3 years + 6 months

Lincoln is officially 3 1/2!  He still loves everything train (especially Thomas).  He also loves helping in the kitchen and with the laundry.  I gladly let him dig stuff out of the back of the washer and dryer.  He also likes to push the start buttons.  In the kitchen his self-appointed job is to stir the dry ingredients and lick the beaters.  He also likes to arrange the muffin cup liners and play with the dishes in the sink.

Another thing Lincoln has really enjoyed this month is puzzles.  He has graduated from peg puzzles to 24-piece jigsaw puzzles.  He also can play 8-pair Memory without assistance.

A funny quirk Lincoln has had lately is adding "I like" to all his answers to questions.  For instance, if you ask him, "Are you done or would you like more?" his answer is, "I like done."  "Would you like to do a puzzle or play a game?"  "I like puzzle."  "Are you ready to go?" "I like yes."

Since Emily started Kindergarten, it has become increasingly clear that Lincoln is an extrovert.  He can play well independently for a significant amount of time, but he prefers to have a playmate, or at least an audience.  He thrives at play dates and in other social situations.  It's obvious that he gets lonely when Emily is gone all day.  It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the future living with three introverts!

That being said, it's no surprise that Lincoln is loving his Little Go-Hawk preschool experience.  He has won the hearts of all the high school students.  They have put together some fun lessons.  Below are pictures of some of the name tag/crafts and Lincoln with his "Big Person", Tara, on the day she did a lesson on cooking.

Crazy squirrel

I happened to glance out the window today and discovered a squirrel ravenously attacking a pumpkin on the back porch.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  I wish I would have taken a video.  I think he would have hauled the pumpkin off with him if he could have  Thankfully, it's almost time to put the fall decorations away. 

Family pictures

Earlier this fall my good friend, Kodi Rohne, took family pictures for us.  It was a super windy day, but she did a great job taking and editing them.  Below are a few of my favorites, as well as a slideshow of them all.

Cupcake love

Lincoln loves a good cupcake (or pretty much anything with frosting).

Land of Legos

As mentioned in an earlier post, we have entered the world of Legos.   We set up a little table in the basement where Emily has spent hours assembling her Lego kits over and over.

First piano recital

Emily had her very first piano recital today!  It was a very informal affair with ten piano students of three Wartburg college student teachers.  The entire thing only lasted 15 minutes.  The main purpose was to give the kids experience playing in front of people.  Emily did great!  She sat right down and played well without any hint of nervousness.  Her song was called "Fog at Sea" by William Gillock.  Below is a video of her performance plus another one of her playing it at home.  I'm not biased or anything, but I think it's pretty impressive for someone who has had eight weeks of piano lessons! ;o)

Globe puzzle

Puzzles are popular in our house.  Emily recently found a 3D globe puzzle I got as a kid and was determined to put it together.  She worked on it for several days by herself before enlisting some help from Mom & Dad.  The puzzle has numbered pieces that start from the bottom and have you work in a circle spiraling up, so you don't have to try to match up the exterior picture.  It was also in chunks from the last time I put it together 20+ years ago.  However, it's still really tricky trying to get things to stay in place without collapsing.  Emily was very proud of the finished product!

Kindergarten art

At Emily's school, they don't have art class in Kindergarten (boo!), so the teachers have to incorporate art projects in their lesson plans.  Here are some of the projects from the first couple months of school:

During September, Emily's class reviewed one letter per day and made an art project with each one.  These are hanging up on the art wall in the basement.  You might notice that "M" with glued-on macaroni and "S"  covered in star stickers are missing.  They were the first two letters and went missing before I decided to keep and display all of them. ;o)

Emily had to make an "All About Me" poster at home.

Another homework project was to go on a nature walk and make a collage of the things you collected.

These two went along with books.  The first is Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom.  I'm not sure about the green monster one. :o)

October 2012 Videos

Trick-or-treat

The kids' costumes were very simple.  They were put together using things we already had or borrowed or Emily made.  At first, Lincoln wanted to be Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.  Then he REALLY wanted to be a "butter-thy" like Emily.  I finally convinced him to be a cowboy like Curious George in Curious George Goes to a Costume Party.  He had to bring a costume to preschool on Tuesday.

Emily had to bring her butterfly costume to school twice, but I never saw the full outfit complete with butterfly flip-flops, thus no picture.  Austin usually takes the kids trick-or-treating while I stay home and answer the door, but he was traveling for work.  Thankfully, our international host student eagerly volunteered to take the kids even though she had never been trick-or-treating before.  The kids had fun going out around the neighborhood for about 45 min. until Emily's basket was full and Andjelka had to get back to campus for a meeting.  We had very few trick-or-treaters even though the weather was decent.  There's a reason I buy Mounds and KitKats to hand out! ;o)