Oh What Fun!

 

After singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" for weeks at bedtime and a visit at school from the big man himself (which terrified Owen), Santa made an impressive appearance at the Linker house.  

Santa brought new socks and candy for the grown-ups and a play kitchen and a Star Wars loot for Owen. There were books, toys, clothes and kitchen accessories galore from our families. 

But the crown jewel of the 2014 holiday season were Owen's new Octonaut toys from Grandpa. Here's Owen after an exhausting day of play. Two words. Christmas hangover.

Photo Shoot

I try to capture life's exciting moments like Mitchell sitting up on his own and Owen catching a ball. Unfortunately, life's exciting moments always seem to be blurry. Enter the professionals.

Despite scarred faces, runny noses and general late afternoon crankiness, we took the Linker boys for a holiday photo shoot. I felt a little better about my lack of skills when the photographer told me that Owen and Mitchell are at "really hard ages to photograph." I'm pretty sure she said this as Owen was tackling his baby brother. While in focus, we only got a handful of good pictures. The out takes, however, are still pretty fun.

"Take Me To Your Leader."

"Hmm, not quite sure what's going on here," says Mitch.

 "Hey, Mitchell, why are Mom and Dad waving and jumping? They look like a couple of idiots."

"Yup," says Mitch. "Pretty much."

My Middle Name is Kohler

Steve suggested we change Mitchell's middle name to Kohler. Like the faucet. It's fitting. This baby is a drooly mess. Owen often demands that I clean his toys after Mitchell gets his slimy little mitts on them. This has been going on for months with no tooth bud in sight.

Teething is certainly an adventure and while I remember Owen being a bear while he was getting his molars and angry-teeth (the canines), I do not remember drool and discomfort like this. We literally plow through multiple bibs and shirts a day.

Here is Mitch in his natural state. Without sock and toy munching. We even tried a Baltic amber teething necklace which is supposed to slow the faucet down to a trickle. The necklace was no match for this fierce drool monster.

 

Sleep tight drooly one...