11 Months

Just a word of warning, you may get a Lincoln overload if you read this whole post.

So here he is, the little rascal at 11 months. The picture above is quite a typical look for him... grinning with a bruise on his head. Anyway, his stats (measured by me so no gaurantee of their accuracy) are as follows:

• Weight: 22 lbs 11 oz (50th Percentile)
• Height: 29.75 in (50th Percentile)

Here is an illustrated list of Lincoln's recent hobbies:

1) Sharing his food and toys with Lucy. I've given up on trying to stop it cause it happens behind my back anyway. Lincoln hasn't gotten sick from Lucy germs so, whatever.

2) Taking baby steps. He gets a little nervous after two or three steps and crouches down to safety. (Sorry about the video, Matt didn't know that you can't rotate a video, so you'll just have to rotate your head)

3) Turning the pages during story time.

4) Playing with dad (and his wallet).

5) Playing in his play pen but ONLY if accompanied. Matt takes little siestas in there while Lincoln does his thing. Pretty funny.

6) Playing "Hit the Toy". I love the noises he makes while in pursuit of his rolling toy. I'm sure the downstairs neighbors appreciate this game.

7) Tearing up any scrap of paper that happens to be on the floor. Lucy and Lincoln are quite the tag team. Sometimes I just give them a piece of paper to tear up just to keep them busy. They are very good at taking turns.

Anyway, he is a delight (most of the time) and we're so glad he's a part of our family. It's hard to believe that A) he's almost a year old and B) we already have another one on the way. Yowzers!

Here are some (non-Lincoln related) bonus features :

In Korea, they sell their carrots straight out of the ground. They are just as dirty as can be. It's actually kind of hard to tell if they're in good shape or not cause they are so dirty. It really takes some elbow grease and some special spounges to get them clean. And there's no such thing as a baby carrot around here. These are all "Big Daddy" size... 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter at the biggest part. Here's a before and after.

Um... my belly really popped out these last four weeks. A little more torpedo like.

Last but not least, another precious "Day in the Life" moment:

You're all probably gagging after that video, knowing that Lincoln and Lucy share toys. Don't judge us, K?

Pros to Pregnancy in Korea

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about being pregnant and having a baby in a foreign country, but I've discovered there are a lot of pros to being pregnant in Korea. First and foremost is that you are issued a "Pregnant Booklet", not a "Pregnancy Booklet" or "Prenatal Booklet" but a "Pregnant Booklet". I can't read a thing in it but they log my weight and blood pressure in it every time I go. Doesn't the little cartoon lady look so... what's the word.... "Happiness"? I love it!

Another perk is that you get an ultrasound every time you go!!! I love seeing the baby wiggle around in there and feel the kicks at the same time. Here are the latest photos of Baby Adsero 2:

Head and Arm

Spine and Leg

Feetsies

Last but not least, people don't judge you by your looks cause you're a foreigner. You're supposed to be different and weird so they just let things slide. Maybe they don't let things slide and they're saying mean things right to my face but at least I don't know it. During this pregnancy I've grown some weird bang type things that are very difficult to deal with. I try to hairspray them back or to the side but when it's a little rainy or humid, they often end up looking like this. Yikes!!! Not cute.

Here are some bonus pics from a hike we went on today. The hike was a really long and steep one. We were only planning to do a little of it given that I'm 5 months pregnant, Matt had Lincoln strapped to his chest and I had to deal with our crazy dog that loves pulling on the leash. When we were about an 8th of a mile into it, we encountered a man on his way down. He stopped us, looked at us, and simply said "No" and signed that the hike was too long, and too tall for us. We were trying to explain in our best charades that we understood and weren't planning on doing the whole thing. He just kept saying "No". So funny. We gave up and went on our way. I'm pretty sure we're all going to be sore tomorrow.

Not our best family pic. I could stand a tan and some facial liposuction, Lucy could maybe get more of her face in the picture, Matt could open his eyes a little and Lincoln could smile instead of the "What do you want?" look on his face, but it it was a fun hike and good quality family togetherness time.

No, no, no!!! (etc.)

Lately Lincoln has been shaking his head "No" just for the fun of it. Getting ready for when he's 2, I guess. Sometimes he does it so hard that he falls over whether sitting or standing. If you start doing it, he'll mimic you. Anyway, here he is this morning telling me "No, no, no!!!".

For those of you needing your Lincoln fix, here are some photos from this morning:

Morning nap

Look at those chubby cheekers

"Hey, mom! When are you going to give me a bath and get me outta these jammies? It's 11:30 AM already!!"

Matt says, "Look! The Pied Piper did it again!!!"

Getting Bigger

itunes = The Pied Piper

I think Lincoln is coming down with something so he has been extra needy the past few days. Usually he is really quite good at playing on his own, but just now, I was trying to get some stuff done for a family history website I'm creating, and he kept pulling on my leg wanting to sit on my lap, but then when he got up on my lap, he'd arch his back and want down. When I'd put him down he'd start crying. I was done playing that game, so knowing that he loves music, I turned on itunes while I worked. He just sat quietly on my lap. He didn't play with anything, put anything in his mouth or wiggle. He just sat there and listened to the music. After about 10 minutes, his head kind of drooped a little. I couldn't really tell if he was trying to grab something or what but I leaned forward to see what he was doing. He was fast asleep resting his cheek on the desk. This is not the first time that something like this has happened. itunes is our Pied Piper, but I'm grateful it only led him to sleep rather than to his death.

For Laura: A Walk in the Rain

This one's for you Lars. This is truly a day in the life of Charlotte, Lincoln and Lucy Adsero. Every day sometime around 2 or 3 o'clock, Lucy, Lincoln and I head outside for a walk come rain or shine. Lucy dog has gotta go when she's gotta go, so... we go. Today was rainy... not my favorite days to go for a stroll. Here we are:

Shortly after this video was taken, the wheel of Lincoln's "Space Stroller" fell off. I kicked it back on hoping that that would cut it, but 3 feet later it fell off again. I kicked it back on for the second time, but yet again, it fell off. I decided that this problem was going to require a little more brain power and a little less brute force, so I pulled the pin out that holds the wheel on, pinched it so it would squeeze on the bearing a little tighter, put it back on and I thought we were in the clear, but it fell off again. Just as I was bending down to fiddle with the pin some more, the light drizzle turned into a down pour. Lincoln started fussing and Lucy was pulling every which way on the leash while I was trying to to get the pin aligned just right. Finally, I thought I had it. Another three feet went by and yes, it fell off AGAIN!!

Matt confessed to me not long ago that he occasionally under very extreme and dyer circumstances he swears in his head. I told him that he's silly and that if he's gonna think it, he might as well say it. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you do get a few points in heaven for biting your tongue, but regardless, I think swearing's dumb. I told him proudly that I NEVER think about swearing.

Today as my pant legs and plumber's region turned from damp to soaked while stooping over the broken wheel, I thought that if there was ever going to be a time when I'd think about swearing, that moment would be an ideal time. So, I must confess that I did think about thinking of a swear word but none came to mind. So instead, I said one of those desperate prayers that don't have a formal beginning or end which went something like, "PLEASE!!! Just help me fix this tire!!!". Upon further inspection of the pin, I noticed that it was worn down on one side so I flipped the pin over, clamped it down and TA DA!!! Fixed! I stood up and briskly made the short walk (which would have been a very long walk with a broken wheel, fussy baby and crazy dog) home.

NON-RELATED SIDE NOTE:

A few weeks ago, Matt was helping me with dinner and accidentally spilled some boiling water on Lucy dog who likes to lay on the kitchen mat right by the sink. It was total drama. She was yelping which scared Lincoln so he started bawling. I was yelling to Matt, "Where did she get burned?!!! Where did she get burned?!!!" as I was trying to throw some cool water on Lucy to stop the burning. Meanwhile, Matt was trying to deal with the rest of the boiling water and the food burning on the stove. Anyway, it was mayhem. We spent the rest of the evening pouring cool water on her and trying to comfort her, not knowing exactly where or how seriously she got burned. After several days a scab formed which has since sluffed off leaving a hairless and crusty patch. It makes me so sad to look at her. I hope that it won't scar and that her hair will grow back. Our poor beautiful dog now looks like a white trash family owns her. I keep thinking of the scripture in Isaiah where God says he's going to curse the daughters of Zion or Israel or something with baldness instead of beauty. Poor Lucy has been cursed.

Wow, after telling Laura I had nothing to blog about, looks like I thought of something. Sorry, that was kind of a long one.