Dad told me a lot of stories about you. Almost all revolved around hijinks that got you in trouble. There was the time you crawled on the floor and accidentally plugged off dad's computer. There was the time you vomited on mom's paperwork and played your vomit like a mud puddle. Ewww. There was also the time you crushed Lori's dollhouse and played with it like your freaking Godzilla. There was also then that we dressed you like a spider, both Leni and dad gone berserk scared. Oh, and before I forget, you almost ruined Luna and Luan's performance recital by crawling onstage and begging them to carry you. That was kind of cute, but I digress. Your baby self still embarrassed them. But most of all, you slobbered all over my first ever baseball, thinking it to be a ball of cheese. I still can't forget that time. I still have it with me.
Lynn then pulls the aforementioned ball from her pocket to her siblings and even throws it on the air. The ball was tattered with bite marks, scratches and soaked patches. Still, it is able to accept such a force on air.
"Oooooh…" her siblings all hoot in response.
"This is all you, Lincoln," Lynn says.
"That thing?" Lincoln replies, "Man, and I thought my baby teeth wouldn't be that sharp to munch a ball."
"They did," Lynn confirms, "That somehow got me remembering one thing..."
Now back to the story, I think I was 3 years old at that time, and I somehow to develop very well to become the athlete I am right now, like to learn how to speak…
Rita is teaching Lynn of basic vocabulary, with the aid of cue cards. However, being the athletic junkie she will be in the future, Lynn is showing sure signs of that direction from her late infancy.
"Okay Lynn, repeat after me. A…"
"A…" Lynn repeats babyishly.
"Apple."
"Aaapplee…"
"No, no. It's apple. Apple."
"Appplee…"
"No. Not applee. A-pple. Apple."
"Appuppabol…Hehe…"
"Okay, never mind that. Here is an easy one." She then shows an easier flash card, showing an illustration of a basketball. "Now, B…"
"B…"
"Good. Ball…?"
"Orange!"
"No, this is not an orange. This is a ball."
"Orange!"
Seeing the results, Rita halts her session with Lynn.
…how to interpret stuff…
Lynn Sr. gets home from work and sees Lynn by the baby stool. He then gives her an orange as a take-home gift. "Here you go, my little sporty princess. Help yourself."
The then-infant Lynn feels so amused with the citrus fruit that her father gave to her that she of course throws it up in the air and shoots it like a ball towards Lynn Sr.'s direction, shooting it at his bald capped head.
The latter then immediately turns to Lynn, who gives him an innocent smile. "Lynn, did you shoot your ball on me again?"
But Lynn only mutters in excited baby gibberish.
"Well, I am watching you, squirt. Better not slip away from my eyes." And ironically enough, Lynn Sr. steps onto the orange that Lynn threw and trips over it.
Lynn is able to witness her father's mishap but gets to laugh at it, instead.
"Lynn Jr.!" he shouts as she laughs louder.
…and how to behave properly.
At one family Christmas occasion, the Loud children in Yuletide attire present themselves in front of the Loud kin and sing "Christmas Time is Here". But as they sing the whole carol, Lynn forgets the words to the song since she was not paying attention to their mother who was helping them perform perfectly. She instead bellows gibberish as her sisters hit the soothing chorus, despite being warned not to behave erratically.
"Booowwwooo raaawwwoooo bowwaarroooo…" Lynn goes nonstop with her bawling that everybody becomes stunned at this feat and her sisters stop their performance, realizing that their sister is embarrassing them. "Bawwwoooo." As she ends, everyone has their jaws dropped. But amidst the awkward silence, baby Lincoln randomly applauds it.
But the latter was a disaster.
Later on, during the dinner session, Lynn gets grounded for behavior and is placed on timeout at one side, with only a platter of baby carrots and a pomegranate as her dinner, to which she pushes aside. Surprisingly, baby Lincoln walks to her to offer her a corn muffin.
"You don't need to, squirt," Lynn says.
But Lincoln still offers her the muffin and then places it on her lap.
Pleased at her brother's charitable deed, Lynn says, "You know what, you're okay. Come here," and then lifts up her baby brother to her seat. "You know, someday, I would be the best athlete in the world. Or even the best wrestler. You do see my wrestling moves, eyy bro? But for that to come true, I could use a team buddy who could help me become the very best that no one ever was."
In response, Lincoln enthusiastically raises his hand to volunteer.
"What is it Lincoln? You want to be my sparring partner? Or team buddy?" Lynn asks.
Lincoln then nods happily.
"Hmmm good, there's a lot of work to do little brother." Lynn then cuts the muffin into half and gives the other half to Lincoln. "Here you go. You deserve it. Thank you brother."
They then clink their muffins together like champagne glasses and gobble on it unevenly.
It was happier times with Lincoln. And what more could be happier than celebrating Lincoln's birthday? Or it was, before we went through unexpected hijinks.
On that day itself, everyone is pretty much busy. Mom was busy handling the birthday preparations. Lori helped along with the cooking. Leni contributed to blowing on the balloons that she suddenly had a deep voice that is so…scary.
In the living room, Leni takes out one piece of balloon and inflates it with her mouth. However, it does not bloat. Then, with a huge deep breath, she blows more air to the balloon, to end up in the same results. She then takes the deepest breath she could ever take but accidentally gulps the helium inside the balloon.
Several kids who are party guests arrive, and Leni greets them with a James Earl Jones voice. "Hello kids!"
The children then suddenly cower from Leni's scary deep voice.
"What's wrong guys? You look so scared. It's like there's a monster right behind me."
And just saying the word "monsters" scares the children that they end up fleeing out of the house.
"Was there something I said? Is there really a monster behind me? Oh no! I am the monster! No!"
Luna was preparing a song number. Luan is practicing her clown act that went bonkers.
Luan is attempting to balance on riding a unicycle. She however gets one chance to balance to the contraption and utters a punchline, "Now there, ladies and gentlemen, you wheel see how a girl can stand on her own foot. Hehehe. Get it?" Unfortunately, she loses her balances and falls to the floor. Though, she still feels to pull of this line, "Ouuwwwchh…well, I really fell for that punchline. Hehehe. Get it?"
As for me and Lincoln, dad took care of us for the moment, since we planned to surprise our dear baby brother.
Lynn Sr. takes Lynn Jr. and Lincoln for a bath in the bathtub (just as depicted in the episode "The Whole Picture"). As part of the arrangements for Lincoln's birthday, Rita persuades Lynn Sr. to take Lincoln outside for leisure time. With that, he decides to tag Lynn along for the ride to help him keep watch over Lincoln.
As the older sister and younger brother play in the bathtub water, Lynn Sr. takes a picture of this candid moment. "Oh, that's a sweet moment," he utters.
Suddenly, Lynn throws water to her dad, with Lincoln following suit. "Hey dad, watch this!" She then energetically pats on the water like she was chopping planks of wood for karate.
"Oh I don't think so!" Lynn Sr. then joins his children in playing with their bath water, and they soon soak him with soap foam that eventually covered the whole bathroom, just to add joys of their fun bath time.
But after some time passes, Lynn Sr. singlehandedly gets rid of the foam and dresses his two children to prepare for their unannounced trip outside. Their outfits are mostly the infant versions of their original clothes, only with Lincoln with just being a diaper for his bottom.
"Now there, my darling pies. We're off ready for our trip," Lynn Sr. utters.
"But dad, where we going?" Lynn asks in a slow manner, as toddlers would.
"We are going for a nice ride with the fresh wind in our faces." He radically accentuates his point by taking a deep breath. "And possibly end in a park or what."
"Park?"
"Yes Lynn dear. The park. Where people see trees grow, and plants grow, and insects grow, and lovers go to the extra mile."
"I don't understand, daddy."
"Oh forget the last one. That one was a joke. But imagine. Just nature at its finest. To witness."
"Oh...Zoo!"
"No, it's more than the zoo. Let's go!"
"But what about mommy? Or Lori and my other sisters?"
"Ohh. You stay here, Lincoln buddy." Lynn Sr. cuddles Lincoln's button nose by pressing his onto his and talks to Lynn in a separate room. "Lynn, I hope you can realize this. And I know you can understand stuff, right?"
Hearing her father's less vague question just leaves Lynn to utter, "Uhhhhh…"
"Great! Now, it's Lincoln's birthday today. I know you are excited. I am too. So we are planning a surprise for your brother." Lynn nearly squeals in excitement but her father immediately covers her mouth. "Now, we want to keep that as a surprise, right?" Lynn then nods her head as answer. "Good. Then help me on taking care of your brother. We're gonna take him for a trip to the park. You stick to your brother always, okay?" She nods in agreement. "That's the spirit! Now, let's head off for an adventure. And perhaps, we might see the boat parade on the park. The Roosters will be there!"
"Roosters?! Yes!"
Just as dad said it, that was really the start of a brand new adventure. Dad drove us around the city as distraction for the others to prepare. Dad took us for ice cream in a tough neighborhood. He then had us crash a street dance battle. He joined in a street band where he played the cowbell, of course. He showed us his office. And he even toured us around a wax gallery. Wherever we drove, I had Lincoln on my lap. And he was just enjoying the sights, and for the breeze to sweep on his innocent face.
We stopped lastly in the park, where the real adventure had just kicked in. I was really expecting to see the Roosters standing on their motorboat and waving at many guests. But we were given something else.
Lynn Sr. parks his van near a sandbox with a small-scale slide playset. After that, he takes out the stroller, places Lincoln there and heads the two for a peaceful stroll. In the meanwhile, the Loud father tries to dial his wife, but she never picks up. "Come on honey! Answer…" he mutters.
Lynn Jr. notices her dad's ramblings. "Dad, is there something going on?"
"Who me? Nahh, nothing junior. Just…your mom," he answers, with peeping at the last two words.
In order to phone his wife completely to check on the course of the plan, Lynn Sr. leads them to the sandbox first. "Oh Lynn, why don't you try playing with Lincoln on the sandbox right there?"
"Huh? I thought we're going to see the Roosters?"
"We are. It's just has to see if mommy is doing fine back at the house for Lincoln's birthday, okay?"
Reluctantly, Lynn answers, "Okay daddy. Just you promised."
"Okay, we will soon junior." He then places Lynn and Lincoln on the sand-filled puddle for them to play on. "Okay, stay here. Don't go anywhere. I am warning you, Junior. I will be back immediately." Afterwards, Lynn Sr. pulls out his phone and tries to phone his wife, but he is not receiving any signal. "Dang it! Low coverage." He then wanders off to check for a stable reception on his phone.
Minutes go on, and Lynn just aimlessly watches Lincoln patting a pile of sand to form a sandcastle. She goes on to worry about the boat as she sees a horde of park visitors converging to the riverbanks. With that, she has no other option. She approaches Lincoln and stomps his small sandcastle to get his attention. "Hey Linky, you wanna see something cool?"
"Ahhh pawweeepoohh poo..." baby Lincoln utters gibberish, which translates to "my sandcastle".
"Forget the sand. Today, we're gonna see some boats. To see the Roosters. Wanna join?"
But Lincoln can only spout gibberish and turn his head in curiosity.
"Will not be too long. Daddy's not gonna know. Come on." With that, Lynn takes Lincoln's hand, helps him stand and assist him to the riverside.
That was the first time I abandoned my dad's orders. But I can't help it! But little I know that it will lead me or us to trouble.