A Boy of Iron

​In under three months, we'll be celebrating Lincoln's second birthday. I'd usually say something like, "I can't believe he's almost two." But, I can believe it. Lincoln's life has been packed full since he arrived, and it does, in fact, feel like it's almost been two years since we brought him home. If he hasn't been at a doctor's appointment, he's been traveling through some state or another, and moving from one house to the next. Thankfully, he is healthy and seems to have adjusted well to all the changes that have come his way since 2014. 

​After an ultrasound on Lincoln's spine that turned out to be nothing of concern--thank God--the next primary medical issue for Lincoln since his birth has been food allergies. We noticed it early on and it became extremely evident once he started eating solids. Some foods were easy to pinpoint, and other remained elusive. He seemed to react to just about everything he ate. A radioallergosorbent blood test (which our doctor says isn't that accurate) showed that he is allergic to sesame seeds, oats, eggs, coconut, peanuts, and one other food I can't recall. (There's too much with this kid to remember it all.) After a terrible reaction to a cashew, Lincoln was referred to an allergist to inspect further. When he ate a single cashew three months ago his entire face quickly broke out in a rash, then he began holding his throat and proceeded to vomit several times. Luckily, a Benedryl calmed down the reaction. Surprisingly, the prick test showed that he did not have allergies to a single nut; obviously, he is allergic to cashews, from our experience. His reaction was so severe that the doctor prescribed us an EpiPen to have on hand for the next few years. The rest of his prick test results showed that he has allergies to cats, dogs, dust, mites, bananas, pineapples, strawberries, and peaches. He also has a contact allergy to wheat. I felt terrible he had to undergo all this testing, but he did a phenomenal job! We've been advised to not remove any foods from his diet, aside from cashews. 

Since our arrival in New York, Lincoln has also seen an ophthalmologist to follow up on his eye surgery in February. He had a bilateral tear duct probing that worked perfectly to resolve his blocked tear ducts. This appointment showed that his eyes are working perfectly. Between all the doctor appointments Lincoln has had to endure, he finally decided he'd had enough and he was going to let everyone know it. Let's just say that he wasn't on his best behavior for the eye doctor (understandably!). She deemed him "a boy of iron" after three of us could barely hold him down for the examination after his eyes had been dilated. 

Next, Lincoln had to visit an ear, nose, and throat specialist this month. He is tongue-tied and we needed to see if he required surgery for speech concerns. The doctor said that the frenulum under his tongue is mild and he will not need surgery-whew! And last week, he had to see yet another doctor for an ear infection. Our next stop is immunizations since he is behind schedule on his vaccines due to a hematoma that developed from a shot last October. Our poor little guy. Can he catch a break? 

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​The other prominent part of his life has been moving, moving, moving. Our little guy has been forced to sit in this car seat far too much in 2016! In February, we moved to Alabama, stopping at all the states in between there and Arizona to lessen our driving time. Three months later we packed up once again and traveled up the east coast to reach our new station in New York. We moved into a vacation home temporarily until we found housing and then finally settled into our log cabin in the woods. In the last six months, Lincoln has slept in approximately 13 different locations. Welcome to the military, buddy!

​On the personality front, our guy is all over the spectrum, but isn't that true for all one-year olds learning to assert their independence?! He is insatiably sweet and cuddly, and if not there, you can find him in a corner having a tantrum. He's mastered some funny faces and loves to laugh, so I think we might have a jokester on our hands. His language is coming along well and he's beginning to put four words together. Lincoln is enthralled with any form of transportation--trucks, cars, trains, planes, helicopters, and tractors. You can find him at any point of any day with one of those toys in hand. Thankfully, he's still a huge fan of books, too. Lincoln is also pretty attached to that pacifier! At this point with Adeline, we had weened her to only using it at naptime and bedtime, but we're not there with Lincoln. He's having a lot harder time teething and it seems to provide him needed comfort. 

The most exciting development over the last few months is the friendship that has developed between Lincoln and Adeline. We're finally at the point where he's not constantly upsetting her by destroying her creations and taking her toys. She loves her role as the leader among the two of them and he seems happy to comply with her directions almost all the time. Most of the time she is really sweet with him and often is the one to break him out of a tantrum, offering him exactly what he needs. It's such a blessing to see this relationship begin to form!

My heart literally feels like it may burst with love for this little boy. I can't tell you how many times a day I'm saying, "I love you so much!" to Lincoln. God gave him the most irresistible smile and the most contagious laugh (probably to balance his horrific scream-talk and hourly tantrums). Nonetheless, I feel so blessed that he's a happy, cuddly child and spends so much time with his head on my chest--how I'll miss these moments! I'm eager to see his growth over the next three months and to celebrate his second birthday in December. I love you, my boy of iron!