Entry for October 17, 2008

I am so excited now that the weather has changed and fall has arrived. This is one of my favorite times of year. We are taking the boys to the pumpkin patch this weekend. They've already picked their pumpkins because their "Yaya" grew some especially for them in her garden this year. When the pumpkins were just beginning to grow, we carved their initials. The pumpkins heal and continue to grow, so now they have a pumpkins with their initials on them. They were very excited to get them.


We have had some beautiful fall days lately. I love having a fire going at night and the crispness of the mornings. The sunny days in the 70's are perfect for afternoons outdoors. I just wish I was recovered from my auto accidents this summer. I still can't do much of anything because my neck and shoulder hurt. It's very frustrating because our yards look so horrible and I'm the only one motivated to do anything about it. We also desperately need to finish the addition, but I'm afraid to try painting with the way my neck has been acting up. We'll see...


The boys are both enjoying school. Asher has adjusted wonderfully and loves going to pre-school with Cainan. I'm so excited we got that to work out! They also love their new babysitter. Asher was mad at me for a while, especially since I took 10 days off and got to spend a bunch of time with him, then when I went back to work we changed babysitters. When I started taking him to Micah's house, he would always tell me at the end of the day that he did not have fun and he didn't want to go back, even though I had it on good authority he was playing and having a blast. He was just mad that I wasn't staying home with him. Now both boys are excited when I remind them it's a Micah day. They both tell me about playing with Carli and Micah and that they're having fun.


Of course, taking care of Cainan has its challenges. I felt bad that Micah had to call the other day because no matter what she did, Cainan would not listen to her or obey. We have days like those sometimes and I, myself, don't know what to do with him. It's like he takes great delight in pushing every button I have and trying to get me to melt down. I truly think that was what he was after; asserting his control over me and making me mad. I'm now very careful not to show frustration or anger when he's misbehaving. I calmly count him out and put him in time out without any raised voices or swats or arguments. He simply knows, 1-2-3, you're in time out. Some days, he's in time out a lot, but those days are fewer and fewer as he realizes he can't get a reaction out of me and he's only punishing himself (he hates time out!).


It's always a learning process with both my boys.


I'm so proud to see how they're growing and maturing, right before my eyes. I can't get over how much Cainan and Asher are talking. Asher has an incredible imagination and is very good at comprehending some advanced concepts. Cainan's wonderful with names and people. He makes everyone feel welcome and warm and will talk their ear off, too. Both boys have wonderful manners--I'm so glad I was persistent with that. Asher almost always says please, thank you and excuse me. Cainan goes a step further and always thanks people for coming and tells them it was good to see them. I love hearing him say, "Thank you for coming to see me, pa pa. It was so good to see you, ya ya. Have a good trip, daddy." And I have to say, my mother's heart just about swells to bursting when we're sitting at the dinner table and one or both of them will say, "Mmmm. Yummy. Thank you for cooking dinner for me, mama."


They're amazing!