Lincoln Wilson's Blog

June 30, 2009

Sharon — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:26:00 GMT

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote to you...you are officially a big brother now! You have a baby sister....when you found out that the baby was a girl, you said "I knew it". You were so proud of yourself for knowing that you were having a baby sister. You call her "baby" instead of her name!

The other night she was crying and you held your hand up like a stop sign to her and said very calmly "baby, please, just a little quieter. I'm watching tv." It was adorable because she was screaming her head off, and you were so sweet about asking her to be quiet. Earlier you were holding her hand. You are a natural care taker and it's so cute to watch how you interact with her. So far, we've seen some jealous behavior but it's been mild. I think you really like your sister, and it seems that you like being a big brother.

Time will tell!!!

I've tried to keep a list of the cute little things you've done lately, so I'll try to list them really quickly here....

The other day you wanted to watch "Free Willy", but we couldn't find the dvd around here anywhere. You insisted that it was in our vehicle, but I didn't believe you. After a few hours of Free Willy not turning up inside the house, I finally figured I'd look where you told me it was. Sure enough, it was there! You came in the house very excited yelling "I was right, I was right". Hmmm....I wonder where you get that competitive spirit??!!

Right now you are whispering something into your baby's ear....Oh, you told me that you were telling her we got her a stroller. That's right...you and your daddy just got home with a stroller.

Okay, so that's all I have time for right now...gotta go hang out with you and daddy to inspect the stroller. I love you!!

May 6, 2009

Sharon — Wed, 06 May 2009 09:54:00 GMT

Last night you didn't want to go to bed, so your daddy picked you up and carried you to your room to put you to bed. A few seconds later, I heard the two of you fall down, and your daddy started screaming in pain. You immediately started yelling for me. So I ran into your room, and by then you were standing up but your daddy was stil yelling in pain on the floor. Right when I got into the room, you started crying...so I swooped you up and began checking you over for injuries.

You had no injuries...you were simply crying because you were scared. Your daddy finally was able to get up. I really thought he may have broken his arm or some ribs but he was fine too...just a scrape on his arm. Once we figured out you two were fine, the next step was figuring out what in the world happened.

Well, we sure figured it out. I had rearranged your bedroom, so your bed was in a different place from where it was before. You and your daddy had entered your room in the dark, and expected the bed to in its usual place. But it wasn't there. So, the result was that you two crashed on the floor! After the initial shock wore off, we had a good laugh about it.

May 3, 2009

Sharon — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:42:00 GMT

You got in trouble this week during karate because you wouldn't listen to the karate teacher. He didn't give you a sticker as a result, and you were highly upset. But you didn't deserve a sticker! So, we made you a sticker chart so you can associate stickers as a reward instead of an expectation. Today after church you were helping pack and clean up so you got a bonus sticker because you were working so hard. You remind me of myself with the way that you like to do physical labor. I will take credit for that...I'm sure you get it from me instead of your daddy!! ha ha!!

Your cousin had two birthday parties this past week. I was a little concerned that you would think every child in the world gets to have 2 parties! But you didn't seem to put 2+2 together. You were just excited about eating birthday cake twice in the same week. I was excited because you wrote "happy birthday" on your cousin's birthday card. Unless you know what it's supposed to say, it would be really hard to actually read it, but I'm still proud of you.

You need to master writing your last name so you can get a state identification card. There isn't a minimum age requirement to have an i.d. card...you only have to be old enough to sign your name to the card. So, as soon as you master your last name, we will take you to get your very own card. Then you'll have official picture identification.

You've started saying "delicioso" whenever you eat something yummy. It's cute. But I'm not sure where you picked up that word from.

On Friday you asked me if I would come to your daycare and spend the day with you. It was very hard to explain the reason why I couldn't do that. You don't realize that whenever I have a day off from work, you don't go to your school. The other morning you were listening to the news & they were reporting on how many schools across the nation were closing because of the fear of Swine Flu. You made a point to tell me "Mommy, that man is talking about my school. I don't have to go to school today." I had to explain to you that there are many other schools in the whole United States and he wasn't talking about your school.

You still insist that the baby in my tummy is a baby sister. The other day you asked your daddy "what kind of baby is mommy having". He said he couldn't tell you. So you said "well, can you please ask mommy's doctor what kind of baby mommy is having?" Your thought process is so just cute at this age. Except you are starting to really develop some undesirable behaviors...like not listening or minding. I'm not sure what to do about that. Of course, yesterday you and I went to the store at 5:45 in the morning...and you were the absolute perfect angel for me. We were there 2 hours, and you truly minded the entire time. I wish you'd act like that all the time.

This morning in children's church you drew a picture of your family....and you drew a big baby inside of my tummy. It really looks like a baby. Well, I love you my sweet baby boy.

April 24, 2009

Sharon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 04:07:27 GMT

Earlier tonight you were trying to play on your favorite website, but the computer wasn't exactly moving at the speed you thought it should. You said "what is wrong with this stupid computer". I don't have to guess where you picked that up from because I'm certain those exact words come out of my mouth at least once a week.

Your daddy and I had the day off of work, which meant you had the day off of daycare. I hate that you have to go to daycare. You've come home with some vulger behavior lately and I don't know what to do about it. What do I expect? That's a consequence of having you in daycare...you are exposed to so much bad behavior from other little kids. You are a sweet, innocent and kind boy except for the behavior that you've picked up from daycare. At least you it is rarely on display.

I cannot recall if I mentioned that you received a note in the mail from your bank...the note was hand-written on your deposit slip. We had miscounted the nickels that we deposited, so the teller wrote a note to you letting you know, and she drew a little bunny with the cutest ears. She drew that picture because you wore your Easter Bunny ears to the bank when we went up there to deposit your money, and she included an entry form for a coloring contest.

April 22, 2009

Sharon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:15:00 GMT

You are sitting here putting bugs down my shirt as I write...and you are laughing your head off. They are actually the plastic bugs (72 to be exact) that you got for Christmas. I'm pretending to be afraid of the bugs in my shirt and it's making you laugh even more!

You can do math and it's something we haven't even worked on! You wanted to go to your G'ma's house because you heard she had cookies at her house. After she explained to you that she only has 2 cookies, you said "well, I only want to eat one". It was just so cute because you did the math and it turns out she was still going to have one for herself!

Your daycare informed me that I was exposed to Fifth Disease so I'm getting tested this week. I'm thinking about taking you with me because we've been learning about how the heart pumps blood in the body. Watching them draw blood will hopefully give you a good visual. Of course, when I asked you if you want to go to the doctor with me, you said "Sure. Will they cut the baby out of your tummy?"

You apparently have no concept of when your sibling will be born!!

I can't remember what all I've written lately, so I'll just keep on rambling. You have a habit of saying the cutest thing: "Whoopsy daisy". It's just adorable and you say it so cute. The other night your G'ma was getting on to you and said "Now, I'll have you know". You interrupted her and said "Now, I'll have you yes".

Last week you were just the most uncontrollable child. If you weren't my own flesh and blood, I'd say you were being a brat all week. But in reality, I think you were acting so badly because you weren't getting enough TLC and attention from your parents. It all started when I had to work on a Saturday. Then I had to work another night really late...almost midnight. Then your daddy has had to work...he worked all weekend and then all night for a few nights. I think you were feeling a little neglected, so you were just acting soooo bad!! You would not mind me or listen to anything I told you...it was awful. I don't have patience for that, so it was a rough week.

But now you are fine.

This weekend we took your cousins to an Earth Day event. Y'all got your faces painted, went to a turtle class, and jumped in an inflatable jumpy thingy for quite a while.

I cannot remember much of what else you've done lately, but I'll try to write it down as I remember so I can write it to you. I love you.

April 10, 2009

Sharon — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:47:00 GMT

Thank you son! You paid off a bank loan for your parents today, and we sure do appreciate it!! The teller giggled when I told her you were paying our loan off. She may have been giggling at the bunny ears you were wearing, but I think she was equally impressed with your responsibility. You and I rolled all the pennies in your piggy bank & went to the bank to deposit them this morning, so it was just fitting for you to pay our loan off...it was exactly 1 penny. Yes, your parents still owed 1 penny on our bank loan...imagine our disbelief when the loan statement showed up showing that we owe a penny. We thought we paid it off completely.

Anyway. you really came through for us son, and we appreciate it!

We are going to play at the park in a few minutes with your friend.

We've been watching the Masters because your daddy and I went to the Par 3 & practice rounds. There was a golfer on tv and your G'ma asked who it was...you replied "Tiger Woods". It wasn't Tiger Woods, but I'm just impressed that you knew Tiger Woods is a golfer. We haven't actually talked to you directly to educate you about who Tiger is, so you must have just picked it up from hearing us talk about him. We didn't see him at the practice rounds, but we did have a blast.

I don't think you are much interested in golf. It might have something to do with being a lefty.

You are really a sweet boy and I think you'll be a great big brother. The other day you drew the baby a picture and folded it up...you put it into a small gift bag and brought it to me. You said "Baby, this is for you. I made it for you". It was just sweet!

Time to get ready to go play with your friend. I love you my sweet little responsible bunny rabbit!!

April 6, 2009

Sharon — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:54:00 GMT

It is the 1st day of our week long vacation. I am so excited because we're going to the Master's par 3. We have a lot of other things planned, so I shouldn't be sitting here on the computer wasting precious time! But I want to take a minute to tell you about a good deed your daddy did...it was a true act of love towards me, and one that was completely unexpected.

The other night we were at Carrabba's and the second our food hit the table, you announced that you had to "go poop". It couldn't have been worse timing...I really had my heart set on eating instead of taking you to the bathroom. But that's when your daddy stepped in and saved the day. He said "I'll take him"....and I was so happy!! He could have easily expected me to take you to the bathroom and I wouldn't have thought anything of it. But he was so kind to let me sit there and enjoy my dinner without having to worry about poop!! That's a first.

So, that's all I wanted to tell you...that your daddy stepped in and I appreciated it.

Okay, so let the fun begin...it's Monday and there are so many things to do!! I love you.

April 1, 2009

Sharon — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:51:00 GMT

I wish I had a good April Fool's prank to play on you, but the truth is you are sick and that's not too funny. Last night you came down with a fever & you were acting very poopy. Your G'ma said when she picked you up at daycare, you were dragging your feet and acting really sluggish. This morning you weren't much better so I took you to the doctor. Of course, by the time you got there your Tylenol had kicked in pretty good and you were acting fine, and without a fever!! My main concern was that you might have an ear infection because you are prone to those.

But when the doctor asked if you hurt anywhere, you told him inside your mouth. I felt a little sad because whenever I had asked you that same question before, you told me you didn't hurt anywhere. So, the doctor looked inside your mouth and immediately said he suspected strep throat, much to my surprise! And your ears were perfect, much to my surprise also!

They took a sample of all the yucky germs in your throat, and sure enough, the doctor was right. So your daddy is staying home with you tomorrow because you can't go back to daycare until Friday. I thought you got this nasty condition from daycare, but whenever I called them to let them know you have strep, they said it's the first case of it.

I wonder where you picked it up?

So you and I have hung out today reading, drawing, watching Dora and eating ice cream. You wouldn't take a nap. But you seem like you have some energy and you've eaten a little bit of real food.

Oh my goodness, you are hilarious. You just said something to me that I can't repeat on your blog, but I had to really hide my laughter or else you'll think it's funny and repeat it again. After you said it, I redirected your attention and you forgot about it, but this is definitely something your daddy needs to hear about!!!!

Kids!

I love you my sweet baby boy!

March 30, 2009

Sharon — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:14:00 GMT

Drum roll…..tonight you wrote your name from memory all by yourself. Usually I have to write it for you to copy from, but tonight you did it all by yourself!!

Whatever we teach you shows up weeks (sometimes months) later…it’s a delayed reaction. So, tonight you demonstrated a skill you and I began worked on Valentine’s Day…and we’ve worked on it since then, but I made a huge effort on Valentine’s Day to really make it stick with you. And I guess it worked.

Of course, I could be mistakenly taking all the credit for teaching you…who knows….maybe your daycare has been working on the same thing & maybe they should get the credit. I’ll ask them tomorrow. But according to you, the “baby in mommy’s tummy” taught you how to do it.

Regardless, I’m so very proud of you for knowing how to write your name. It just suddenly kicked in! And I certainly didn’t realize I have two kids who are very smart!! Apparently you and the baby both know how to write your name!

Earlier when you were in the tub, I asked you if you remember the name of the baby if it’s a girl….you didn’t remember so I reminded you it’s “Madison”. But then I asked you what the name is if it’s a boy and you got it right…you said “Jackson”. So, sometimes you really do listen to what we say!!

I found myself telling a mandated child abuse reporter a story about how you always yell at me “Mommy, don’t beat me…don’t beat me, Mommy”. Truly, every day you yell at me not to beat you!! Thankfully, the person I was telling the story to knew that I was talking about your competitive nature…and I was describing how every day you “race” me down the hallway (even if I’m not really a willing race participant). To you, it’s always a competition that you have to win. If I’m ahead of you in the hallway, you yell at me “don’t beat me, Mommy”.

Of course, you often yell at your daddy and your G’ma not to beat you too, so I’m not your only competition in the hallway!! But anyway, it just sounded really bad when I was describing it out loud!

Oh, you have a children’s Bible now that I think will be a lot better than your last one. However, I ordered it at the same time I ordered another book for you that looks a lot more interesting to a 3 year old….it’s the “all about your body” book. We’ve learned a lot from that book (it’s highly educational for parents), but so far you haven’t wanted to crack open your Bible because you're too interested in the body book. We’ll work on it.

I know that what you are learning in your church class is sticking with you because you’ve been referencing Jesus and God a lot lately. Yesterday you told me “I came from your tummy”, but then you thought about it and said “No, I came from God. And Daddy came from God. And G’ma came from God too”. So, your foundation of God is starting to really stick with you. You also told me a few weeks ago that “Jesus wasn’t really dead”. It makes sense to know that your class is learning about Easter.

It’s just really neat to know that your foundation is being laid so early. I want you to have a good comfort level with knowing Jesus Christ and following the leadership lessons of the Bible early on. We want to nurture that in you as your parents and be able to help guide you spiritually. Your daddy and I want you to build a foundation a lot earlier than we’ve done it! We don’t want you to be an adult before you start learning about the Bible and committing your life to God.

We got a late start. But as soon as we started going to church and got baptized, the quality of our marriage significantly improved. I want you to have that special bond and a higher quality marriage with your spouse a lot sooner than it happened for us!! It will save you from a lot of heartache and turmoil.

I love you my sweet 3 year old who knows how to write his name!!

March 26, 2009 3.5 years

Sharon — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:41:00 GMT

Your G'ma informed me that it's been over a month since I've written to you. So, I have a lot of catching up about all the little things you are doing these days. This is going to be a bunch of rambling trying to catch up on details of the last month, so it might not all flow very well.

I really like this age. One main thing you've been doing lately is helping...you are very service oriented, and you have such a cooperative spirit when it comes to helping out.

You seem to really enjoy helping me cook. One night you helped prepare dinner to the point that I literally had just about give you all the credit. All I did was handle the chopping and stove-top duties. But you did everything else "all by meself", as you put it. I've found it's a really good way for you to learn to recognize letters, words and numbers. Hopefully you'll figure out how to start reading soon. You can recognize some letters, but I really feel like you could be more advanced than you are. Yesterday you said "where is my daddy's vehicle?" I thought that was a nice choice of words.

You express an interest in learning to read, so we go through your pre-school book and try to learn the letters. One day when we were driving down the road, you suddenly noticed all the business signs we were passing and you asked me to read all of the signs to you. But of course, that was impossible so I told you that you need to learn how to read. But you certainly recognize the Cracker Barrel sign and the McDonald's sign.

The other night you picked up your jump rope and started singing and dancing for me and your G'ma. You put on quite a show. It was just so much fun and we couldn't stop laughing. You are so full of yourself. You won't say that your name is just "Lincoln". Oh no...your name is definitely "Lincoln Wilson". I'm not sure if I've already told you this, but one day you were talking to the baby, with your head very close to my tummy. You said "Hey baby, you know my name? I'm Lincoln Wilson". Then you said "Hey baby, you know daddy's name? He's daddy Wilson". Too cute!!

A few days ago you yanked part of your fingernail off and it was bleeding. It was clear you were in pain, but you didn't cry. You simply came into the kitchen and said "Mommy, I need a band aid". And the look on your face told me that you were trying to be so tough.

I'm trying to teach you your phone number, but it's a lot harder to learn than your address. You are an expert at reciting your address.

You're still convinced the baby is a girl. The other day you asked me "what is the baby's name?". I told you either Madison or Jackson. You said "Oh, it's Madison". Anyway, you're very kind to the baby. You remind me to eat for the baby, and drink for the baby. You share candy with me for the baby.

But one day you blamed something on the baby. We had some friends over to eat dinner, and their 18 month old son broke the tire off of one of your cars. The next day, you asked me if the baby broke the car and I said yes...except I meant the 18 month old. However, you were talking about the baby in my tummy, so you leaned over to my tummy and said "Hey baby, you break my car? It's okay baby". HA!

You certainly are a sweet and caring little boy. I'm proud of you and I love you.

February 22, 2009

Sharon — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:09:00 GMT

It is clear that your love language is physical touch. You always want us to rub your feet, scratch your back, scratch your head, hold you and love on you. It's funny because you are just like me and it helps your daddy understand my love language better. So, thanks!

Yesterday you helped your daddy clean the vehicles. You came inside all dirty because you had helped clean the wheels. You tell him that he is your super special best friend. I love the relationship you two have. Last night you laid your head on my belly and talked to your baby brother/sister. You also kissed your baby. I think you'll be a good big brother. I sure hope that you and your little sibling will grow up to have a close relationship.

Your dad and I were talking last night about how you are so resilient or oblivious whenever the two of us aren't in harmony or whenever you are in trouble. If he and I are mad at each other, you handle it well. You either mediate in your own way between the two of us to help us get over it, or you just laugh at us. But it seems like your feelings are never hurt and you don't show any indication that you are worried about us making up. You seem to view any of our disputes as temporary and in a very healthy way.

Even whenever you get in trouble, you recover from it very quickly, and you don't seem to get your feelings hurt at all, or take it personally. To me that is really good because I think it indicates you feel safe and secure in your family regardless of if everything is or isn't in perfect harmony at the time. So, I hope the relationship with your little sibling will be the same. I hope you two can be friends through thick and thin, and be there for each other.

You are so cute lately with commercials. You've seen a few commercials that have been very appealing to you, but they aren't toy commercials. They are the type of commercials targeting women who need help around the house or kitchen. So, whenever one of those commercials comes on, you pay close attention to every detail. Then you tell me "I want that for you...you need that". And you are so serious about it. It's hilarious. One time I asked you why I needed that particular product, and you said "because it will help you open and close the doors". It was a commercial about eliminating drafts underneath doors. It's just fun to watch how your little brain processes information.

The other morning you woke up, looked in the mirror, and said "My hair won't go to sleep". I didn't really understand what you were talking about until I realized that you meant your hair wouldn't lay down. You associated your hair laying down with going to sleep! It's just hilarious....you crack me up.

Last night when you were eating, you said "see I'm getting bigger". I guess you think you are noticibly growing at the same time you are eating dinner.

You were talking to your daddy and me about when you grow up to be big and have your own house. You said you are going to go grocery shopping and buy pop-tarts, french fries, and chicken nuggets. I guess I haven't taught you anything...ha!

We've made some "flash cards" for you written with words you chose. My plan is to review the cards with you each day so you'll learn to recognize the words. So far, you've learned how to recognize the word "car". It's working because when you see it in a book, you know what the word is. But we really have a long way to go with all the words. I'm not sure if we should introduce a new word every day or what??? You know some letters of the alphabet, but I just feel like you can do so much more.

Your parents have really dumbed you up!!

Yesterday you and your daddy were driving down the road, and drove past where we go to church. You said "hey, that's my church down that road". We didn't know that you knew!! I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but you also know your address very well...and you know how to get to your house pretty good...sometimes we play a game where I act lost and ask you to tell me how to get home. So, you give me step by step instructions on which way to turn to get to your house....and you're very good at it! You know your left and right, so that's helpful.

We are going to decorate your room in the next couple months. We already have some of the decorations, but still need to buy bedding, paint and a light fixture. Your room is going to have a NASA theme to it. You like watching the NASA channel by the way. My plan is to paint equations on your wall. It's my attempt at having you know E = mc2 by the time you are in kindergarten!! You are either going to grow up to be a very smart adult, or you are going to be a high school drop out. Actually, I think you'll be just fine in life. The whole point is for you to have a good foundation of understanding of how things work in the world, how to make informed decisions, how to remain calm under pressure, how to love, how to figure out problems, and so on.

You've been begging for a TV in your room. Actually, you have one in your room, but it doesn't work. You've been begging and begging for a TV. But your mean mother isn't giving in!! Maybe when you are about 8 or 9....and you'll only have access to certain channels...NASA being one of them!

Your brain has started to turn to mush because we've let you watch too much Sponge Bob episodes....I feel like we have to make up for the damage we've done to your brain!!

Gotta run...I love you my sweet baby boy!

February 16, 2009

Sharon — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:44:00 GMT

I love how you say refrigerator...you say "fritter frator". You crack me up.

You are such a good little helper...you insisted on helping me make breakfast this morning. We made omelets and toast. You beat the eggs and put the cheese on the omelets. You also handled every aspect of making the toast (except for removing it from the toaster), and it was very yummy. You were so proud of yourself for helping make breakfast. I was very proud of you because your attention to sanitary conditions. You walked into the living room when you started coughing, and you washed your hands a couple times throughout the process. But then just when I was feeling like you had this whole clean thing under control, I was horrified when I saw you licked the butter knife.

We had a talk about that and got a new knife!!

This weekend I took you to the doctor because you've been complaining about your left eye hurting. But while we were waiting to see the doctor, I noticed you were starting to get hot. Sure enough, when they took your temperature, you had a fever of 100.7....but the doctor said it was probably unrelated to your eye problem. You passed your eye test with flying colors, and you have a referral to go see your eye doctor. And sure enough, later on after we got home, we discovered the cause of your fever...you have a stomach bug.

Your cousins have been puking with a bug for the past week, so I'm very tempted to think your g'ma smuggled their germs into our house too!!! ha!! But it's probably not the same bug because you haven't actually puked...you've had "other" stomach issues which shall not be discussed in detail!!

But yesterday you told me "mommy I have to throw up". You said it very slow and poopy, which made me really think you were serious. So, I took you into the bathroom and lifted the toilet seat. You gave me a very puzzled look, as if you didn't know what to do. So, I said "you're supposed to throw up in the toilet". Well, you made some very exaggerated coughing and gagging noises but no puking, and said "okay, I'm done' as you smiled.

And so I guess you don't have the same bug as your cousins, and I can't blame your g'ma for bringing the bug over here!! ha!

Saturday you were poopy and yesterday you slept for half the day. But this morning you woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, with no hint of illness, except a little coughing. And you have lots of energy!   All is well with you once again.

You're such a sweet little boy...you were singing to my tummy the other day.

I'm so proud of you because you know your address. At first you only knew the street where you live, but now you know all of it. We're working on teaching you how to write your name, but I think that will take a while. We did valentines day cards and I though it would be easy just to let you write your name over and over on the cards, but you were bored after the 3rd card.

Oh, one more thing...the Kepler mission has been delayed to March 5. It was originally scheduled for this week, but it got moved. Kepler is the mission that is going into space looking for habitable planets, and they are taking your name on the mission. So, technically speaking, you are going to be in space!! ha!!! Now we have the NASA channel (which you seem very interested in by the way), so we're going to keep a close eye on this mission. My hope is that by having some type of personal association with these types of things, you will take more of an interest in them when you are older. I think you'll pay more attention and retain the information better if you have some sort of personal tie with the information. Time will tell if that theory is true. But it can't hurt.

You're sitting here singing your address to your g'ma. So sweet! I've gotta go jump in the shower. I love you my sweet baby boy (of course, you let me know "I'm not baby, I"m Lincoln Wilson".

February 9, 2009 almost 3.5 years

Sharon — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:35:00 GMT

We've been without cable and internet for over a week, but I figured out how to use the air card so we're back in business....well, half way. You were fine without cable, but I think you reall missed playing disney games on the internet....or the "puter" as you call it.

You've started telling me and your daddy that we are your best friend. But when it's time to go to bed, you make sure to let us know you don't like us anymore. It's funny! Your g'ma brought you over some new underwear and you liked them so much you put all 3 of them on top of the pair you were already wearing. Then your g'ma told you to take them off, and you did....all 4 pairs!! So I got onto you and told you it is socially unacceptable for you to run around here naked. You put one pair back on and I felt so bad because you said "I sorry, mommy". Poor baby!

Your daddy watched you during your karate class, and he said you did really well. I wish I would have been able to watch you.

Well it's official, your g'ma is trying to get me fired.

She picked you up one day from daycare and received a flyer. She promptly informed me that the flyer said the dacare is closed on February 16 and 17. Your g'ma reminded me that the 16th is a federal holiday. So, I let my boss know that I need the 17th off because your daycare is closed. Then, I scheduled a doctor appointment for Feb 16th because it's a holiday and I didn't want to miss any work.

Luckily, I bragged to my boss that I scheduled my doctor appointment on our holiday so I wouldn't have to miss work. But much to my surprise, she informed me that we don't actually have the 16th off even though it's a federal holiday. I almost cried. And it turns out that your g'ma misunderstood what the daycare flyer said...it was letting parents know that the school system is closed on the 16th and 17th but it said nothing about the daycare being closed....I confirmed with them and guess what? Your daycare is NOT closed those days!

Not only did I tell my boss a "fib" about needing off because your daycare was closed, I went ahead and gave myself a personal holiday!! I'm certainly glad I was bragging to my boss about scheduling my dr. appointment on my holiday or else I wouldn't have shown up on the 16th at all!!!

We got a really good laugh out of it, and no harm was done. But it would have been a different story if I just skipped out of work on the 16th because I was taking my own little personal holiday.

So I learned a valuable lesson...double check g'ma's information or else I might be fired!

Gotta run and give you a bath....I think you've have enough one-on one time with your daddy for now! Goodnight sweetheart

January 18, 2009

Sharon — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:47:00 GMT

I just have to take a minute to capture the details of this cute moment in your life!

Earlier I put an empty 2 liter coca cola bottle (contraband compliments of your G'ma) next to the trashcan. You grabbed the bottle about an hour ago and you've been pretending it's your little baby sister. You gave her the name "Nee Nee Hooba" and the two of you have been inseparable.

You put stickers all over her, rocked her to sleep in her baby swing, and you two chased a ball all over the house together. You even let her hit the ball all by herself. You've carried her around the house just like a little baby, and you've been patting her and giving her sugars. You talk non-stop to her, and right now you're putting her to bed in her room...talking to her about your G'ma. I just heard you ask her if she wants some covers.

It's really been non-stop for a solid hour....I kind of figured your little sister would have gotten on your nerves by now, but apparently you two have developed quite a bond. At one point you told me she wants her daddy, but he's sound asleep taking his Sunday afternoon nap, so he missed out on all the baby fun. He'll be shocked when he wakes up and finds that he has a little baby already.

You are such a good big brother. I haven't had to do anything for the past hour to take care of your baby sister...you are taking care of all her needs just fine!!!

I love you Nee Nee Hooba's big brother!!!

January 14, 2009 3 years old

Sharon — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:43:00 GMT

I love that you can really comprehend and absorb everything we say to you. If I want something to really stick out in your mind, I have to break it down Barney style....but once you get it, you really get it. And I love that you are a kind, caring little boy. You've started telling me out of the blue lately that you love me, which warms my heart. The other night I had to giggle because you were eating your cookies (the ones that the lady at the store bought you) & you asked me if I wanted one. I told you no, but you insisted....you "fed" me a cookie and said "the baby is hungry".

Your Auntie got you a Spiderman bath set...complete with a "razor, shaving foam & mirror". So each night when you take a bath, you "shave" in the bathub...over and over. The shaving foam gives you a little bit of a rash on your cheeks, but it goes away fairly quickly.

We've been working on your social skills. You are quite the intravert at your daycare too. When I pick you up, you are usually sitting at a table by yourself, or you're playing somewhere in the room by yourself. I'm really concerned about it, but your teacher at daycare said that it's okay and you just feel more comfortable alone. Well, I think you could be a little more outgoing and still feel comfortable. You are outgoing with your cousins, so yesterday morning you and I had a talk about playing with your friends at daycare like you play with your cousins. I think it worked because when your G'ma picked you up, she said you were playing with two other little boys.

That's a good sign!!

We pray with you at night, and it's so cute what you choose to pray about. You really do bring so much joy to our hearts & we are just honored to be your parents!

January 8, 2009

Sharon — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:41:00 GMT

It's official: your G'ma has hired a little old lady to follow us around the grocery store & make sure you don't leave without junk food in hand. I should have suspected something when we first bumped into her on the cookie aisle...you were really having a hard time choosing between Pop Tarts or cookies, so I helped walk you through the decision process. She must have seen the whole thing.

She ended up behind us in line & overheard me telling you "no" when you were trying to sneak M&M's into the mix of our groceries. Then you tried to convince me that they were for your daddy, that your "daddy needs them". But I didn't fall for it. I saw straight through your ploy and threatened to take your cookies away if you didn't stop asking for more junk food. But I was very kind with my words...no raised voice, no hint of anger...just a simple straight-forward threat.

The lady must have felt very sorry for you because as we were leaving, the cashier discovered that she forgot to include your cookies in our groceries. Even though I had a $10 bill in my hand, the lady behind us said she would pay for the cookies. She insisted. But I wasn't giving up that easily. My goodness, she was a complete stranger. So I gave the cashier the $10 and told her I was going to pay for the cookies, but the lady behind us informed the cashier otherwise...so the cashier refused my money.

Our friendly little argument about who was going to pay for the cookies went on for a good 90 seconds and it ended when the people behind her started yelling at ME to "let her pay for the cookies". All I could envision at that point was the line behind the lady growing into an angry mob against me.

I was defeated.

It was such a sweet act of kindness for her, and I almost ruined her moment to be kind to a sweet little boy. You were just glad that your cookies ended up leaving the store with us.

Right now I'm just simply proud of you for not expecting anything more from the trip to the store. You could easily whine and throw a fit when you want two choices of junk food. To be honest, it would be very effective and I'm sure it would be easy to cave into your demands. But thankfully, you have willingly come to accept that you only get to choose one junk food item. And there is no whining or crying or demanding. It's a lot of fun watching your little wheels turning trying to decide...or trying to con me into getting 2 treats instead of just one.

When you're a little older, we'll take this to the next level. Right now you don't realize that the little bit of cookies you chose won't last as long as the Pop Tarts. We can stretch the Pop Tarts out all week. But you devoured the cookies when you got home....you ate them before dinner.

And I let you.

Oh well, you still ate two plates of spaghetti, two glasses of milk, and half a can of fruit. All by yourself. You made sure I ate a cookie because "the baby was hungry". After dinner, I read a magazine article to you. But then you took the magazine from me and started "reading" to me too. It was so sweet...you told me a story about your doctor, and you told me another story about your teacher telling you that you were "too little to work".

I was worried about you getting back into the groove of going to daycare. But on your first day back, you hugged me, kissed me and let me leave without any hint of despair. I give full credit to your little friend from church. He told you how much fun school is, so you suddenly like it.

But then when you're daddy dropped you off, you gave him a desperate look and you were a bit clingy. You need to hang around your friend more often so that you don't "relapse" from being happy about daycare.

Your daddy brought you home 2 boxes of Crayons tonight, which made you very happy.

My eyeballs are about to fall out, so I need to go to sleep. I love you my sweet baby boy!!

January 2, 2009

Sharon — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:10:00 GMT

Earlier you tagged along with me to venture out into the cold, rainy weather to grab a bite to eat. I was in search of something with a drive thru so you suggested "donalds"...which made the decision easy and cheap. I'm okay with McDonald's now that we can order apples instead of fries in your chicken nugget happy meal....you don't realize that the fries are missing!

So, as we approached the drive thru, you spotted the indoor playground and completely reacted with pure SHOCK!! You said "Oh, donalds has a slide inside...I want to go inside". At this point, I thought I was defeated because what could I possibly say that could in any way shape or form compete with the slide inside? All I could offer was the chance to go inside McDonald's on another day when your cousins can accompany you. Well, you weren't happy with that, but you didn't argue with me anymore.

Instead, you quietly devised a fool-proof plan to get you inside McDonald's with the slide. And if we had not already just carried on the conversation about NOT going inside, I would have completely fell for your scheme...hook, line and sinker. It was pretty smart for a 3 year old. After I had ordered and right before we got our food, you suddenly informed me that you had to "go pee inside".

Normally that would have sent me into a bathroom emergency panic, but thankfully I saw straight through your plan.

And so, McDonald's is still the cheapest meal in town for a family of 3...actually we're feeding 4 because I ordered something for your G'ma to eat. For all of us...minus any drinks or fries...it was a whopping $12.00. Complete with apples and salad. Not too shabby.

Right now you are trying to wake up your G'ma, who fell asleep on our couch. She's unresponsive, but you are persistent, so you press on trying to wake her up!!

I love you my sweet little mastermind. You

January 1, 2009

Sharon — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:07:00 GMT

You've stayed at home with your daddy for the past 2 weeks, and you and I are both dreading Monday when you have to go back to daycare. Yesterday was the beginning of 2009. Your daddy reminded me that we met 9 years ago...that seems like a really long time, but it's just the beginning actually.

Yesterday I was sorting through some things in the office, and I ended up throwing away a bunch of stuff we don't need....including one piece of your artwork. In 2008, I collected no less than 200 different pictures you've drawn, and I even though I really would love to keep them all, sometimes I have tor purge some....but I always do it discretely so you aren't even aware.

Well, yesterday I threw it away in secret, but my choice of trash receptacle led you to discover what I had done. And boy, you were m-a-d!!   You yanked it out of the trash and said "Why is this in the trash?"

All I could do was act like it was accidental because there is no way at 3 years old you would comprehend my motivation. At this point, it's completely all about you and personal from your point of view. So I de-crumpled it and filed it with the rest of the artwork in your file cabinet.

During our cleaning efforts yesterday, you insisted on helping me clean the kitchen. You went & got your step stool and took the rag out of my hands so you could wipe down all the counters. And you did a really good job. You even got another rag out of the drawer and cleaned the chalkboard. You did a quality job. So I decided to let you know that I was going to pay you, except I had no clue how much was a fair amount. So I asked you how many dollars you want for cleaning the kitchen...you said "THREE". But guess what? I don't ever have cash, and your daddy doesn't either. We don't even have THREE dollars to compensate you. It's pretty pathetic...so today I'm going to have to scrounge up three bucks before I get home from work so you can get paid for your work.

So, yesterday we also got to talk to Vanessa on the computer using a web cam. She got one for Christmas & told me that I had to get one so she can actually SEE us when we talk. So, I asked Santa for a web cam, and he got me one for Christmas too!! Well, last night was our first test trial. You got to talk to everyone, but at one point you decided you needed a snack so you went and got the box of Cheerios to eat for the "show". All was well until our computer couldn't handle it anymore and froze our camera. So, we spent lots of time troubleshooting. In the process, you had crawled off my lap and started playing in the floor...still munching on your box of Cheerios.   After we ended up just shutting the operation down because we couldn't figure out the problem, I finally took a close look at what you were doing with your Cheerios.

You had moved beyond just munching on them for a snack....you now had a BOWL of Cheerios, complete with a SPOON and MILK!!! While I was very impressed with your level of independence, I was a little terrified that you did all that without me noticing. My poor baby was eating a bowl of cereal in the middle of the office floor & I was oblivious to it!

So, that means I don't get the Mother of the Year award because #1, I got caught chunking your artwork, #2 I wasn't able to compensate you for working when I said I was going to, and #3 I totally neglected you!!

Really Lincoln, I feel a bit sorry for you having to put up with all of my imperfections as your mother!!!

December 28, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:55:00 GMT

You have an imaginary "boo boo" on your foot and you've put a band-aid on it for 2 days in a row now. It was hard getting you into the bathtub because you said you didn't want to get your band-aid wet, but I coaxed you into agreeing to put a new one on after the bath. I even added bubbles (an unusual luxury around here) to your bath water as an extra incentive.

It worked.

But I had to laugh because as soon as you got into the tub, you held your foot out of the water to avoid getting it wet!

I think you must have read an earlier post this week about my fear of you calling me "MOM".....while you were in the tub, you did it. You called me "MOM". And you knew it made me mad because you giggled as you said it....actually, you kept repeating it over and over, giggling the whole time.

It's really not funny!

December 28, 2008

Sharon — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:01:00 GMT

Now your daddy is sick.  You had 4 straight days of fever...poor baby! Yesterday (Saturday) was your first full day without a fever since Monday but you are still coughing and have a runny nose. So, we're just hanging out at home today.

Yesterday you and I went to the store to stock up on some food and paper items. I really enjoy taking you shopping with me because it's an opportunity for you to learn about value and nutrition.   Taking you to the store always makes me laugh!! Yesterday I was trying to decide on buying a can of spinach, so I asked you if you like spinach (we haven't eaten spinach in quite a long time, and your daddy won't touch the stuff)....your response was "Do you like spinach?"...I said "Yes, I LOVE spinach"....so you said, "Let's do it". Adorable.

You are either faking it to be nice, or else you really are highly interested in reading food nutrition labels...yesterday we compared the fiber content in loaves of bread. You repeated every word I said....it was cute hearing you say "we're looking for a fiber content of at least 3 grams". Maybe if you say it enough at age 3, you will have it ingrained in your head by the time you're 18 and have to make these types of decisions on your own.

I do not like it when you go shopping with your daddy. He shops for convenience & snack food and overlooks the need for meal planning and proper nutrition.  He might disagree, but I think the majority of food he selects is junk food.

When you and I shop for groceries together, you get to choose just one snacks/junk food item. If you come across something else that you want also, you make a decision about which snack you want. Yesterday you chose a can of Spaghettios, but then we came across some Mickey Mouse cheese that you wanted. I reminded you that you had already selected a snack, and told you to make a decision.  You preferred the Spaghettios over the cheese, so that was your junk food selection for the day!!

I took advantage of you being 3 years old and easily distract able because when we were passing the cookie aisle, I diverted your attention in the opposite direction and you didn't even realize we had just bypassed the cookies. Otherwise, your junk food selection would have been cookies!!! One day that trick won't work, but I'll use it as long as it's effective.

You consume way too much sugar and junk as it is! The other day your g'ma brought you a dozen mini cupcakes, and you ate one. That evening, you and I were talking about how you are getting to be such a big boy, and I took that opportunity to associate getting strong with vitamins, and explained that junk food like cookies and cupcakes don't have vitamins and don' t make you big and strong.   I got a good laugh when you said "I only ate one".

You were right, you only did eat just one cupcake!!

We never drink kool-aid in our house, and I discovered that I was kool-aid deprived last month when you and I went to a birthday party. There was a 5-gallon container of grape kool-aid, and I must have drank 1/5 of it by myself. I even made the comment that we never have kool-aid in our house, so this was a treat! ha! The funny thing was that you didn't really drink much of it...probably because of the same reason I drank so much of it...you've never been used to drinking kool-aid, so you don't "miss" it. I, on the other hand, do "miss" drinking sugary kool-aid & so I consumed a massive amount to make up for it. It didn't seem to make a difference to you.

Last week a bag of Ruffles found their way into our house & they magically disappeared that same night. A bag of chips typically have about a 24-hour life span around here, so I avoid buying them. Consuming a bag of chips like that is harmful to our health!! Your daddy can easily develop diabetes eating like that. As a whole, we have poor control over the quantity and quality of food that ends up in our mouths, so my theory is if it's not in our house, we can't consume it.

A bag of apples last a lot longer that a bag of chips around here....they are a lot more healthy, and a bag of apples costs the same amount as a bag of chips! So, you and I bought a bag of apples yesterday, along with mangos, bananas and some canned fruit.

Good snacks.

I need to find you a good children's Bible. You already have one, but one day when I was reading it to you, I was disturbed by the graphic and violent stories in it. It's too graphic for a 3 year old. If a children's book that was not the Bible was written with that much violence, it would be banned from libraries.  But I got your Bible from the library, and I'm just really struggling with what's written in it that is intended to be on a child's comprehension level.

I remember when I was 9 years old, a lady was trying to tell me about Jesus being the "bread of life". In my 9-year old mind, I interpreted that to mean that I need to eat more bread to be closer to Jesus. I took it literally, and still love eating bread to this day!! ha!

But it's just hard for me to understand how a child would interpret all the stories of bloodshed that were in the children's Bible I bought for you.

Anyway, I'll have to find a new and more age-appropriate Bible for you. For now we'll stick to the basics: "God made me, God loves me, and Jesus is my friend forever".

Right now you are sitting beside me twirling my hair and giggling while you're watching me write.  Very cute! Earlier while eating breakfast, you told me that you are having a birthday party "in one minute" and Mickey Mouse, your daddy and g'ma are coming. I felt the urge to give you a reality check....logic tells me that your birthday party isn't actually happening in one minute since it's the wrong month for your birthday, and since Mickey Mouse lives in Florida, I'm not really sure how he knows he's invited or how he'll actually get here. Plus, your daddy was sleeping on the couch and your g'ma was home doing laundry....the truth of the matter was that your party was NOT happening in one minute and nobody was actually coming to it!

But I went along with your party plans, and we talked about everything you were going to do at your party. I'm not sure what is more damaging to you...going along with your party plans that were never going to happen, or reminding you of all the logical reasons why your party wasn't going to happen. Regardless, you didn't seem devastated after one minute when your party didn't start & Mickey Mouse didn't show up. You seem normal.

I love you my sweet little baby boy who only ate one cupcake!

December 26, 2008 3 years old

Sharon — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:23:00 GMT

You left milk and 3 cookies for Santa, and you really liked that Santa left you a thank you note!!

Oh no, you just gagged in the living room and we thought you were going to throw up. Your daddy rushed you over to the trash can and we encouraged you to throw up like mommy does, but you just looked at us like we're nuts and decided to ignore our advice. It was a close call...you didn't actually throw up.

Christmas came and went in a flash...I cannot believe it's over. I didn't send out Christmas cards this year....I designed this year's Christmas card, but that was the extent of it. All our past Christmas cards are in your baby book, so that helps me to feel like less of a grinch. I had planned on baking a birthday cake for Jesus, but that didn't work out.

You've been sick all week, with a high fever for the past 4 days straight & the antibiotics aren't helping. Our Christmas was spent trying to control your fever & I was somewhat under the weather also...Your daddy is getting sick today. It's not a very exciting time at the Wilson house.

You've been very "poopy", but today is a little better. When you have a fever, you just want to be held and loved on. You were so miserable, and yet so sweet. No wonder grown men turn into big babies whenever they get sick...mothers overdose sick children with lots of love and attention. What are we thinking?!!! I'm turning you into a big baby just like every other man. Oh well, you don't let me love on you like that much anymore these days...since you've transformed into a "big boy". I sure hope you find a wife who can hold you, rock you and love on you at the level you're going to need when you're sick as an adult!!!!

We visited the doctor today & he said that you have a viral infection and should be just fine after today because the fever typically lasts 3-4 days. I'm just happy to know you don't have a brain tumor or something worse!!! My imagination was really working overtime with trying to figure out how you could have a high fever for 4 days in a row. I imagine on a large scale, so I feared the worse.

What a relief. I can totally handle a temporary virus....especially when your daddy already had the week off. That worked out well & you loved staying home with him.

You saw Santa 2 times this Christmas season, and he left you some nice little toys underneath the Christmas tree. All you asked for were socks & shoes. Thankfully Santa came through & brought you some socks & shoes. You were confused about the other gifts Santa brought...while you were playing with your race car track, you asked "Why did Santa bring me this?". I reminded you that Santa sometimes brings surprises, so you seemed okay with that response. I was quite proud of myself for coming up with such a quick response.

On Christmas Eve when I was putting you to bed, you said you wanted to sing the "santa song". Every night at bedtime you sing a song, but usually it's the "daddy song", so I was shocked that your Daddy got bumped from your song list in favor of Santa. The Santa song was really simple...."Santa, please you come to my house?". Those are the words to the entire song, and you repeat them over and over, ending the words with a slightly higher pitch each time.

You've started calling your daddy "DAD". It's really disturbing. Of course, you've called me "MAMA" a few times, but it's still not the same as "MOM". It will break my heart when you shorten it to "MOM".

You have a competitive streak in you. It doesn't matter what the activity is, you always proclaim yourself as the winner. At whatever point you finish, you say "I win" or "I beat you". Even if everyone else finished eating 15 minutes before you, whenever you're done eating, you claim victory.

December 6, 2008

Sharon — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 05:30:00 GMT

Well you are just growing up to be such a considerate and kind young boy. Last night while I was giving you a bath, I suddenly had morning sickness...luckily, I was right next to the toilet. As I was puking my guts out, you reassured me "It's okay, mommy", and you reached over and flushed the toilet for me.

You don't know how much I appreciated that courtesy flush because it was making me even sicker coming face to face with the puke in the toilet! Very considerate of you!

Each day you check with me to make sure you understand correctly that the baby we keep talking about is actually inside my tummy and it is growing bigger and bigger. I'm sure that concept is perplexing to you, so that probably explains why you consult with me daily just to make sure you're not nuts. You have said that you definitely want me to have two babies, and so you have checked with me several times to see if there are two babies yet. You still are very firm that you want a baby sister.

Tonight you blamed something on your little sister...I can't even remember exactly what it was your daddy was asking you if you did, but you immediately blamed the baby sister in your mommy's tummy. I don't know where you came up with that...the thought to blame your unborn sibling is just beyond my imagination.

A while back we were all watching a documentary about whales. Ever since then, you've started referring to us as "Daddy Whale, Mommy Whale, Lincoln Whale and Baby Whale". It's so funny. You wake up in the morning and say "Where is Daddy Whale".

Tonight you did something a little different. You "switched" roles with your daddy....you informed him that he was now Lincoln and you were Daddy. You went through all the motions of your morning routine with him..all while he was sitting on the couch. You even went as far as bringing him his toothbrush (complete with toothpaste) and you brushed his teeth for him. I still brush your teeth even after you brush them because the dentist told me to!!! So, since your daddy was Lincoln, you made sure his teeth were clean. Then you brought him your jacket and informed him it was time to put on his coat. Of course, he couldn't actually fit into the coat, but you simulated everything and went through the motions. Adorable.

The other night you and I were drawing together, and you drew a picture of a truck. It was such a nice picture...you even put headlights on it! Then today when I picked you up from daycare, I saw that you had drawn a picture of a doggy. Your artistic ability is really taking off! I'm so impressed. You've moved beyond just drawing circles with stick legs to represent people. The best part of it is that you are doing all of this from memory. A while back you and I had a little art class....you named an object and I showed you how to draw it. We drew houses, cows, dogs, cars, trucks, flowers, boats and funny pictures of people. Well, you didn't immediately start drawing...it has taken you several weeks. But you didn't forget and you didn't have anything to go by except your memory.

I'm so happy!

You have a dentist appointment on Monday and you are getting x-rays. I'm nervous for you. Well, let me try to sleep. I woke up earlier puking my guts out, but now I seem to be just fine so maybe it will be easy to sleep. I love you my sweet Lincoln Whale.

December 1, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:26:00 GMT

Yesterday we came home from our Thanksgiving trip to Alabama. It was such a good time, and we got to visit with a lot of family, including my grandma. You were soooo attached to your "big grandma", and you kept crawling up in her chair to sit next to her. You were so gentle and calm while you were sitting by her. You are as attached to her as I am! It was just sweet watching you and her together.

You said the best part about your trip to Alabama was "the puppies". Every morning the first thing you wanted to do when you woke up was find Milo and Spencer to play with them. You said you really want a puppy. You also told me that you really want me to have two babies. Well, I regret to inform you that you won't be getting a puppy and the doctor only heard one heartbeat in my tummy.

You've developed a craving for oatmeal & you ate at least 2 bowls each day on our trip. Your cousin Deloyce was feeding you sugary snacks...she slipped you a cookie one time and I didn't even know until you had already gobbled it up!! On Thanksgiving day, you, your daddy and other cousin tossed the football around in the yard. At one point you ended up on the concrete running, and you fell on your face, but you only ended up with a a little bit of road rash!

You keep asking for your big grandma now that we are home, so I guess you really miss her. And a few times since our trip you've referred to your G'ma your "little g'ma". That probably won't stick, but it sure is cute!!

The best part of all was seeing you with my g'ma. Neither of you will remember the time you spent together in Alabama, but I sure will. It was just the sweetest thing seeing you love on her. You really were so sweet to her, and she was so sweet to you. We took lots of pictures, so you'll be able to see you two together.

The battery on this computer is getting low so I'll have to write more about our Thanksgiving trip later. I love you my sweet little 3 year old.

November 24, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:59:00 GMT

You just expressed your cocern about your own financial stability during the current economic problems facing our nation. We didn't realize it's possible that a 3 year old could be worried about the economy. But as we were discussing what we're going to do for our week off from work, I mentioned to you and your daddy that we need to deposit your piggy bank coins into your "big bank".

Well, that prompted a strong reaction from you. You made sure to inform us that the big bank is closed because it's "broke" and nobody is there. You went on to clarify that the big bank is broke because it doesn't have any money anymore....just in case we didn't understand what you were saying.

So, your daddy reassured you that your money is safe in the bank up to $250,000...an amount which you are very faaaaaaarrrrr from reaching.

But since you still didn't seem convinced that anybody is actually going to be at the bank, your daddy assured you we would call ahead before we go just to see if they are open.

I'll have to remember when we're watching the news or talking about the economy, that we make sure we let you know how the issues will or will not affect you personally....apparently, you are listening and applying the information to yourself anyway.

November 23, 2008

Sharon — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:26:00 GMT

Yay Lincoln!!! You earned your white belt in karate yesterday!!

You've been taking karate classes since September 1, 2008...so technically, you began karate when you were two years old. And yesterday you were the only 3 year old in the group...the youngest karate chopper there!   And you were also the cutest little kid there too!

Although your daddy had to work ALL DAY yesterday (he left the house at 7:30 am and didn't get home from working until almost 8:00 pm!), he was there to watch your first karate test. And boy, you were sure glad he was there!

Your little group was the first to get out there in front of everyone for the test....3 of you. You did really well until your teacher corrected you because you went out of turn. It was clear that you got very embarrassed after being corrected, so you ran away!!! A logical coping skill for a 3 year old!

It was so cute, but I felt sad for you because you wanted to do well and you were embarrassed. When you ran away...guess where you ran to? Straight into your mommy's arms and you clung to me soooo tight. You were not letting go for anything! You hid your little face in my shoulder and refused to look up. Your daddy and I hugged you and comforted you....we reassured you that you were doing a good job.

So finally, you composed yourself and you were able to finish your test after everyone else was done. Your teacher came over to you and offered for you to complete your test so you could earn a white belt. You were reluctant, but then our daddy came to the rescue! He offered to go out there with you...so you finished your karate test with your daddy by your side. When you and your daddy went out there, everyone clapped and cheered you on!!!   There was a lot of cheering because all the other little kids had lots of other people there to support them, so the place was very loud when they were clapping for you, and it was just an encouraging moment for you. They were all clapping for you, Lincoln!!

It was so heartwarming for me to watch both my guys out there!

I was really proud of both of you...proud of you for having the courage to go back out there and give it another try...and proud of your daddy for not thinking twice about being by your side to support you!! He performed a great daddy function yesterday, and you were able to finish the test.

Your moves were really sharp, and it's clear you understand the commands. Even though you are only 3, you performed very well.  The spotlight was on you in the end, and after a few seconds, you didn't even notice that your daddy was out there also.

After you finished, you had to go back out there in front of everyone again to receive your belt and certificate. You ran without any sign of fear that time, and it was just sweet watching your little feet move so fast across the mats! You leaped over the line of belts on the floor, and I was so glad you didn't trip!  We would have been back at square one if you wouldn't have accomplished the leap over the belts.

It was one of the first major achievements in your life....for a 3 year old, it's a big deal to earn your white belt in karate.  This is something I think will really help build your confidence and help you overcome appearing before crowds.

We were so proud of you and I'm so happy your daddy was able to be there. Actually, he wouldn't have missed it for anything. Your cousins almost made it....they really tried!! They were late, and it was over before they were able to get there, but they did make the effort to come support their little Linc-a-dinc!

When we came home to change your clothes, you said "I want to go to bed"....so you did. And you took a 5 hour nap, woke up for about an hour, and then slept for the rest of the night!  That karate test wiped you out.

But you had a big day anyway....you and I started the day with a trip to the mall to buy you a big winter coat. You also picked out some boxers that you insisted on getting!  A very nice lady in line gave us a $10 coupon (I think she offered it to us because you were so cute...really, her exact words were "oh, he's so cute, do you want a coupon?"). She was very kind to you. So, that coupon paid for your boxers!!  Then we went to eat with "Aunt Cristy"...you ate almond cashew chicken and brown rice. You enjoyed playing with the chop sticks. The entire day had an asian theme!!

It was a big day for such a little boy, and I guess you needed to get caught up on your sleep!

Oh, I almost forgot...your daddy and I went and ate Thanksgiving lunch with you at your daycare.  We got to get a glimpse of your daily routine, and we heard the prayer your class says before eating.  The food was absolutely delicious. I can't believe the food was so good. Amazing.  After lunch, you went and laid down on your little mat to take a nap....you gave us kisses and hugs and told us good bye. But when I picked you up later, your teacher told me that you had cried after we left!!! oh, poor baby!!  I felt so bad for you.

But this week you get to stay home with us every day, and we're so happy!!

November 15, 2008

Sharon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:57:00 GMT

Gas Price: $1.88

I'm noticing a trend lately...you have taken a definite interest in explaining to me about things that are gender specific. For example, you wouldn't eat a piece of your halloween candy because it was pink bubble gum. You said you wouldn't eat it because "this gum is for girls".

Why can't all candy be pink?

The other day you told your g'ma that she needs to put a bow in her hair! Apparently you've been talking to your Aunt Dea Dea, who won't let your little cousins go into public without bows. I like boys because you guys are low maintenance...no bows required. If you end up with a little sister, then she is definitely at risk for being bow-less. Tragedy!

Last night at dinner we had a discussion about the difference between spicy hot and fire hot. I had to giggle because when you were eating, you said "this meat is hot" and you started blowing on it to cool it off. Except what you didn't realize was that it was spicy hot, not temperature hot. So, we told you to touch it so you could feel that it wasn't hot (trust me, by this time your dinner was cold).  After some explanation, I think you understand the difference.

You are recovering nicely from two ear infections and slight pneumonia.   You did really good at the doctor's office, as always. I think you are their star patient! When we were checking out, you asked for a sticker, and although they usually only give stickers for only shots, they gave into your request!

After your trip to the doctor's office, you determined I needed a check up also....so, you examined my ears and gave me a good prognosis!

Does this mean you have decided to change career paths? You most recently wanted to be a mayor, but it seems now you are leaning more toward the medical field. You just can't seem to make up your mind.   At some point, you will be forced to come to a final career decision, but I guess since you are only 3 years old, we'll give you some more time to contemplate what you want to do in life!!

One new thing that you've been doing lately is randomly saying "I love you mommy". It's so sweet and warms my heart whenever you just blurt out those words without being prompted.  Last night your daddy and I were sitting next to each other and you came up to us with open arms and gave us both a big hug...you kept repeating "mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy".  We thought that was the sweetest thing.

You are not consistently calling me "mommy"...sometimes you change it to "mama". I prefer "mommy" for as long as it's socially acceptable for you to call me that. Maybe until you are 6?  Truly, I don't know what age little boys stop saying "mommy".


You've started noticing different types of vehicles. One day we pulled into the daycare parking lot and the vehicle in front of us caught your eye. You said "hey, that car has the same name as daddy's". And you were right...it was the same! The other day you and I went to the grocery store, and we parked next to a jeep. You said "hey, I see a jeep". Of course, one day...it seems like you were just over a year old...you pointed out a jeep to me. So, you've known about jeeps for a while.

Today we are going to Brandon's birthday party!! We missed his party last year because when we got an invitation in the mail, the information never made it into my brain because I don't do very well with paper. But this year his mommy was smart and invited us via text message...my preferred method of communication. So, we will definitely be there! ha!

Well, I better try to go back to sleep or else I might snooze through the birthday party today, which would be rather embarrassing for you!

I love you my sweet baby boy...I mean, my sweet boy who is no longer a baby!

November 11, 2008

Sharon — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:45:00 GMT

You have a double ear infection and a touch of pneumonia, but I had no clue until you suddenly developed a fever late this afternoon. We took you straight to the doctor, and I'm glad we did because who knows how bad it would have gotten otherwise. You were energetic with no hint of being sick, so I wouldn't have known you were sick.

You're actually a pretty tough kid and you were really good at the doctor's office. Tomorrow your g'ma is going to stay home with you because she already has the day off. What luck!! You will enjoy it. Today for the first time you called your g'ma "Moki". I almost fell over when you said it!!! She wasn't around to hear it, and I'm glad because she would NOT like her grandson calling her by her nickname!!! ha!! She's your g'ma, not your Moki!! Not yet, anyway....I really think as you get older you will end up calling her Moki like we do.

I love you!!

November 8, 2008 3 yrs

Sharon — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:03:00 GMT

It seems you have a sibling on the way. You have your mind made up...you want a baby sister. That part is consistent. We have that in common because I'd love to have a little girl also!

Last night for the very first time, you drew a "real" picture....a picture that is beyond scribbling. You said it was a picture of "daddy". It was so adorable and it really does resemble your daddy. I think it's absolutely beautiful. I'm not really sure if you are behind or right on track with drawing pictures, but I really did wonder why you were only producing scribbles in your artwork. Anyway, the other night you and I had an art session and I showed you how to draw a bunch of pictures. I know your daddy has done the same thing, but it finally has sunk in. I'm happy because your pictures are truly works of art in my eyes.

You are so computer-savvy. I got such a kick out of the other night when your g'ma was watching you. She said y'all were going to play on the computer, but the power source wasn't connected, so she commented that it needed to be connected before you could play on it and she didn't know how to do it. Well, you found the power source and you connected it to the computer. Then the next challenge was that your g'ma didn't know how to open the computer...but you came to the rescue and showed her how. Then she didn't know how to turn it on, so you showed her. The next challenge was getting to the internet and then turning up the volume. You took care of all of it! When she made the comment that there was no volume, you opened the volume icon and turned it up. I think your g'ma got tickled also that her 3 year old grandchild was teaching her how to use the computer!! hahahahaha!!

You just recovered from a melt-down because you wanted to sit in the high chair. I guess you got the idea because your baby cousin came to visit today and we had her in the high chair. Earlier today you pretended your drum stick was a fishing pole, and you kept saying "I need to go fishing". So, daddy really needs to take his little boy fishing...I think that's a big hint!

Last week you were about to eat a snack, and you paused to pray. You said "God, let me drink my coke. Amen". Ha!!! It's not often that you get to drink coke, but I did let you have the coke with your snack. You have a karate test soon...I didn't really think about your skills being tested so soon. But I guess it's a good thing because we'll know if you've learned anything. I just think it's too soon to be testing you, since you've only been in karate for 2 months, but I am interested in the results. So, we'll let you participate in it, but no pressure!

I am so sleepy. Christmas is coming soon! I'm so excited!! Last night we danced around the living room listening to Christmas music and we ate cookies. I just love doing that because it's always so much fun. But then we sat down to watch our wedding video, and your daddy commented that it was cruel and unusual punishment!!! So maybe he wanted to just stick with the Christmas music a little longer??!!! I'll have to remember that!

I love you my sweet baby boy!

November 1, 2008

Sharon — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:34:00 GMT

Well, it appears you now have aspirations to be a mayor! Yes, indeed...I asked you "Lincoln, where do you want to work when you grow up", and your response was "at the whole town". That can only mean one thing...you want to be mayor.

Let's take a minute to review your current qualifications for being a mayor, and areas where some growth needs to take place. I'll use the qualities you demonstrated last night when your worked the halloween shift on "candy duty".

Job Title: Halloween Candy Distributor
Time frame: October 31, 2008 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: The Wilson House
Supervisor: Mommy

Qualifications:

Preparedness is your strength:
You consistently demonstrated a high level of preparedness by making sure that you always had a handful of candy within an arms-reach distance ready for the next trick or treaters. The system you single-handedly devised was well-thought and worked well.

You are a hard worker and you take your job seriously:
Each time you heard the door bell, you jumped up and gently, yet efficiently "scooped" the candy into your arms and quickly ran to the door.   Your actions were quick and calculated; it was evident you were on a very important mission.  You did not waste any time in delivering the candy to the door.

You maintain high level of professionalism and performed well under pressure:
Passing out candy is a demanding job that requires candy to be distributed at a fast pace.  You were met with uncertainty about who -or what- awaited you each time the door opened.  Regardless of the type of characters you came across... including Cinderella, serial killers, dogs, butterflies, jail escapees, ninjas, & bumblebees...you provided their candy in a professional manner and you did not distribute candy according to favoritism according to how much you liked or disliked their costume. You showed no fear of the terror that awaited you, and you didn't get side tracked with socializing;  you simply focused on the task at hand to make sure the job got done.

You provide outstanding customer service:
You made sure you told each trick or treater "happy halloween" each time you distributed the candy. This is a huge step for you because in social settings, you typically do not get into chatting or small talk. Your actions last night proved that you do not let "being shy" get in the way of you performing your job. Each trick or treater received your well wishes in a courteous and consistent manner.

Growth Areas:

Flexibility/multi-tasking:
You were instructed to give exactly 3 pieces of candy to each trick or treater, but I threw in an extra instruction to give out 2 cards (bullying laws and child abuse reporting information) in addition to the candy.   You remembered to include the cards about half the time, so your attention to detail was lacking with this extra step. It might have something to do with you being 3 years old, so we'll work on multi-tasking, and how to incorporate change into established routines as needed.

Level of Influence:
In order to be mayor, you must have a strong sense of interpersonal influence, and you clearly need work in this area. I saw this "soft skill" gap in you last night when you wanted to eat the candy that was in your pumpkin on the kitchen counter. You said to your daddy "How about you pick me up and I get my candy".

Here are a few key considerations in this area:
Approach your audience from the perspective of what's in it for them, and in a communication style that fits them (know your audience). Let's break your request down:

"How about"...I like this introduction because it indicates that there is a choice...you are not giving a demand. So this is the strongest part of your selection of words. For a 3-year old, this seems to be advanced influence because it's not just a demand.

"you pick me up"...hmmm....it's better to start with the benefit they will receive from the request you are about to make. Without the what's in it for me factor, "you pick me up" is simply a demand.

"and I get my candy"....these words can just be deleted altogether....I get my candy is so selfish and shows no interest in meeting anyone else's needs. Let's try revising the request:

"How about I share my candy with you if you help pick me up to get it".   If you can master that approach by the time you are 4, then you will be well on your way to becoming mayor.

October 29, 2008

Sharon — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:12:00 GMT

You and I tried a social experiment at the store earlier, with highly successful results. You are a naturally shy child, and this causes a certain level of awkwardness in social settings when you refuse to speak to people or acknowledge them when they speak to you. I fully understand the concept of being uncomfortable with socializing...you are my son, so you take after me!! However, being shy is only "cute" until you are about 5 years old.  Well okay, it wasn't very cute when you didn't speak to anyone for 2 hours during your second birthday, but you get a pass because you had just turned two.

Today marks the day we start practicing improving your social skills.  While we were leaving the store, I told you that you need to say goodbye to the door greeter loud enough where he could hear you. On the way out, you told him by, and gave quick wave to him....guess what? He gave you 4 stickers!

One part of me feels a little guilty for encouraging you to socialize with strangers, but honestly, I really don't think I have to worry about you suddenly turning into a social butterfly. Truly, this just isn't a risk with your personality. It's a huge step for you to say goodbye to people, much less getting to the point of having a conversation with anyone other than your immediate family members.

But in your future professional life (which starts at age 5 with your lemon aid stand, by the way) and in your social life, you will be expected to actually speak to people and socialize to some degree at a level way beyond where you are now stuck. I just want you to be able to reach the minimum social requirements without feeling discomfort.

So, the stranger you spoke to today rewarded your social experiment by giving you stickers. But he's the door greeter, so it's okay! If you start expecting stickers from every single person you speak to, then we're in trouble. But again, it's really not a big issue and I have no fear that you are going to suddenly start chatting up strangers.

On a lighter note, you were craving pizza while we were grocery shopping, and you asked me if we could buy a pizza. I informed you that would have to order a pizza from the pizza place, but then you spotted a pizza-making kit and before I knew it, you talked me into buying it. If you could be as shy around me as you are around other people, then I could save some money!! So now at the Wilson house, we are in the pizza making business. You also picked out some goldfish because those are your favorite snack. You politely asked me if you could eat the goldfish while we were in the checkout line. I gently informed you that eating our purchases before we exit the store is socially unacceptable and you would have to wait until we got home. You said "okay". That warms my heart for you to be so polite because I knew how bad you wanted to eat them.

When we got home, your daddy was here, and he asked you if you would please share your goldfish. Usually our concept of sharing is that your daddy would be able to reach into the bag and get his own goldfish. ..but oh no...

Once again, you are my son....you have an inherent need to control everything, and the goldfish were no exception. Instead of letting your daddy get his own goldfish, you pulled one at a time out and fed them to him...one by one. You were sharing, but it was a form of "controlled sharing". Once again, an area where you need help!! We should come up with a "sharing experiment" also.

You were so good in the grocery store...I mean, a perfect little angel. You laughed, giggled and made jokes the whole time. I was looking for some butter cream icing, but couldn't find any. So, I kiddingly asked you what we should do about not being able to find icing. You answered me so seriously, and it was a great answer...you said "go some other place". Ha! What a concept!! So, from that point on, whenever I couldn't find the exact items I was looking for, you reminded me of my option to "go some other place".

So, I guess we can safely say that you are a true fan of free enterprise!!! ha!!!

Something that is even cuter is that you and your daddy are dancing around singing Lee Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA". You asked your daddy to make you a "United States Flag"...he wrapped a kitchen towel around the end of your drumstick and "tada" (as you like to say)...you had a flag!!

You two are adorable and I love you both!

October 27, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:36:00 GMT

Gas price today: $2.49

Your G'ma just whisked you away to play at your cousins' house, and your daddy is gone too. So, I have the place to myself and can't think of anything better to do than write to you. I've really been slacking on writing to you lately, so I have a list of things to write to you about.

Gas Prices:
Your daddy told me he wants to me to tell you what the gas prices are on a regular basis. So, whenever I think of it, I'll post it at the beginning of your letter.

Barney website:
You made a huge discovery on the Barney website whenever Barney started talking in Spanish. You were not entertained one bit by his new language, and you told me "I need help". I love that you ask for help when you need it, by the way. I saw some flags at the bottom of the page and figured that if you click on a flag, it will change the language setting. So, I asked you if you saw the American flag....and guess what? You clicked on it all by yourself. I'm not really sure how many other 3 year olds actually recognize the American flag as a national symbol, but I'm going to pretend that all other children learn that skill at age 5. In fact, your pre-school preparation book has zero pictures of American flags. I do see that your kindergarten curriculum does require that you recognize the American flag, so you are on your way to being well prepared for kindergarten. And if you can stand it, maybe Barney will be able to teach you Spanish!!

Daddy's School:

A while back you accompanied your daddy to his school campus so he could get a parking sticker. The campus security gave you a "woo-woo" car! You were so proud of that car, but you thought you were really something getting to go to daddy's school with him. You informed him that you wanted to "eat lunch at your school". He was so touched that you wanted to eat lunch at his school! Ha!

No Birthday Candles for G'ma:
It's no secret that your mother is horrible in the birthday department, and boy I really flopped for your G'ma's birthday earlier this month!!! I'll just go ahead and admit the truth: we had to use a 4 wick candle for her to blow out because I didn't have any real birthday candles to use. It added humor to the moment, but honestly it's pretty pitiful. One thing I really like to do is bake "no frills" birthday cakes...nothing fancy at all, but my goodness is it too much to ask for some candles? I think baking a birthday cake is just a very special act of love and kindness. So I decided I wanted to show your G'ma some love and appreciation by baking her a birthday cake, but we had to act fast to figure out how she was going to blow out candles without actually having candles!! It was definitely a Kodak moment!! In the picture, you appear to be comforting her as she's blowing out the candles! Poor baby...you are going to have to go through your entire life having me as a mother and a poor birthday party planner. I feel bad for you! But I will bake you a birthday cake to show my love for you!!

"Oh, you said a bad word"
You picked this annoying little saying up at daycare. It's apparent that you have no clue what a bad word is (actually, you just haven't put 2+2 together with the bad words yet because I KNOW you've heard them...you just didn't realize it). You say "Oh, you said a bad word" even when there's no resemblance of a curse word in our vocabulary! So, we've concluded you just get a lot of enjoyment going around saying that. Maybe you'll grow out of it.

This concludes my running list of things to write to you about!
Love you...and boy, it sure is quiet around this place without you here!

October 26, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 03:21:00 GMT

Nevermind Halloween and Thanksgiving, Christmas is right around the corner!! After snapping about 100 pictures, this is it...your official Fall picture.  I'm trying to decide what to do for your Christmas picture this year. I'm not much into Santa pictures, so we'll have to figure something else out.

We've got two Christmas presents for you that you said you wanted....those are probably the only two presents you'll get from your parents...an aircraft carrier and a whole bunch of bugs. I'm most excited about the bugs. Since you are a boy, you are going to be expected to "handle" bug situations throughout your life, and we are trying to prepare you now!!! Your girl cousins have started to rub off on you....if we don't take drastic action now to counter their influence, your manhood will be in danger.  Without intervention in this area, you will never be able to nicely dispose of a spider or bait a fishing pole hook. If you can't do those two things in life, then you are doomed.

This is stage 1...we've ordered you a "bug set" consisting of 72 plastic bugs of all types. I hope there are a few different types of worms and spiders in there because those are the ones you are not allowed to fear as a guy!! It is socially unacceptable for males to run screaming in fear at the sight of a bug. Giving you a bunch of plastic bugs for Christmas is one way to safely get you aquainted with insects.  After you're tired of playing with plastic bugs...we imagine by next Christamas...we'll move on to stage 2.

Stage Two is an ant farm or another real live bug container. We really like the idea of you having an ant farm.  In addition to preparing you to not be afraid of bugs, we view an ant farm as a very low-maintenance option for having a pet.

Ants eat very little, they don't take up much space, they don't require vaccinations or trips to the vet, they don't chew on furniture, they don't smell bad, they are quiet, they don't require baths, and they don't poop all over the floor. As an added bonus, it's perfectly okay if they happen to die because insects are not expected to have a long life span anyway.  And for all of the low maintenance, they are fascinating to watch, and will provide hours of entertainment. I really think ants are truly perfect pets. Maybe we'll find out next year if you think they are fun also!!

Oh, I need to mention that you recently had a toilet seat accident. You were using the bathroom standing up, and the toilet seat slammed down on you!! You were injured, but everything was still in tact. Your daddy and G'ma took you to the doctor, who said you are going to be just fine in the near future and for long-term purposes. It was just an unfortunate accident, and I'm happy to say you didn't regress!

Gotta run.
I love you my sweet little baby BOY!

October 6, 2008

Sharon — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:26:00 GMT

The logic of a 3-year old is complicated to understand. You insist on wearing your underwear backward. I can’t figure out exactly why, but I have noted that you only wear them the wrong way when they have pictures on them. You have no problem putting on your plain underwear correctly.

Saturday you went outside to wash all the cars with your daddy. It was the cutest thing when I walked outside and say you in the middle of giving your little play car a bath too! You washed it, then rinsed it with the water hose….just like your daddy was doing to the “real” cars.

You really are a clean child. You hate to have a runny nose. You frequently pick up your toys and put them in their correct spot. Three days ago you were going around the house with a used dryer sheet “cleaning” everything. You even “cleaned” all the kitchen cabinets. It was adorable. You make your parents proud!!

You went poo poo yeserday and as you flushed the toilet, you told your poop "bye bye poo poo". It was so hilarious!

We have to go get you some new clothes soon…and socks. We inventoried your clothes today and you’re just not prepared for cold weather unless you want to wear the same thing over and over!

I have to go get ready now. I love you.

September 30, 2008

Sharon — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:56:00 GMT

Our family gets a C+ in our test of a day free from technology. One big discovery of the day is that I do not want to live the rest of my life without all the technological conveniences in life…technology makes our family more productive and efficient.

However, it was a quiet day, and we got lots of sleep...which was different!

The first difference is that I didn’t set our alarm, so we slept in until 7:30 am. It was fantastic, but without coffee, I never fully woke up! Instead of going to daycare, you tagged along with us while we ran errands, and then you and I went to the library while your daddy went to his golf class.

Everything was going well with our technology-free day until you and I went to renew my driver’s license. If I would have looked it up on the internet, I would have known the place wasn’t open on Monday. Instead, the sign on the door told me that I had wasted precious gas and time. You weren’t happy that the place was closed and you kept telling me “no, the doors are open now”. But it was wishful thinking. So we went back to our quiet house. It was so quiet that after your daddy came home, we all took a 3 hour nap.

At that point, I was loving the technology-free day. We woke up 15 minutes before your karate class…what luck! So, we took you to karate and watched our little 3-year old kick and jab.

At that point, our family had an A+ for the day, but when we got home, it all went downhill. Your daddy must have forgotten it was our technology-free day because he plopped down in the recliner and turned on the T.V. I promptly put an end to that, and a battle ensued….between you and me! You turned the T.V. back on each time I turned it off. It was adorable how you explained to me “I want to watch T.V. today”. But I was firm!

After winning the T.V. battle, you pulled out the laptop and turned it on. You were on the internet before I was able to intervene.

And I gave in.

But you and I spent some good quality time playing your games, and we practiced typing your name.
During this time, your daddy left, which meant that I had you all to myself. We played computer games and laughed until it was time to make dinner. You ate asparagus, carrots, oranges, milk and chicken nuggets. I hated feeding you processed meat on a day when we were supposed to be “old fashioned” but the chicken nuggets played very instrumental role in my bribe to get you to eat your asparagus. I washed all the dishes by hand, which was a good reminder of why someone invented the automatic dishwasher. It took a really long time to wash all the dishes, and I’d rather spend that time in a more productive way.

Since your daddy couldn’t text me to tell me he was on the way home, I didn’t have his dinner ready and waiting for him when he walked through the door. And then I broke my own technology rule by warming his plate up in the microwave. Oh well.

Your dad made a phone call to your G’ma, which prompted her to pay us a visit. We went to Toys R Us, and left empty-handed.

This morning when I turned my cell phone back on, I had 14 voicemail messages, and 4 text messages awaiting me. The news is still the same on T.V. as it was before our break from technology. Your daddy and I have already had a full conversation via text, and it is only 4:30 am. I’ve had 2 cups of coffee already, and our bank just notified me by text that my paycheck has been deposited. In an ironic twist of events, your daddy is at work sitting in the dark with the power off. ha!

We’re off to a much more productive start today!

September 28, 2008

Sharon — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:38:00 GMT

I'm declaring tomorrow "No Technology Day" in our household. Yesterday I informed your father of this, and he just looked at me in disbelief. We are spending one day being old fashioned, and it's truly unbelievable.

What a day free from technology means:

Television: It means the T.V. will not be on during our morning routine, or at any point tomorrow. We won't instantly know what's going on in the world the second it happens. That's fine with me because most of the information I put into my head doesn't matter...it's just taking up brain space that needs to be used for something more meaningful anyway. If the stock market crashes tomorrow, we will be blissfully happy because we won't know the difference. Our misery will be delayed. You won't get to watch Little Einsteins or Mickey Mouse, and your parents will miss out on knowing the latest on Young and the Restless, but we will survive.

Computers: This is the most problematic aspect of our day free from technology because we depend on computers for our livelihood. I picked Monday because your father and I both have the day off, so we won't need to use the computer for work. However, your father did point out to me that he has a class on Monday which requires use of a computer and sometimes they watch a video. Okay, so he will get a pass for that because I don't want it to impact his grade. Oh, and you my dear child, will not be able to play any disney games on the computer either, or watch Lightening McQueen videos on You Tube.

Mobile Communication Devices: Our cell phones will be off.   No talking, no texting, no internet, no you tube, no form of communication on the go. Emergencies can wait...or we can be notified in person. Oh, no social networking at all!!

Radio: The only time we really listen to the radio is in the car, but on Monday we will turn it off and we can sing our own songs to entertain ourselves while driving down the road. This is the one form of technology that we can always rely on for information and entertainment on the (rare) occasion that the power goes out. But since it is a form of technology, we won't turn the radio on at all.

Wii: Sorry, you cannot race cars, beat on your drums, box, play soccer or do yoga (all your favorite wii games) on Monday.

Kitchen Appliances: This is a huge challenge, but we will not be using the microwave, toaster, or coffee maker. I cannot ban the refrigerator because it stores our fresh food supply, and our stove is key in providing our nutrition. But otherwise, we will just have to feed ourselves without the assistance of the microwave...(I hope we don't starve).

Laundry: No laundry allowed on Monday.  This will be easy.

Driving: We have to operate our cars on Monday...I really thought about walking everywhere, but it's too dangerous because of the other cars on the roads, so we will drive.  There is a slight possibility our town will run out of fuel and no one will be able to drive on Monday, but this probably won't happen.

September 24, 2008

Sharon — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:51:00 GMT

How I know there wasn’t a mix up at the hospital when you were born:

Your pinkies are crooked…like mine
You have your daddy’s feet, which look just like your G’ma’s feet…so I guess there wasn’t a mix up at the hospital when he was born either
You are a morning person and you get really cranky beginning promptly at 8:30 every night…like me
You seem to enjoy fishing and camping…you get this from both of us
You love guacamole…when I was pregnant with you, I craved guacamole and avocados daily
You love to have your hair brushed, and you really enjoy getting haircuts…that’s entirely from me
You have really big lips. Some people have accused you of being Angelina Jolie’s child, but you get those lips from me, not her!
You are very technologically savvy. You help your G’ma maneuver through the dvr and you know how to use a computer
You are very bossy....hmmm….I wonder where you get that from?!!!
You are shy...you definitely get this from me. The good news is that you will become less of an introvert as you get older.
You are creative in your ability to solve problems...I think you get this from both of us. One day you wanted to look outside the laundry door window, but you were too short. So you held onto the door knob and pulled yourself up with your arms until you were high enough to peer out the window. My supporting theory is that any uncreative person would have used a step-stool, so this must mean you are creative.
You enjoy eating vegetables and you are not a picky eater. Sounds just like your mother.
Your 9-month picture looks just like my dad when he was a baby
You look just like your daddy
You put safety first…you won’t ever let us forget to buckle you in your car seat

September 21, 2008 3 years

Sharon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:07:00 GMT

It’s perplexing how easily you fall asleep in the car. We’ve determined it’s definitely not because your car seat is so wonderfully comfortable. I really need to hurry up and pinpoint exactly what it is about the car that induces a deep sleep for you so I can bottle it…as soon as I make that big “discovery” your college education will be covered.

You had a very big day yesterday even though it wasn’t technically your birthday and we didn’t actually have a birthday party for you. It was still a nice, yet “no frills” day.

Your cake didn’t say “Happy Birthday” and it didn’t even have your name on it. But that’s okay because you can’t read anyway. I didn’t bother to buy any candles for your cake (children aren’t supposed to play with fire anyway), but your Aunt Dea Dea brought some over. I cut your birthday cake and I was ready to start serving it when your uncle (of all people) pointed out that I was doing everything out of order because we hadn’t yet sung happy birthday to you, and I hadn't even put the candles on the cake for you to blow out.

So, I remedied the situation based on his suggestions for the proper sequence of birthday events, and it ended up being somewhat birthday party-ish in spite of your mother not following the birthday party guidebook!!!

After your birthday non-party, we traveled a very long way to see hot air balloons at an event. We saw none, nada. I was so disappointed because I really wanted to get some good pictures.

But you and your cousins did get to bounce on age-appropriate inflatable rental equipment. The highlights of the event were that your cousin got “stuck” at the top of a very large inflatable slide, and I got a picture of your Uncle Jay emerging from inflatable bouncy dragon’s rear end. Although he didn’t get stuck, it was quite an interesting picture.

The main point is that your family was together and our hearts were full of love for you. You felt that love, and that’s what interests me the most. I am not interested in learning birthday party etiquette because I have your Aunt Dea Dea to guide me in the unlikely event that I decide to throw you another big birthday party…she is quite the birthday party expert, and in the future I will consult with her before making any birthday non-plans. Okay sleep y boy, it’s past my bedtime too.

I love you!

September 19, 2008

Sharon — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:16:00 GMT

We are observing your birthday this weekend, so your Aunt Dea Dea baked cupcakes for you to take to all your little friends today! You really lucked out in the Aunt department

Oh wow, the smoke detector is going off right now. That means your daddy is making english muffins for me!!

Yesterday morning something very interesting happened and I hope it's not going to become a trend. We were walking out the door when you annonced you had to go poop. Don't get me wrong, I'm very proud of you for alerting me, because it easily could have become a poop emergency.

You and I have opposing goals each morning, so adding poop to the agenda was completely opposite of what I had envisioned happening at that point. However, it's better than the alternative, which could have easily resulted in having an accident in your pants on the way to daycare.

Gotta run! I love you my sweet 3 year old baby boy!!

September 17, 2008

Sharon — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:50:00 GMT

After a solid two years of being highly self-sufficient in feeding yourself, it amazes me that your spaghetti still ends up all over your shirt.

At least you are no longer radioactive, but your G'ma did give you juice today against doctor's orders. Of course, I alerted her what the doctor advised in a text. Since since she's a bit technologically challenged, she might not even realize she has a text message to read!!

Your cousins swung by and dropped off our camera a little earlier.   They were very worried about your health so they wanted to see with their own eyes that you are alive and well!!

Your G'ma just left...and you begged her to stay. I told you to walk her to the door so she could go home, but you ended up playing a trick on her. Instead of showing her to the door so she could leave, you  showed her the way to your room so she could stay and play! Silly boy.

You have such a sense of humor. You have taken our cell phone charger and hooked it up to one of your race cars. I guess you are recharging the car battery???   One of your cars just had a wreck and you said "I sorry about that".

It's just about time to throw you into the bathtub....I just gave you a 5 minute warning.

I love you my sweet baby boy!!

September 16, 2008

Sharon — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:31:00 GMT

You must be radioactive because you had fluorescent green diarrhea last night. It's not pretty. Plus all last night you complained that your eye was hurting. You have such a high tolerance to pain, so whenever you complain, we need to listen!!

So, your birthday was yesterday...and we're pretending that it's next week because there just wasn't enough time to squeeze in for baking a cake this weekend. You are 3. You won't know the difference right now.

September 14, 2008

Sharon — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:15:00 GMT

You are taking karate classes now, and you seem to be learning a lot. Your moves are very smart and sharp. Yesterday we went to your cousin's birthday party. It was a lot of fun! Your Auntie Dea Dea is making cup cakes for your birthday!!