3 years + 4 months

Lincoln has had an up and down potty month.  He has been in underwear the whole time.  We went through a phase where he started holding #2 and either had big accidents, or I had to watch him like a hawk and try to catch him in the act.  However, he turned a corner and started telling me when he had to go potty for the first time ever, as well as getting past his phobia of public restrooms.  He has been perfect for the last several days.  Knock on wood--I think we may have this potty thing figured out!  Now we just have to work on redressing. :o)

Lincoln has definitely started missing Emily during the day.  At least once a day he asks, "Where's Emiwee?"  Luckily, I had an opportunity pop up out of the blue to provide some substitute day care for a super nice little boy who is exactly six months older than Lincoln.  It will only be seven days over the next three months, but it provides an occasional playmate for Lincoln when he gets lonely or sick of me.  So far it has gone great.  Lincoln loves playing with Owen, and they'll be in the same preschool class next year.  

It has also been good influence because Owen does an hour-long quiet time after lunch.  Lincoln had pretty much stopped napping altogether.  With Owen around, Lincoln has learned to spend at least a little quiet time in his room after lunch--twice falling asleep when he really did need a nap, which gave me a little extra free time during the day.  Of course, we pay for it later when he's awake until 10:00pm, but some days it's worth it!

Lincoln still loves playing with trains and cars and trucks.  His favorite game, though, is called "Trashy Town" named after the book Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman.  It consists of Lincoln emptying various tubs and boxes of games/building pieces/books/etc. into the back of his big dump truck and depositing them all in a large pile.  (See Labor Day Weekend post)  Unfortunately, Lincoln is not a very big help when it comes to sorting everything back out at the end of the day.  He might get one set of things (like just the train tracks) picked up in the time the rest of us pick up everything else.

Lincoln's favorite song this month has been "Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink."  You will catch him singing it to himself several times a day.  He also loves dancing to the "Container" song on the "candle" (i.e. "Entertainer" on the piano/keyboard).  He also loves taking pictures with the "cramra" whenever you get it out.

With all of Emily's art projects going on, Lincoln has started taking an interest in art himself.  His favorite media is markers on paper.  He usually takes all the lids off of all the markers and lines them up on the table.  Then he grabs several in his fist and starts scribbling as hard as he can on the paper until it is so soaked it's ready to rip.  When he's finished, he asks to hang it on the refrigerator and announces, "I need to stand back and look at it."--just like the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. :o)