Halloween Sneak Peek

We joined the Morgans for Hickory's Candy Crawl downtown, where local businesses hand out candy to the kids. Afterward we went to IHOP for a scary face pancake. Yum!

The train costume is courtesy of neighbor Mattie (but it's NOT Thomas). I told Josiah that instead of correcting everybody he should just say "choo-choo" and be on his way. He did exactly as he was told.

Mrs. Sharon found the cow costume at a thrift shop she works at. When you ask him what a cow say, he growls at you. It's really too stinkin' cute.

The Building Process

Who needs a play set when you have a box?

Unloading and organizing.

Main frame

Men at work.

Providing moral support. At one point, he looked over and said, "That play set is looking really fun. I can't wait to play on it."

Once that slide was up it was all the boys needed :)

Working on a lag screw. Wretched lag screws.

Our New Play Set

What a blessing is this?

Mom and Dad gave this generous gift to us and came up a few weeks ago to help assemble it. Dad and my Granddaddy helped build Parker and me a swing set when we were kids, and Dad has always wanted to do it for our children.

See those monkey bars? My husband told them who was boss. Dad and Jonathan got a big chunk done Saturday. Jonathan finished up the roof, monkey bars and other detail work Sunday and during the week. My honey does not like leaving tasks unfinished.

Both boys love it. Josiah likes dangling from the swings, playing in the bottom part and, of course, the slide.

Yeah, I assembled that tic-tac-toe board. And I put on the steering wheel. Yeah.

Micah wants to do the slide over and over and over again. He's pretty good at getting up on his own, but I still don't feel completely comfortable leaving him unattended yet.

Big boy on the climbing wall.

Watch out for brother!

Again, again!

Hasn't completely figured out how to sit near the edge and push himself down. He always wants a hand.

Thank you for this amazing gift!

Micah at 15 Months...sort of

Weight: 25 lbs. 7 oz. (50 percentile)

Height: 32.25 (70 percentile)

Head: 47.8 cm (60 percentile)

Micah loves rearranging things! Especially if it's not a toy specifically designed for this purpose.

I've been holding out on this blog post because it seems overwhelming. Micah changes everyday it seems! He figures out a new task or says a new word all the time. He's so different from Josiah: more daring and persistent. Both of these personality traits keep me on my toes! Instead of responding to "no" right away, he keeps trying and trying! He's pretty active and less snugly, but is starting to sit down and read a book (though he's very specific about what he wants. He will push away one if he doesn't like it).

He does love to cheer for himself and others. For example, he claps for Josiah after he sings his preschool blessing at meals. He started dancing at a church get-together the other day, and likes to clap to music. He LOVES animals and balls still, and regularly spots them before anyone in the family. He makes roaring noises and monkey noises. He's also started playing with trains more (where did he learn that from?) and loves the play set. He throws a ball well, recently chucking a golf ball from the top of the stairs.

He normally catches a cat-nap in the car in the morning because he can never make it until noon when we normally get home. Most times he still naps in the afternoon after that. Overall he'll sleep between 2-3 hours during the day, and 11-12 hours at night.
Food. Sigh. So we recently visited an allergist to confirm some suspicions: he's allergic to peanuts and dogs. He would often break out in hives, and we had mostly narrowed it down, but it was good to hear it officially. The doctor also diagnosed him with asthma because of his medical history and correlating symptoms. So we've invested in Epi-pens and inhalers! It is ironic that our child who loves dogs is allergic, but it does explain several of the reactions.
He is pretty inconsistent about what food he likes, but I think that's pretty typical for this age. He has a banana and waffle every morning. He consistently likes peas, cheese, grapes, pears, most fruit, yogurt, sweet potatoes.

As mentioned, Micah is crazy about his Dad. He likes me pretty well, but Daddy is the apple of his eye right now. We are both really enjoying him and his fun personality. He and his brother have their moments and fights, but they are learning to deal with each other.

Words Micah knows: Mama, Dada, dog, ball, baba (drink), fish, tree, choo-choo, my, na-na, thank you

Napkin Heads

Pop had an idea at lunch...

Molasses Festival

We got to go to the Molasses Festival a few weekends ago! This is a fun, local festival, but a little bit more country than our Hickory OctoberFest we went to last year.

Josiah loved the inflatable slide.

On the hayride.

This was my favorite part. They took us all through the woods on a perfect fall day.

Josiah at 4

[Obviously this is a little late!]

Stats: 33.6 lbs and 40 inches tall
Our doctor keeps telling me I'll be looking up at my boys. I was surprised that his weight was only the 50th percentile. His height was the 60th. We have a long way to go until we reach the 40 lbs. requirement for a booster seat.

So much has changed with Josiah this year. The most drastic in my mind is his increased bravery. So many of the things that scared him last year, he now tackles with little hesitation: trampolines, bouncers, playground slides, etc. The pediatrician suggested we try gymnastics lessons to increase his confidence in his physical abilities. He had his first class and was leery at first, but loved it by the end.

He loves his new preschool, and I'm so thrilled with the skills his developing there, particularly his fine motor (writing, tracing, cutting). The environment overall is encouraging yet structured, fun yet educational. He hasn't complained once this year about having to go to preschool. He comes home singing his preschool songs and talking about experiences there.

It's also been neat to see his friendships develop. He actually plays together with friends instead of playing near them. He regularly asks to see them and have play dates.

He's starting to drop off his afternoon nap. He doesn't need one everyday, but he's still not ready to drop it completely. On mornings after he's missed a nap, he'll sometimes sleep a little later (8ish).

Ever since his potty switch flipped about a year ago, he does fantastic during the day time. He hasn't had a single accident in almost a year. BUT he's still not night trained. We tried to make some headway this summer with that. He filled up a chart and earned a prize, but every since he's been wet almost every night. We made another chart, but no success. Maybe the Halloween candy will provide the incentive again this year? May it's just developmental?

His vocabulary is ridiculous, probably due to all the reading. His favorite books right now are science books, but he still enjoys a good story. He reads about all of these new animals, but sometimes he makes up animals to tell us about. Here's an example of how that might go: "Let me tell you about manits. Manits are nocturnal. They eat insects, plants and small animals. They prefer to live alone, and lay eggs."

He's definitely sight-recognized several words, but any time I test him on it, he shuts down. He knows all his letters and their sounds. He can count the numbers to about 30, but often skips a few.

Face Painting

Josiah came down from his "rest" time looking like this. I asked him what he had on his face. "Marker," he replied. I asked him why he had colored his face with marker. "Because I decided I'm no longer afraid of face painting, so I painted my face."
I asked him what he made himself into. "A football."

Couple of Cute Pumpkins

Attempt at a sibling shot. At least the picture of Lee and Audrey in the background is sweet.