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.

Hey! Remember me?

Dr. Zaius wants me to remind everyone that before Lincoln arrived we had two "babies" that had their photos taken every time they did something cute. So, here is Dr. Zaius making himself at home in a cardboard box that is, as usual, too small for him. We'll try to post a photo of Cheetara sometime so she doesn't feel left out, either.

Don't worry, though, there are more cute photos of Lincoln yet to come.

Look what I can do!

Lincoln had a big day yesterday - look what he can do! Looks like all of the tummy time workouts have been paying off. Experts assure us that crawing is still months away, though (thank goodness!)

Lincoln's Having a Ball

This has been a week of firsts for Lincoln. Here he is holding a toy at Grandma and Grandpa Kings over the weekend. This is the first time he's held onto a toy all by himself. We were tempted to "steal" the toy but decided not to after realizing it was a cat toy, not a baby toy. We didn't have the heart to steal from the Kings' cute kitties, Yellow and Black.

There is also more ***big*** news from today (with video!!), but I'm saving that post for tomorrow after Scott shows me how to edit videos. Stay tuned to see Lincoln's new "first"!

Lincoln's Big Trip (and Tracy and Joni get married...)

Tracy (Scott's brother) and Joni got married last weekend, and Lincoln got to take his first road trip. This was his first trip to Lincoln to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hauner, and his first trip to Loup City to visit Grandma and Grandpa King. Being the good parents (but not good siblings) that we are, we took lots of pictures of Lincoln and not so many pictures of the bride and groom. Posted at left is a photo of Great Grandma Virgie King and Lincoln, and Great Aunts Deb and Susan with Lincoln. Lincoln loved Virgie and showed off his "talking" skills to her. Aunt Deb is also a new grandmother, and Lincoln got to "meet" his new cousin Austyn over the weekend - and she is adorable!

The wedding itself was perfect, of course. Joni looked beautiful in her dress, and the cake (my favorite part of a wedding) was delicious. We are very excited that Joni is now officially "aunt" Joni, although she's really been a part of the family for years. The happy couple is now honeymooning in Florida, so we are hoping that they have good weather while they're there.

Tall and Slim

Lincoln was a brave little boy today - he received his first set of immunizations today. He only cried a little, and mommy cried a lot. We also learned that his weight (about 11 1/2 pounds) is in the 50% percentile, and his length (23 1/2 inches) is in the 75th percentile. This confirms what we've suspected for a while - that Lincoln's going to be tall and lean, just like daddy!

Also, last weekend we went to Loup City for Tracy and Joni's wedding, and I'll have more info about that soon.

Good Morning!!

Lincoln agreed to take a few moments from his morning workout to say "hi!". He's not smiling in the photo because tummy time is Hard Work, and he needs to concentrate. However, he wants everyone to know that he exercises daily so that he'll be strong enough to crawl around the house and make mommy and daddy crazy chasing him around!

The adorable "gym" that Lincoln is exercising on is a quilt given to him by aunt Mary. It was made by one of her coworkers, and provides just enough cushioning for Lincoln's exercise. He's promised mommy not to pee on it.

For those of you keeping track...

Lincoln weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces today. That's another 11 ounces for the last two weeks. Not too bad, but he's still not the "fat little baby" I'm hoping he'll grow into...

One more thing...he's suddenly started lifted his head during "tummy time"... a major milestone for us! I hope to capture it on film soon.

Some age-appropriate toys

As you might already suspect, we did not purchase the Rav4 for Lincoln's own personal amusement. Just so you don't think that we don't have *real* toys for Lincoln, I present these two photos. The first picture is the "baby gym" given to Lincoln by aunt Joni. It plays music when Lincoln kicks the foot plate. The second photo is Lincoln's new snuggle blanket (basically a head attached to a little piece of fabric). He loves both equally, although the blanket requires a bit less effort to "play" with....

Mom was right...

Even though I swore I would never give my baby a pacifier, my mom gave me one at a baby shower "just in case". This morning, after watching Lincoln get more and more frustrated as he struggled to get his hand to his mouth to suck on his fingers, I finally gave in and tried the binky. He fell asleep in about 2 minutes. As a new mother, I am learning that moms *are* always right - and I'm sure I will remind Lincoln of that fact several times as he grows up!

Lincoln's New Toy

Here are the first photos of Lincoln's new "toy" - a "toy"ota Rav 4. Lincoln travels with a lot of equipment, so we really needed this new car. Unfortunately, Lincoln is a bit short for the driver's seat, so he'll have to tool around town in his carseat in the back. Who knows, though - he may be driving this very car in 16 years! Keep checking here for more photos of the outside of the car...

Zzzzzzzzzzz..........

What's cuter than a sleeping baby? Two sleeping "babies"! The boys were very tired this weekend after an eventful Saturday...we'll have photos up soon so that you can see the new toy we bought for Lincoln. For now, I'll just let the boys rest...

A big day yesterday...

We had two big events yesterday. First, Lincoln weighed in at 10 pounds 10 ounces yesterday. That's 11 ounces he's gained over the past two weeks. Mommy is very happy with that weight gain! Second, I went in for my 6-week checkup yesterday and everything is good! I have officially "fully recovered" from delivery, so I can start back in on my regular workouts (although it may be a while before I psych myself up to a jog with the jogging stroller).

Tracy holds the baby...and doesn't break him!

You may have noticed that there haven't been any photos of Tracy, Scott's brother, on the blog. Up until last weekend he opted not to hold Lincoln (citing some nonsense about babies being too delicate)...until Grandma King finally convinced him on Sunday. Look how cute uncle and nephew look together!

During their time together, Lincoln told Tracy that he is very excited about travelling to Loup City in three weeks for Tracy and Joni's wedding. It will be Lincoln's first road trip.

Weekend photos - and a bottle!

We had another visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hauner this weekend, and as you can see from the photo, Grandma Pat is very good at calming down an upset baby!

We also had another major milestone this weekend - Grandma and Grandpa Hauner watched Lincoln while Scott and I went car shopping (we need a bigger vehicle - Lincoln packs a lot of gear when he travels)... and Grandma Pat successfully gave Lincoln a bottle while we were gone! The photo at left is Scott trying his hand at the bottle. I think both Lincoln and Scott enjoy their "special" feeding time.

Bath #2 (with proof)

Today, after a busy weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Hauner, Lincoln got his second bath...and this time we have proof.