Tree Frog

From the very beginning, Lincoln has been a love. Like his daddy, LT runs about 10 degrees warmer than the average bear and wiggly as he is, he still loves a good snuggle. Quite often when I scoop him up off the floor (where he now army crawls with all get-out, usually to get the one thing on the floor that we have overlooked but that he most definitely should not have), he wraps his legs and arms around me and clings on like a little monkey. His sister used to do the exact same thing, shirt grab and all (although she had a few other grab styles at this age, too). But since HD is my monkey (and RL my owl), perhaps I need to amend that statement so it reads that LT clings on like a little tree frog, since that is his given animal. It looks a little something like this:

[And yes, I often end up dressed in similar patterns or colors as at least one of my children; my theory on this is that we are like those couples who spend so much time together, they end up looking like twins.]

While the clinging may not be an original move, Lincoln's head-snuggle-on-the-shoulder when in my arms certainly is. It doesn't happen every time, but quite often when I scoop him up and he clings on, he also leans in for a little extra contact with my collarbones; it is gentle and soft and so, so sweet. So, so him. And today I found out that he is willing to use this charm on others, too.

I had a chiropractor appointment this morning and had to take the two littlest Littles with me; this always ends up being unfortunate because LT is at the age where he gets totally freaked out by the noise of the table when it drops and he starts screeching. My doc and his office staff are quite used to this, though, because it really is an age thing. Raegan used to be the same way and they see it all the time with babies who are tagging along for appointments. Usually the Bigs do their best to entertain/distract him, but today after we were taken back to the exam room, the office assistant who lead us there offered to take Little Man for me so he wouldn't be scared. I decided to risk Stranger Danger vs. Loud Noise Startles and let her scoot out the door with him. [The beauty of the third kid is that you are (or least I am) a lot more wiling to let other people hold your baby for you. As many of my friends will attest, when we are out in public at the Y or Children's Museum or anywhere where someone might need to use the potty and therefore need my assistance, I'm quite good at asking, "Do you mind holding Lincoln for a second?" and then passing him off to the closest volunteer. And they hardly ever mind (or hardly ever tell me so, anyway) because he is so darn chill and snuggle-tastic). So really it was no surprise this morning when he clung on to her side just like his little tree frog self as they left. When she returned him to me five-ish minutes later, she said he didn't make one peep. I could tell she was a wee bit reluctant to hand him back, especially as we were making the exchange and talking about how warm he is and he suddenly decided to pull the shoulder cuddle move causing her to exclaim, "And he does that!" Like I said, someone knows how to work the charm!