1/2 of 1!

How is it possible that Sweet Mr. Lincoln is already six months old? Six months?! I guess for good measure I should just go ahead and underline that last statement as well - that's how shocked I am at how quickly those six months have come and gone. Didn't I just push him out on a 90+ degree holiday? But suddenly here we are at the beginning of January and we're set to have some of the coldest temps in decades (see what I did there?), and my baby is quickly working his way into being a little person. Craziness.

Half birthdays are interesting. I remember being overjoyed when Harrison hit two-and-a-half, simply because I had survived a whole half of the terrible twos (I think I even texted my brother in celebration on that Jan. 22 two years ago). Of course, in time, I learned that when my friends had said "Just wait til he's three. Just wait til his' four" they knew what they were talking about. So now I know that hitting a half birthday isn't about celebrating surviving, it's about celebrating thriving. 2014 is going to be the year of perspective, my friends, so while you'll still be getting stories from me and mine about us and ours (including our less than shining moments), I want you all to know that I am working this year to remember that my perspective, my attitude, about where I am and what I am doing is, well, it's pretty much everything.

So half a year with Lincoln. My perspective and attitude on that? It's been awesome. It's been exhausting. It's been like it couldn't have been any other way. I needed to have some of those growing pains and struggles (hello hips-post-third-baby) to get me into situations and places from which I could grow. Enter yoga. Enter opening up to friends about my struggles. Enter a commitment to love first and leave the rest for later (OK, so I'm still not great at leaving all the other for later because then it would never get done, but hey, I'm a work in progress). That's enough, though, about me. What I really want to do here is tell you all about this adorable little big-eyed baby boy who is my best little buddy.

As the third, there are definitely more times that I set Lincoln down or walk away from him than I did with the first two because I inevitably have to go see what the first two are up to when they wander away from us to play elsewhere in the house. A Four and a Two can only be left alone so long before you start to wonder what's up! But Lincoln is patient with me and if I do set him down, he tends to wiggle contently on the floor until I return. Lately he's taken his Super Baby moves a step beyond and started flipping from back to tummy and tummy to back, so I know these days of leaving him are numbered because once he's mobile, look out. I'm going to have a world of work on my hands keeping him away from everything that the Four and the Two leave out that the >1 shouldn't have. Seriously. That is going to be scary. But for now we're all happy because he's fairly limited to blankets on the floor where he loves to explore toys and burp rags and teethers with his mouth and his busy, busy hands.

Speaking of busy hands, I have learned in the last few weeks that I need to look out when nursing LT during the day. Holy Moly Windmill Arms, Batman! He reminds me of Baby Raegan who was never very pleasant to nurse because there is just so much movement. Thank goodness I've gotten his sharp little fingernails under control, otherwise my face and lips and chest would be covered in tiny scratches because his free hand just whips all over the place as he eats. I am also thanking goodness for dream feeds. Every night between 9:00 and 10:00, Ben and I head upstairs where I get settled in one of my beloved gliders and he collects Lincoln for me. Then I sit and nurse the sleepiest, sweetest little boy you've ever seen. It is quiet and peaceful and beautiful. It is warm and snuggly and my heart could just about burst with love for my Littlest Man every single night. Those dream feeds totally make up for any nursing shenanigans during the day. Actually, they heal me of petty much all daily shenanigans, so even though I sometimes don't like having to end my evening shortly after 9 p.m., it does my body and soul good to spend that nightly time with Mr. Lincoln.

Seeing as this first half of the first year has gone by so quickly, I can only imagine how soon it will once again be blazing hot (although that seems unlikely on a cold day like today!) and Lincoln will be one and on the verge of walking and then talking and all the other amazing things he's going to learn and do and be. I can't hardly wait to see his personality and happy heart grow. He may be the crappiest napper on the planet (did I forget to mention that in the post? oh well..."perspective" can also be exchanged for "overlooking"), but we couldn't be happier to have him as part of our little family. Happy Half, Linky!