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.

Pumpkin Patch

Josiah's preschool had their annual field trip to a local pumpkin patch. They request that each child have a chaperone, so Mama and Micah got to tag along.

Three Amigos: Josiah, Gareth and Conner on the tractor ride.

The tractor took them to a field where they could pick out an apple snack.

Micah digging in.

Too busy eating his apple to care about being in the tractor.

In the corn maze. Josiah was actually really good at finding the way out (better than Mama!).

Little buddies. As you've seen, Josiah and Caroline like to hold hands. Conner joined right in.

At the petting zoo.

Petting the goat.

Piggies.

This was part of the corral maze. I didn't realize I had that cool light at the top when I took it.

Bounce house. Josiah actually said this was his favorite part. Who is this kid? Micah loved it, was longing to get to it.

This attempt at a class picture cracked me up. The sun was right in their eyes, so they all were trying to block the sun.

Here we told them to put their hand in their laps and close their eyes until we said open. Fail. But really cute.

Picking our pumpkin.

An attempt to get a picture with my boys.

Gareth's Birthday Party

On Saturday we got to celebrate Gareth's big 5th birthday.

Lee made these super cute cars out of cardboard boxes. The kids could decorate them or their license plate. Very fun!

Peas in a pod.

Kelleen rescued Micah, and he actually stayed with her for a while.

Cruisin'

Beep, beep!

Jonathan and Joshua supervising the festivities.

Did I mention this kid loves his Dad?

Really, really loves his Dad.

After playing, cake and presents, everyone bundled up in their cars for "drive-in" movie projected outside (and popcorn!). Seriously awesome.