going for the gold

ok, anyone else ridiculously addicted to the olympics and getting less sleep than usual because of this sad addiction? ...thought so. as sad as i will be when they are over next week, i will be glad to be able to go to sleep earlier at night!
so apparently Lexi was trying to break the world record for longest stay of an umbilical stump. she is 4 weeks and 2 days old and just lost her stump TODAY! how ridiculous is that?! ...i thought she would be going to high school with that thing still attached. we are so glad it's gone, but that doesn't mean we can stop cleaning her belly button or give her a normal bath yet. the actual belly button underneath the stump still hasn't completely closed up, so it looks like we'll be waiting another week or so before she can have a real bath. i will be glad to get some soap on her stinky neck! -wipes just don't keep the stink off the neck for very long!
she HAS had 2 real baths, actually. during both, we were super careful not to get her belly button wet, but it did end up getting wet during the second bath (which is the reason she hasn't had another one since then). that's probably a major contributing factor to the fact that her stump took so long to fall off and that it's still not normal, so i'd rather deal with a stinky necked baby than one that's going to have a deformed belly button forever.
so i can't believe that she's going to be a month old tomorrow. she's still too small for her 0-3 month clothes and only fitting into some of her newborn stuff. i can't believe that i've been semi- sleep deprived for a whole month now. although, she does sleep pretty well and actually slept 5 1/2 consecutive hours last night! i'd say that's pretty dang impressive for a 1-month-old!
lincoln's 4th birthday is rapidly approaching. his party is a week from tomorrow and his actual bday is the day after his party. we've ordered a pretty awesome spiderman cake and have everything all ready to go. we're all pretty excited about it. i just can't believe that he's going to be 4. where has the time gone!?
lincoln is so ready for school to start (i am too!). he starts back in just a couple of weeks. i am looking forward to him getting to spend some time playing with other kids. i'm also looking foward to having a little more time for myself to think, among other things. we've been driving each other a bit crazy the past week or two. he's going through some crazy stage and actually told me 2 days ago that i've "ruined his life". ha, that sure didn't take me long!
link is sooooo helpful with lexi. he's my official gopher. it seems like every time i sit down to nurse lexi, i think of something i need. he is more than happy to run and grab things for me.
the other day, i was trying to cook dinner, but was having a bit of trouble getting things done thanks to a sleepy/fussy baby. so i just put lexi down on her baby gym, on her belly, for a bit of tummy time so i could get stuff done. usually she enjoys being on her tummy- but not that day. any time she would start crying, lincoln would run from the kitchen into the living room, pat lexi on the back, and say "SHH SHH SHH SHH" like he always hears me do. ...about half an hour later, i had moved lexi into the kitchen and put her in her bouncer, and lincoln was making sure it kept bouncing and that lexi's pacifier wouldn't fall out of her mouth; all the time saying, "SHH SHH SHH". he is such a great big brother. i knew he would be, but he has by far exceeded my expectations.
ok, this is plenty long and i am going to go use my little bit of peace and quiet to go get something more productive done.