Sleeping back to normal (almost)...

Just a quick note to write that Linc is now back to falling asleep at night on his own. After almost two weeks of having to be with him as he fell asleep he's now back to 'normal'. Although his sleeps during the day can sometimes be a bit of a struggle. Queue, 'the Gruffalo'. A great story, and it works a treat by sending him off to sleep! Whatever works, hey?!...

A taste of the other side...

Linc chowing down on some yummy gourmet peas and corn...(what a weirdo!). Then suddenly, only seconds later, he grabbed a handful of peas and corn and chucked them all over the floor. Cool!

It's not that we didn't know that we had it good... I mean, we put Linc to bed at around 8pm, and he doesn't wake until about 7.30am...so we got some grown-up time in the evening, and a great sleep at night.

Oh how the mighty have fallen...

For the past week Linc has decided that he can't fall asleep unless someone is in the room with him and, if he wakes up during the night (which is happening more often than ever), can't go back to sleep unless someone comes in to reassure him that everything is okay. Great. Fantastic. Doesn't that make for fun times.

We have no idea what has occurred to make him like this, but we would love to be able to reverse whatever it was... Possibilities include the fact that he is cutting a number of teeth at once (as his molars are coming through as well as more teeth down the bottom), and also that at this age, when he starts talking and being more aware of the world than ever, that he has trouble switching off at night.

So, given those theories, we have tried bonjela for his teeth, then bonjela in combination with neurofen...to no avail, so based on the other theory we tried reading to him so he was more relaxed at bedtime. No good either. The only thing that seems to work is stroking his cheek with his wrap that he hands to you saying 'ta, ta, ta, ta' until you take it and start stroking his cheek. Eventually he falls asleep allowing you to sneak out of the room with a sigh of relief...

As far as words go, he's now saying 'truck' (actually it's 'gruck' but close enough), bahs like a sheep, snaps like a crocodile and whispers 'star' (not sure why he whispers it - just like he whispers 'ta'!!!). He's also learning Incy, wincy spider which is cute to see him try to do the hand movements.

He's definitely going to be an active kid. He just can't sit still. He's always doing something, or playing with something etc. - and he loves his music where he bobs his head and squats up and down in time with the music (okay, not really in time!).

Only 5 weeks (or maybe 4!) to go until Linc is forced to share Mum and Dad's attention with a little baby brother (yep, boy - everyone knows now!)...not long now.

Sydney - Aquarium

This weekend the family drove to Sydney to visit the Sydney Aquarium. It was also great to catch up with Linc's best mate Anthony!

The weekend was a mixed bag of successes and failures - the successes being today at a park at 'Kissing Point Bay' where Linc was loving playing on the slides and watching all the planes and helicopters flying over from nearby Sydney Airport - the failures being the aquarium...where he didn't appear very interested in the fish at all. Thankfully he got in for free...! I'm surprised the aquarium didn't turf us out at one stage as Lincoln spat the proverbial, lost the plot, was knighted Sir Throwyourself-upon-defleur of the Tantrum Table and basically had a catastrophic melt-down. Apart from that, the aquarium really isn't as good as it thinks it is, but is worth going if you're in the area.

It was also Linc's first long outing wearing his dog lead (not a dog lead, but a lead that has a puppy dog on it - see the above photo).

As always, Linc is just fantastic in the car - and we even took a portable DVD player so he could watch some shows. I only put that on at the end of the trip home just to see how it went - it also took Lincoln's mind off the massive storm that we drove through just as we were leaving Marulan. And as always, the mighty Calais got us there and back safely, and in supreme comfort.

Success...almost

Well Linc had his first full night in his new bedroom. In his bed???? No. In his cot.

Yep, we temporarily gave up with the bed, and moved his cot in to his new room. It wasn't smooth sailing though, with Mum in tears and Dad taking centre stage to sing the little man to sleep.

"Oh Lincoln lay down, spend this time with me, together share this smile, Lincoln lay down..." (a slightly modified Dave Matthews Band song)..."

...anyway, it worked and within the hour Lincoln was asleep!

This week he has started saying "Ta" when he wants something or is handing something back - it's more of a whispered "Ta"at the moment though. But everything is "Car" still - he'll just look for a car and point and say it - or he'll hear the neighbour's HSV Clubsport across the road (which sounds beautifully loud due to a twin 3" X-Force exhaust system with hi-flow extractors...). He also says "Star" too, as it sounds pretty close to Car I assume...

Anything that is a truck is automatically a fire engine (even the Grandparent's F250) and so has a siren - little Linc goes woo ooo woo ooo... and even the slightest glimpse of an elephant has him swinging his arm in the air making elephant noises.

The funniest happened the other day though when Mum was driving along and got cut off by one of our many highly talented Canberra drivers and exclaimed "Oh you silly cow" which was met with a "Moooooo" from the rear as Linc joined in!!

Just recently Linc has also fallen in love with peas, corn and carrots. He'll just sit there and feed himself out of a bowl - although he much prefers eating directly from Mum or Dad's plate...

And his kisses - he's so good with his kisses now. Muuuuupp! (that's his kiss noise). He's quite selective though, with his new matchbox cars getting far more kisses than anything that has a pulse...

Learning about I.T.

Linc loves to bash away on the keyboard as he copies Dad touch-typing; although, as Linc hasn't learned to spell yet, his words are a bit difficult to understand - but at least he is having a go - which is important considering the reliance his generation will place on staying connected with the world at all times. I'm sure by the time he's a teenager he'll just about live on his iPhone 12GSSS...

Lincoln moves into his new bedroom...

...for about 5 minutes and 15 seconds... Yep, on the weekend we took a chance and transferred Linc to his new room, and new bed.

Linc even limbered up before his bath in readiness to make the big leap from ground to single bed...

He hated it. After a promising start, he just started screaming. And wouldn't stop. We put him back in his cot in the nursery and he still screamed. Took Dad an hour to get him to sleep...

As you can see, we have hung some original canvas paintings to add some colour. These were painted by Chris from splatter (click for link) who has a stall at the Old Bus Depot Markets on a Sunday.

Cold, cold winter

It's definitely been a cold winter this one: -5 has been the coldest so far. Linc still likes to get out and about though, so last week the family went out to the lake to say hello to the Swans. On the downside he's got a cold/throat infection (being fought by antibiotics) which he has passed onto Dad, but (hopefully) he's on the mend!