He's ONE!

Lincoln turned one today. It's been a fast year filled with lots and lots of smiles from our youngest family member. Lincoln wakes up happy. Kara receives the first of his happy smiles. After an hour or two she passes guardianship of The Smiler to either Bentley or me. We then get to start our day with lots of smiles. By ten o'clock the twins are up and receive their smiles from Lincoln and then great-grandma shows up and Lincoln and she greet each other with grins and giggles. It's a good way to start the day. (Matt and Mark have to wait until they come home to collect their Lincoln smiles. Their days do not start as happy as ours.)

In between greeting everyone he's busy exploring the main floor area. He empties his toy basket, pulls out more toys from the older kids' toy shelf, opens up kitchen cupboards and drawers, helps unload the dishwasher, eats breakfast, takes books off the bookshelf, hugs the kitty, climbs on the couch, visits with great-grandma, plays ball with his siblings, rides his little car, cleans out great-grandma's basket (if it's not put up high), escapes through open doors, and runs everywhere. All this happens before noon when he takes his first nap. It's an exhausting schedule and therefore he's usually a great napper. 

Lincoln is very good (for his age) with a ball. He kicks the ball right to you. He throws the ball well, too. We thought Bentley and Jake had good ball skills when they were toddlers, but Lincoln is even better. It doesn't hurt to have two older brothers to practice with.

Lincoln is cute, cute, cute, fun, energetic, talkative (very!), good-natured, charming, tough, athletic, and smart. He loves to play with or even just watch his siblings, but he's also content to be on his own following his own agenda. He's a delight to spend time with. Lincoln is a fantastic addition to our family bringing good cheer to all.

Happy First Birthday Lincoln!