8 months old!

Lincoln is 8 months old! (as of last Wednesday)

(Funny thing about digital cameras with a "no red-eye" setting: they don't actually get rid of the red-eye! If anything, I think, they increase it.)

Lincoln is super-smiley these days:

He LOVES Llama (poor Llama cat!):



And he LOVES to crawl:

Unofficial 8-month stats:

29" long

19.5 lbs

(based on the "weigh myself holding Lincoln, weigh myself and subtract" formula)

Oh, our baby is so much fun these days!

He eats, eats and eats some more, and, thankfully, he has been nursing much better lately too. Still only nurses a max of 8-9 minutes, but doesn't pull off and scream as much. I'm not as worried any more about not having enough milk for him, either. (which, with as much as I started out with, was something I never thought I'd have to worry about)

Lincoln's 8-month favorites:

Crawling!

Smiling, squeaking, squealing, talking nonstop (Mama, Da, Baba)

Pulling up to knees & trying to get to feet

Being chased

(he tries to crawl away but gets so tickled that he doesn't go anywhere)

"Climbing" the Boppy, Daddy and Mommy, etc.

Bopping/dancing

Crawl-through tunnel (video forthcoming!)

Eating/feeding himself finger foods, which is hysterical

Jumping in the Jumperoo

He has also done well three times now in the church nursery. YES!!

Lincoln's dislikes at 8 months:

Going to sleep: he's started this thing where he screams as soon as we put him in the crib.

It is heartbreaking to listen to him cry himself to sleep; this is the first time we've had to do it.

That's it. Linc is a happy boy!

And now, here is Lincoln showing off his mad crawling skills (our "easy" time is over!):

Lincoln's first word!

I'm counting it, anyway. :-)

When life hands you lemons

Every Labor Day weekend we go to Branson with my extended family on mom's side: Grandpa and Grandma, aunts and sometimes uncles, cousins and their kids...It's a tradition of many years and is always loads of fun. Lincoln and I went down Saturday, spent the night (he woke up about 5 times. My poor folks! We shared a room with them) and stayed through Sunday.

Anyway. George came down Sunday and we all ate great barbeque at Famous Dave's. While there, George thought it would be fun to let Lincoln suck on a lemon. To let Lincoln SUCK on a LEMON! What the heck!

I wasn't thrilled with it, but George couldn't be stopped and Lincoln--the little booger--seemed to enjoy it.

If Lincoln ends up with a citrus allergy, I'm blaming George and this lemon!

Linc's new big boy seat

Lincoln outgrew his infant car seat and is now in an actual throne of a seat. He loves it!

An awkward position

Lincoln got himself into an awkward position the other day...

He was sitting up playing and leaned waaaaay far forward!

Apparently it wasn't too uncomfortable, because he stayed that way for a while.

Then he got tired of it and squirmed out. That's my boy!

Erin's Top 10 (OK, maybe more) Indispensable Baby Items

All right, so there are way more than 10 things on this list. Nevertheless, I wanted to let the world know which baby products we have found the most useful. Why? Because the ten (or less) people who read this blog may have kids of their own (or will soon), grandkids of their own, or a baby shower to buy for. George & I agree on most of these, which must mean that these are rock-solid bets! :) Enjoy!


1. Aden + Anais muslin wraps The best swaddlers ever! Large, soft and can be used a multitude of other ways once the days of swaddling are past. We swaddled Lincoln fully for at least 5 months, and then gradually worked both arms out; however, he still needed his torso & legs swaddled to sleep. He has finally been sleeping without any swaddle for a week and a half!

I hear the Miracle Blanket is also great for swaddling. Don't bother with a Swaddle Me or similar; Lincoln squirmed out of those in no time.

2. Super Duper Diaper Doo Lanolin is the best diaper rash cure ever. Super Duper Diaper Doo (created by a guy right here in Springfield, MO) works (unlike Boudreaux's Butt Paste), goes on smoothly, and doesn't stink to high heaven (unlike Desitin).

3. Soothie Pacifiers We originally weren't going to use a pacifier (what were we thinking?!), but all NICU babies are given these pacis, and we just kept up with it. We may have created a monster--Lincoln can't go to sleep without one now--but Soothie pacis are his absolute favorites. He spits the others out.

4. Fisher-Price Rainforest Bouncer Lincoln loved, loved, loved his bouncy seat until he got so heavy for it he started bending it out of shape. The toys are great (Linc liked to talk to the monkey), the seat was a lifesaver for entertaining him when we needed to do stuff (you know, like take a shower), and when he was itty bitty, the seat was perfect for him to nap in.

5. Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo No, FP did not pay me to write this. Lincoln LOVES the Jumperoo. He bounces and squeals and bams on the toys--it is awesome and hysterical!

6. Luvs diapers Pampers are our favorites but why spend more money on fewer diapers? (except for Swaddlers. Those I'll shell out for.) Luvs are more affordable (even with a $1 off Pampers coupon), have more diapers per box, and work just as well, if not better. We love Luvs!

7. Lansinoh Double Electric Breast Pump & Lansinoh Disposable Nursing Pads OK, so these are more for Mommy than baby, but are still indispensable! I love the Lansinoh pump. I bought mine slightly used from a friend, and it works just as well as the Medela rental pump from the hospital. Plus, even new, it's way less than the Medela Pump in Style. The Lansinoh pads absorb well and don't bunch up (unlike Medela's). I also have some Lansinoh washable nursing pads, but I soaked through those so many times that I gave up on them early on. They'd probably be fine for me now.

8. Baby Trend This is a brand, not one single product, but apparently, we love Baby Trend! We have a Baby Trend stroller, BT infant car seat, BT Diaper Champ and BT high chair.

**The stroller is wonderful. It's easy to use and has lots of storage.

**We really liked the infant car seat--the base was easy to install and the seat is easy to use--and when the hospital car seat tech tells you, "This is a really good seat", you can rest assured your baby is safe!

**The Diaper Champ is super convenient (although stinking, quite literally, now that we're into solid food poo).

**The high chair is awesome. The tray is easy to remove, and the storage basket underneath the seat rocks.

9. My Breast Friend Nursing Pillow In spite of the pretty atrocious name ("Hey, a pun! Let's use that name!"), this pillow is awesome. For the nursing mother, it is, well, your best friend! I definitely prefer this to a Boppy: it is much firmer than Boppy, and the back support is nice.

10. Sleepy Wrap I used the Sleepy Wrap to carry Lincoln on early trips to the store, rather than lug in the huge infant car seat. It was very comfortable to wear (as long as I had it tied properly), and Lincoln loved riding in it. He was able to look at people and then he usually fell asleep and was warm and cozy the whole time. I haven't used it recently, but according to the website, I can still carry him in it comfortably as long as the wrap is tied correctly. I never tried to nurse him while wearing it, but apparently lots of people do. Maybe with my next kid...

11. Bright Start Lots of Links What would we do without Linc's links? He loves them! We keep some everywhere: in the car, by his changing table, in his toys. Linc loves to play with them alone or attached to another toy; very helpful in keeping toys off the floor at restaurants.

12. Graco Pack 'n Play Love. it. The bassinet feature is the best! It was so convenient to have Lincoln in the room with me the first few months. Save some money, though, and don't bother with the changing table (only attaches on one side, so it tilts when the baby is on it. Yeah, THAT'S safe for my baby.) or mobile (too small, movement/music don't last very long). Both are pointless.

13. Receiving blankets for burp cloths All of our receiving blankets were hand-me-downs, but these should be similar. Don't bother with the cloth diapers as burp cloths. Trust me, they are NOT big enough! Maybe not all babies spit up as much as Lincoln did, but really: even with the huge burp cloths, he would often splatter us, the furniture, the floor... Really, use blankets as burp clothes! Save the small ones for mopping up milk when nursing and when the baby is older and/or drooly. The Aden + Anais wraps also double as large burp cloths.


Um...17 items later (sorry), I am done. Good luck!

Lincoln inchworming

We'd better babyproof the house FAST!