New Pets...

Today was a pretty busy day. We got up and went to church, then we had to go and buy Joshua a birthday present. His birthday was right after Lincoln's nap.

We headed off to Church and generally, Lincoln does pretty good there. I bring him a snack and a drink and a few little cars and a book and he's pretty quiet for most of the mass. If he gets loud, we can always relocate to what I call the 'banishment' room. It's little room at the back of the church where kids and parents can go and still hear and be a part of the mass, yet not disturb other people. We've only had to go there once and that was when Lincoln was pretty small and fussy. His favorite part of Mass is putting money in the collection and giving everyone the sign of Peace, (handshakes.) He's pretty good at shaking hands and he'll happily say "Peace be with you." at the right time.

After Mass, we headed to Walmart. I had to buy some dog food and we also needed to get a present for Joshua's birthday. I didn't intentionally leave it for the last minute, either. We'd done some running around for the past few days, but Joshua apparently likes Diego and he's pretty hard to find, which really is surprising. Anyway, we got the Diego toy and while we were perusing the dog food, Lincoln spotted the fish bowls and the pictures of fish on them. That spurred a plea to go to the pet store. Since it was only eleven, I decided we could head there before Lincoln's nap. I also made the snap decision to buy a little fish tank at Walmart because they were on sale for $10.00.

So, we bought the fish tank and headed off to the pet store for fish. The people at the pet store are incredibly friendly! One lady chased feeder goldfish around with a net for a good minute or two trying to get two fish that were different colors for us.

Once she bagged the fish, she gave the bag to Lincoln to carry and he proudly, and tightly with both hands, carried his fish to the til to pay for them. I gave him the toonie as well, so he was just on cloud nine. He put the fish on the counter and then put his toonie up there. The cashier started asking him about the fish and the subject of names came up. She asked Lincoln what he was going to call his fish, but he didn't answer her. He likes to play shy these days.

So I took up the conversation and the result had both the cashier and me laughing like crazy.

I said, "What are your fish's names, Lincoln."
He didn't say anything, just kept looking intently at the two fish.
I said, "Are they Bob and Tom?"
He said, "Nope."
I said, "Barney and Fred?"
He said, "Nope."
I said, "Well, what are they're names? Who are they?"
His response, "Mr. Fishy and Potato head."
Thus, our two new fish were named, although, I think I may have to make an impromptu trip back to the pet store tomorrow because Potato head doesn't look like he's doing too well. We'll see if he makes it through the night.

Checking to make sure they're still in the bag...

Yup, they made the trip home just fine!

Can I take them for a walk?

Carrying the bag, very carefully.

Taking a closer look...

Here's the tank!!

Getting it set up, seeing if they like their new home.

Tank is full, just getting used to the water now.
The one on the top is Mr. Fishy, the whitish one is Potato Head.

Watching them swim around in their bag while the water adjusts.

Opening the bag and pouring them into the tank.

Look at them swimming!

Hmmm... they seem to like it.

An even closer look, just to make sure they're okay.

Putting the tank lid on.

I think they like it in there!

Mr. Fishy (the orange one) swimming over to take a good
look at Lincoln who's taking a look at him.

And now Potato head (the white and orange one) is
swimming over to take a good look at Lincoln.

I love those last two pictures!!!

After the pet store, we came home and Lincoln had a nap. I had to wake him up at 3:30 because he was still sleeping and the birthday party started at 3. He was pretty excited about going there this morning, not so excited when I woke him up to go. He's always a little shy and reluctant when we go to places where there are a lot of kids, or even just a few kids that are pretty rowdy. He's a bit timid in new areas. Marlene and Patrick had a bouncer thing set up with a slide, but Lincoln stayed clear of that until it was empty. Then he went in with another little guy, Simon, Michelle and Jacks youngest son. The two of them played quite well together and I'm thinking I may have to get them together for a play date one of these days. They're older boy, James, spent a fair amount of time pulling Lincoln and Myles around in the wagon and Lincoln quite liked that as well.

After the party, we headed for home, but made a brief pit-stop at a park nearby to make certain Lincoln was completely tired out. We got home and then had a bubble bath. Lincoln played in the tub of bubbles while I relaxed and read a few pages in my book.

I think the long day and shortened nap took it's tole on him though, because he was very defiant and grumpy when I asked him to clean up his bath toys. He was having none of it. I gave him a few chances and then finally told him he was going to bed. That led to an all out crying fit and while I dried him off, he kept saying "I'll listen to Mommy. I'll listen to Mommy." So, being the sucker I am, I gave him another chance and once he was in his pajamas, I sent him to the playroom to pick up his toys. This again didn't work and he refused to co-operate. Thus, I brushed his teeth and put him to bed. I don't know if he's hitting the terrible two's or if he just had an exceptionally long and busy day, but in any case, he ended up in bed!

That's about the whole day in a nutshell.

Goodnight.

BIG NEWS!!!

It was a very lazy day today! Lincoln and I didn't even get dress until nearly one!! And really, that was only because Lincoln had been running around naked except for his underwear all day and since I still put him down for a nap in his diaper, I figured we should get dressed to nap.

So, around one, Lincoln got dressed and went down for a nap and I got dressed simply because it seemed like the thing to do!

Anyways, onto the big news!

Lincoln has been doing awesome with the potty training. I always ask him if he has to go potty and he'll either say yes or no. Depending on his answer, and depending on the last time he actually went on the potty, I'll take him to the bathroom. But this morning -- for the first time -- he stopped what he was doing. I looked up and he was stripping his underwear off. I thought he was going to run around naked, because he does that all the time, but, SURPRISE, he took off running down the hall and headed into the bathroom, all by himself!!

And every time he goes to the bathroom - he has to have a magazine.

So, he's well on his way to being potty trained!! I still put diapers on him at night and for his nap, but I'm thinking that we're nearly past that too, because most times he does wake up from both his nap and in the morning dry!

I'm sure when Lincoln is older, he'll love this blog spot thing!! I mean, what teenage boy or 30 year old man wouldn't want to read stories of his potty training days?

That's about it for today. Like I said, it was a very lazy day. We hung around the house and played and that was about it. He still has pink-eye so we did have a few more wrestling matches while I tried to put the drops in his eyes, but that's about it. Oh, and he did get his little Buzz Lightyear and Cowboy Woody doll and pretend to put drops in their eyes with a little block which was kinda cute. And he spent a fair amount of time this morning running around in his underwear pushing his dump truck around with a pumpkin bucket on his head, which was incredibly cute!!

That's about it for today. Back to work for me tomorrow since I have a babysitter coming in to stay with him and he won't be affecting any of the kids at the daycare. Two nights and then I'm off for four more days. It's been very nice relaxing around the house, although, since I have hives and Lincoln has pink-eye, it hasn't been technically relaxing, but it's still time off work and time spent with Lincoln! So that's always a good thing!

Anyways, that's about it for now.

Goodnight.

April 8th to 20th!

Well, it's been a while since I was in and updated this page so I have a feeling this one is going to be a long one!! Lot's to write about.

First off, I had 12 days off and we went on a couple trips so that's why I haven't updated anything.

Cruising in style!!
Can we say "ROAD TRIP!!"

Nanny and Grandpa came to PG on Wednesday night. I got off work on Thursday morning and we headed down to Cranbrook with Nanny & Grandpa. It was quite the fun trip. The hotel we stayed at had an outdoor pool which wasn't opened up yet, because it was still very cold outside! Actually, the trip itself was long... very very looooooooong!!! It was snowing like crazy and we passed a few cars in the ditch. The roads were very bad!

Anyway, we couldn't go into the pool, but there was an indoor hot tub so we did go down there and swim for a bit. The first night, the water was tepid, the second time it was lukewarm and perfect for swimming in. The third night, it was SUPER hot!! We could barely go in it.

Checking out the hot tub.

Yup - it's good to swim in!

And it's good to play in!

Cheese!!

Ready... Set... JUMP!!!

Lincoln took his goggles and walked around on the bench part of the hot tub.

He really thought that was great fun... UNTIL....

He slipped and fell into the water with out his goggles!!

He came up sputtering and complaining about water in his eyes!
AND BOY WAS HE MAD!

He even got out of the hot tub and sat in a chair until I put his goggles back on.

He got back in the water and rested on the steps for a bit.

Then he was back to splashing around.

Splashing...

and playing is more fun than sitting on a chair!!

And after a bit of splashing with his goggles on -- he took them off again.


And carefully made his way over to the stairs --

And splashed around some more.

One last CHEESE in the water!!

And one more in the chair bundled up in a towel...

Then it was back to our room for a warm shower and pajamas...

then off to sleep with his Blanket and Mr. Bear.

While at the hotel, Lincoln got to have Kool-aid for the first time!!

He quite liked it, but mostly - he liked looking at his blue tongue!!

Outside of our hotel and across the street there were train tracks and Lincoln also loved looking out the window at them when they came.

Look Grandpa!!

Do you see all those trains??

One evening, we even saw a whole bunch of deer running across the road in front of our hotel. Unfortunately, it was too dark outside and by the time I got my camera, they were already gone. But, we did get to enjoy looking at them scampering across the road. Lincoln is fascinated by looking at animals, especially horses, but generally, any animals will do.

We had adjoining rooms with Nanny and Grandpa and at one point, Lincoln shut the adjoining door. I had taken precautions for such an even though and made sure that there was a main door key to each of our rooms in the other persons room. The problem was though, that I had put the chain lock across the door in our room because Lincoln could open the door. With the chain in place, Lincoln could play safely in our room and I could hang out with Dad in their room. The problem came though when Lincoln, before I could catch him, shut the adjoining door on his side. I have to admit, I was a bit panicked!! The main doors had 'bar' type knobs that Lincoln could pull down on, but the adjoining room doors had regular doorknobs and Lincoln can't open them yet! And the connecting side that we had access too didn't have a doorknob on it at all, so for about 30 seconds, I was in panic mode trying to figure out how to open the adjoining door!! I really thought I was going to have to use a butterknife and rip the door from it's hinges!! Fortunately though, I was able to flick the door locking thing over and pop it open!! But it was a very scary moment for me, because if it hadn't worked, I have no idea how we would have gotten in there!! After that, we hung a towel over the door so that it wouldn't close. I certainly learn from my past mistakes!!!

Lincoln did remarkably well for being cooped up in a hotel room for five days. Well, actually he wasn't totally cooped up, we usually went out in the morning to the mall or Walmart and then in the evenings we hit the hot-tub, but he did do well. On one trip to the mall, there was an elderly guy with a guitar singing old gospel hymns. I don't really know what he was doing there. I would have bought one of his CD's because he was pretty darn good and his voice was awesome, but he wasn't actually selling anything. The boy scouts were having little car races in the mall that day too, so maybe that's why he was there singing. We watched the cars race, but really, Lincoln was more interested in listening to the elderly guy sing. Lincoln was in a shopping cart and he was dancing to the guys guitar and clapping when his songs ended. It was pretty darn cute and I wish I had brought my camera with us that day.

One night, we went downstairs to have dinner with Azim, the hotel owner who Mom was helping out. He really liked Lincoln and kept saying how cute he was. We were all sitting chit-chatting and waiting for our meals and all of the sudden, Lincoln looks at Azim and says, "Hey, watch this." then he starts singing and doing the actions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider! It was pretty darn funny. Lincoln has been able to sing and to the actions for a long time, but he's never just gone out of his way to say "Hey, watch this." And then do it. He was quite the little performer, when he wants to be, but he'll never perform for me when I'm trying to get him to show off the talents that he has!! The little monkey can count to ten, but I can never get him to show anyone that trick!!

Azim was also quite amazed that once we told Lincoln his name, Lincoln easily said it and would say 'Hi Azim' or 'Bye Azim'. He was very impressed with Lincoln's vocabulary and told us often how cute and smart he was.

On the trip back from Cranbrook, I'm happy to report that the roads were much better!! There was no snow at all!! It was actually quite a nice drive. We stopped in Jasper for dinner and also bought some ice cream along the way, which Lincoln loved and made quite the mess while he was eating it!



After Cranbrook, we spent one night at home and then headed to Tumbler Ridge to hang out with Logan, Landon, Jamie and Kendra. (and of course the rest of the family!) Landon and Logan spent a couple days with us at home because they were both sick so Lincoln got to play with them quite a bit. Logan came swimming with us the first night we were there, but after that, she was sick and couldn't go with us so we went alone. I was going to take Jamie with us one evening, but she had gone off with one of Lindsey's friends so Lincoln and I went alone. Then we came home and played outside with all his cousins. Logan, Landon and Jamie were making a big mud-hole and Lincoln certainly enjoyed digging in it with a stick beside them. They also played on the swing-set. Lincoln loves the swings. When we go to the park, that's what he wants to spend most of his time doing. He's not used to real swings though, because at the park they usually have those baby-swings so he sits in them and get's pushed really high! On the regular swings, he has to hold on and I'm paranoid he'll slip off so he doesn't get to go as high, which doesn't make him too happy. He did slip off the ones at Nanny & Grandpa's house and now has a little cut and bruise on his chin from where he went face first into the dirt.

Because Lorne, Jamie, Kendra and Lindsey are also staying at Mom and Dad's, Lincoln and I slept in the toy room. I had a bunch of cushions from the couch and Lincoln slept on a cushion and two kids foam chairs. He loved it!! When I gave him the option of sleeping in the playpen or on the floor, he picked the floor every night!

After Tumbler, it was back to PG and we had a weekend here to just relax before I had to go back to work on Tuesday and Lincoln was going to start his first day at "The Friendship Garden" -- 'Auntie' Christine's daycare. We stopped in to see Christine on Monday morning and Lincoln played outside with the kids. Then we did a little running around and getting set for my going back to work. We came home and I put him down for a nap and he was fine. He didn't have any problems at all, but when he woke up and I went in to get him - his eye was glued shut with goop! I took a warm cloth and wiped it all out so he could open his eye, but then as soon as I wiped it out, it would goop up again. It was pretty disgusting. An hour wait at the Walk-in Clinic determined it was a severe case of Pink Eye!! That's the doctor's words, "A severe case." I honestly don't know how it could be severe when at 1pm he was fine and at 4pm, he was soooo goopy! I just don't know how that happened. So, an hour at the walk in clinic, then another 35 minutes at the pharmacy (which makes no sense to me at all since it's just putting a label on a bottle, but whatever.) and we went back home -- after driving past the horses that Lincoln loves to drive past almost every day.

Because of the 'pink eye' Lincoln couldn't start his daycare which meant I got an extra two days off work. Which would have been nice if it didn't mean fighting with Lincoln to put eye-drops in his eyes every four hours!! He hates them!! Bribery doesn't work!! Threats don't work!! I literally have to lay him on his back between my legs, tuck his arms under my legs to hold him in place and then pry his little eyes open so I can put two drops in there!! It's like the WWF (Wrestling) in my living room. Big Mommy takes on Little Lincoln every four hours. It's not fun at all!! And for a little guy, he can sure struggle and clench those little eyes shut!! His eyes are looking a little better and in 4 more days, he'll be apparently healed enough to be non-contagious.

Lincoln's Little Pink Eyes.

After our wrestling match tonight we went out on the front porch and did some swinging!! It was nice to relax out there with him and he was much happier knowing that the eyedrops were done for the night. He's been a little fussy the past couple days and has a cough again. He didn't eat much supper either, so I'm really hoping he's not getting a cold or something on top of the pink-eye. One thing at a time please!!

Oooh... look at me pushing the swing!

It's a lot more fun to be on the swing than pushing it!!

WEEEEE!!!

Give me another push Mommy!!

Lincoln with what Nanny calls - His 'sly' eyes!

Oh, something else funny that he did while we were in Tumbler. It was supper time and Logan, Landon and Dad were all sitting at the table with Lincoln. Lincoln wanted to get down and play or something and pushed his plate away.

I said, "Lincoln, you need to eat your supper." and pushed the plate back to him.

His response, "I'm not hungry." and pushed the plate away again.

So I said, "Yes, you are hungry." and pushed the plate back to him.

His response, "I'm full." and pushed the plate away again.

To that I said, "No, you're not full." and pushed the plate back to him once again.

His final response to that was, "I'm sick."

Logan, Landon and Dad had a very good chuckle over that!! It was pretty funny too, I'll admit!! and, when I told him he wasn't sick, he did actually eat his supper. Apparently, he only had the three excuses!!

This afternoon, Lincoln was extremely quiet, but I could hear him faintly singing his ABC's. Whenever we wash our hands, we sing the ABC song. It's a song that's just the right about of time for a child to wash their hands and know they are clean so we've always sung it when washing. Hearing the song -- and the silence -- I knew Lincoln was probably up to something wet!! Sure enough, when I went off to check what he was up too - there he was in the bathroom - up to his elbows (and eyebrows) in soap!! He had it everywhere.

There he is - in his underwear - no less - with foaming hand-soap all over the place!!
And when the foam soap isn't good enough, he moved on to the real soap.

Crazy kid!! But hey, he also went pee before washing his hands, so I guess, I have to be grateful for his good hygiene!! And my bathroom counters have never been so clean either!!

Alright, so that brings us all up to date. It's now April 20th and I'm off to bed. One more day off tomorrow with Lincoln and then for the nights, the babysitter will come to my house so it's all good and I'll be able to go back to work. Not bad really, 14 days off and then I work 2 nightshifts and get another 4 off. I wonder how I could get this gig permanently -- of course, I still want to be paid for my full time hours! Ah well, what can you do! Maybe this time next year, Lincoln will have a little brother or sister and I'll have another year off on maternity leave!

Here's hoping!!

Goodnight!!

PS... I added a couple videos of Lincoln swimming and jumping into the hot tub at the pool!! I couldn't figure out how to put them in with the swimming pictures up above, so they're tagged on at the end. My computer skills in this blog spot thingy are still a little shaky!! Here's hoping they work!!