact). If you look closely at his photos, you can see that most of that weight seems to be concentrated in his head (it's huge!) I assume that means that he'll be a genius like me?

Also, the knitting Secret Pal program starts officially on Sunday, so I'll probably be having more knitting-related posts. Lincoln is very excited to model more of the lovely knitted items I've made for him. Poor Scott, I still haven't finished any knitted things for him except a hat.

Here's a photo for comparison

Scott has put together a collage so that you can better determine if Lincoln looks more like me or Scott. Of course, whenever I look at him I see Scott. What do you think?

Cutest.Baby.Ever

Okay, maybe I'm a bit biased - but can anyone resist this cutie? So...now that you have this close-up of Lincoln, who does he look like - Scott or me?

Also, if anyone is interested in learning a bit more about my knitting habits, I have a link on the sidebar to the knitting questionnaire from Secret Pal 9. I'll be sending my "secret pal" some knitting related stuff, and hopefully there will be awesome knitting stuff coming my way (perhaps this will be motivation to finish the teddy bear I've been planning?)

Where's Lincoln? (Part Two)

Here is an up-close photo of Lincoln's new Bumbo Seat. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that Lincoln is actually sitting in the Bumbo Seat. He's difficult to see because he's cleverly disguised in a camo onesie that Grandma and Grandpa King got at the True Value market.

Bumbo Buddies

I finally have a picture of Jonas to share! I have a babysitting exchange with Jonas' daddy Jason - on Thursdays he watches Lincoln and on Fridays I watch Jonas. Here, Jonas is trying out Lincoln's Bumbo seat, a little ergonomic seat that lets babies "sit up" as soon as they have head control. Note that both boys are still in their pjs - it's always casual Friday at the Hauner/King household.

On a sad note, Lincoln has not nursed since Friday. I've been feeding him pumped milk in a bottle and hoping that his "nursing strike" will end soon, but so far we've made little progress. I've become a bit better at the pump-bottle-feed process, but I much prefer straight breastfeeding - it's so much easier!

Who Likes Raisins?

Anyone that has been to our house knows that we have lots of nice toys for Lincoln. Of course, the "toy" that Lincoln was enthralled with was not some Baby Einstein Super Toy, but a lowly rasin box. We've told him that if he's good, for Christmas we'll buy him a banana peel.

Beatrice! and a hat...

Here is Tracy and Joni's new furbaby Beatrice. Isn't she adorable? She's a beagle puppy and such a cutie - and smart, too! Tracy and Joni have already taught her a few commands, which is more than we've been able to do with our cats after 6 years.

I've also posted a photo of Lincoln in the wool hat I knitted for him (I've decided I don't like knitting with cotton - sorry, kid). Some of our readers over the age of 30 may recognize the charater on the hat...it's Indiana Jones from the Atari video game. The method I used for creating Indiana is call "intarsia" or "picture knitting", and has been a bit difficult for me to get the hang of. That's why some of the stitches look a bit funky.

Ahoy Matey!

On Friday I actually managed to get Lincoln dressed in a nice matching outfit. This particular outfit came with a onesie, pants, hat, and bib. The outfit lasted exactly two hours as he managed to both spit up on the onesie (I had forgotten the bib) and pee on the pants in the span of about 5 minutes. He was quickly changed into pjs, but I at least had time to capture this major event on film.

This weekend Lincoln got to meet up with some of my family at the Plaza Art Fair. It was pretty crowded, but he enjoyed the crowd and the excitement. My family - aunt and uncle Irene and Jerry and their kids Andy and Cecilee as well as Mary and Randy - dutifully doted on and spoiled Lincoln with attention.

12 Weeks!!

Lincoln is 12 weeks old today - and look how happy he is about it! We're going to celebrate by taking a nice walk to the library...

The photo above is a rarity as it's very hard to get a picture of Lincoln smiling. He gets Very Concerned when the camera appears in front of his face. I thought originally that he was just a bit camera-shy, but he admitted to me that he gets worried that Scott and I don't have the camera skills to take photos worthy of his cuteness.

My Angel

I couldn't resist taking this photo of Lincoln sleeping - isn't he adorable? We always put him to sleep on his back, but he immediately rolls to his side so that he can more easily get his thumb in his mouth. We've gotten into a routine where we put him to bed around 9:00pm, and lately he's been sleeping until about 4:30 am. Scott and I don't know what to do with all the "extra" sleep we're getting.

Another development is that Lincoln loves watching TV. If it's on, he's watching it. Yesterday I was watching a recorded CSI episode when one of the characters stabbed another character...and I looked over and realized that Lincoln (who I thought was sleeping) was watching. Yikes! Needless to say, I won't be watching TV with him around anymore...

Some light reading material...

Lincoln enjoys spending his free time with a good book. Here are two photos of him reading his favorite book "I Love You".

Lincoln likes all kinds of books. When I get a little tired of the usual baby fare I've tried reading him some knitting magazines and he loves it - they have bright pictures with lots of people to look at. Plus, it gives him an opportunity to preview some of my creations. He's very excited about the wool hat I'm planning for him...

Out with the old...

Just in case anyone out there is interested, we have a '99 Saturn that is looking for a good home. First, it lost it's garage parking spot to the Rav4, and now it's getting sold. So sad. Let us know if you're looking for good used car.

Update: Here are some more details about the car. It has 73,000 miles, automatic transmission, CD player, and is very well maintained! We're asking $4,250. If anyone is interested, feel free to call me at (913) 484-6225.

Where's Lincoln?

I apologize for not posting a new photo for a couple of days - Lincoln and I went through another growth spurt this week. For the past several days, he has spent his time either eating (every hour for 20 minutes at a time) or fussing (the other 40 minutes of every hour). Needless to say, mommy's been a bit too tired to take photos. I am happy to report, however, that yesterday my old baby returned and we are back on a routine where Lincoln actually takes naps and smiles occassionally.

This new growth spurt has resulted in many new exciting skills for Lincoln, including: batting at toys, watching mommy and daddy from across the room, and discovering his own hands. That means we'll be taking lots of new photos!

Traveling in style

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

Linda and Lincoln just looked so cute all bundled up and ready to go to the Westport Art Fair. We gave Lincoln a dose of culture and he responded very well. We spent two hours out and about, and he didn't make a peep.