More on our Four

Lincoln has advanced from needing to be directly on top of me and Jonah whenever I'm holding him to now circling the recliner we often sit in, rolling cars all around our perimeter. I'm celebrating this as a step in the right direction towards Lincoln's journey towards independence. 

Try as I might, my babies have all refused to get those nice, delicious, plump baby rolls. Here's skinny Excell baby #4 in all his sincerest efforts to grow a thigh roll. 

Pondering ways to grow said thigh roll thus living up to all his mother's unrealistic expectations for him.

We're starting to see some social smiles from Jonah. We all squeal whenever his lips begin to indicate he likes us. 

When Jeff is home, I often sic the older boys on him so I can get some quiet time with baby, or fold a procrastinated load of laundry, so he hasn't gotten much time with Jonah. When they do get time together, this is their preferred bonding activity. 

If Jonah doesn't have Jeff to lounge on, he's found himself quite fond of his car seat which will come in handy when we drive out to visit my parents in a few weeks!

The novelty of a baby has not worn off as Carson still requests his morning snuggles with baby brother after a long night apart.

Now that you're updated on Jonah, let's see what the other boys have been up to! One afternoon I was getting grapes for Lincoln. With each grape I put on the counter for him, Lincoln loudly protested by saying, "Make house! Make house!"

Confused for a moment, I finally realized Lincoln was requesting I put the grapes in a bowl -- aka, a grape house.

I finally ventured out with all four boys on my own for a quick trip to the library. Eli was a great helper and prevented Lincoln from taking a solo trip on the elevator, so major big brother points there! I love coming home from the library, dumping all our new books in the living room, and watching the boys quietly, eagerly, and contently flip through every page of every book.

We also ventured out to a park with my sister where I claimed disability due to just having a baby, leaving my sister the lone operator of this merry-go-round holding 3 somewhat demanding passengers with a need for spinning speed.

Warmer weather has brought many an after school treat out on the back deck.

You might be raising a herd of boys if the only way to clean up all the Legos in the house with a snow shovel.

One morning while I was getting ready, Lincoln was scaling the edge of the bathtub quietly chanting to himself, "Don't think about it, don't think about it."

My interpretation of this was that he was trying not to think about falling.

My sister's interpretation was that he was willing himself not to think about ways to get in trouble.

She was probably right. 

I am constantly finding Lincoln in unfortunate predicaments. If he's not fully clothed in the bathtub, he can be found lunging for knives, dumping sugar on the floor, or my favorite, licking raw meat. I was talking to my mom one afternoon and literally every time I turned my back on him he was in some new, crazy, unexpected form of trouble quicker than what seemed logical! He's sneaky. He's fast. And he's trouble!

One afternoon I walked by Jonah's bouncer to find Carson had created a stand-in baby. 

Another Carson drawing that tickled me was this list of what he deemed "Fare" (fair) and "Unfere" (unfair).

Fare (complete with hearts, sunshine, flowers, and smiley faces): Getting a bonus. Getting 100 on your test!

Unfere (broken heart, sad faces, Xs): Feelings hurt. Sick. 

I never tire of seeing what's in that kid's head and his methods of materializing those thoughts. 

Eli came home from school one day completely overcome with a new obsession -- Fidget Spinners. Luckily I had already heard about them otherwise I doubt I would have understood a word of his excited sputterings. And luckily for him, he hadn't used up all of his allowance money so he had just enough money to buy himself the latest fad.

The only time the boys have willingly smiled at the camera was right after I told them we'd take them to the store to purchase their beloved spinners.

I'm anxious to see what tricks this spinner and its proud new owner will produce. 

We'll end with one more Lincoln misinterpretation. Lincoln loves to sort through all the hot pads while I'm making dinner. He got this oven mitt out and proudly relabelled it, "Ball catcher!"