Words

Yesterday, when we were eating dinner, Sara took a bite and said , "Mm mm, scrumptious." Who knew she knew words that big? She now talks to people on the phone for several minutes at a time telling them whole stories. Every once in a while, I have the privilege of hearing her playing in her room with her toys. She will have these long conversations between her dolls and stuffed animals. I am constantly amazed by her ability to communicate. We stopped by the McDonald's play place today. When she was telling Jon about it, she told him "I went down the slide a million times." This is actually a very exciting day because it was the first time we didn't have to climb up and rescue her :) Today, I found out that my favorite house in Milan is for sale. I was kind of bummed because I was hoping it would be available in about 5 years when we would maybe be able to afford it (possibly dreaming), and I was expressing my sadness that we couldn't get the house. Sara said, "Don't worry about the house mom." I love the simplicity and honesty of that statement and so many others she makes. She helps me stay grounded and realistic.

6 Months

Jonas is officially 6 months old today. He is getting to be fun as he interacts more. I can't believe how much he observes all that is going on around him. He is becoming more interested in all that is around, which makes nursing very difficult at times :) He continues to wake up every 2-3 hours at night. Each night as I lay him down I think, this may be the night that he sleeps through, so far it's still just a thought. I realize, though, that I will miss him being this little and hanging out with me so much. Sara continues to be one of his favorite people. Every time she is near him he just stares at whatever she is doing. Today, she was making music with her tambourine and morraca and he was laughing and smiling at her. The other big thing he has done recently is taking his first ride in the shopping cart. We lucked out and got a "car" shopping cart yesterday. Sara thought it was the greatest to have him ride next to her through the shopping cart. He seemed to really enjoy the process too :) He pushes himself up on his arms, now, but seems to have forgotten or conveniently blocked all memories of rolling over. All in good time I'm sure.

Dedication

Jonas was officially dedicated on Sunday at our church. It was a cool way to say that we know he is a gift from God, and we want to acknowledge that fact. We were able to pray for him and give him back to God. Parenting is this awesome responsibility. He truly is a gift. We love him so much, and we know we're not going to be doing everything right. We need lots of help from God and the church. It's also a neat way for the church to say they are going to help us, which we all know we need :) We did the same thing with Sara a few years ago. It reminds me of what a holy task this is, and how much I need to pray for wisdom and help. It also helps me to remember that it's not all about me or my plans for our kids, but what God is up to in their lives. I want to look for that, watch for that (for what God is doing) and then encourage it. I don't want to try to live out some agenda of my own in their lives, but I want to learn to say yes to whatever God is doing and then give the kids the freedom to run after that. I'm excited to continue watching them grow and become who God created them to be.

Talking

On Sunday, Nov. 2 Jonas started making lots of babbling noises. He sounds like he is talking now. When he starts to cry he adds his babbling to it, and it seems like he is trying to say what exactly is wrong. It's fun to watch him grow and learn.

Shoes

I heard shoes clicking in the kitchen and I wondered what shoes Sara had could make that sound. Well, she had managed to put my boots on and was walking around. The impressive part is that she could walk in these - I hardly can :)

Leaves

A few months ago Sara and I read a book about Clifford and the other dogs jumping in leaves. Since then, she has talked a lot about jumping in leaves. Finally, the leaves have fallen and we started raking. It was so beautiful this past weekend that Sara and I spent a lot of time jumping in leaves and burying each other. Sara thought it was so funny to be buried and jump out. Who knew leaves could be so fun? The only problem is that she does not want the city to pick them up. She may cry. We'll see :)

Trick or Treat

Sara had so much fun going "Trick or Treating" this year. She couldn't quite decide between being a princess or a butterfly, so she was a "princess fairy". She would run up to the houses and say "trick or treat", and in the end she was even remembering to say "thank you" without being reminded. Jonas went as a pumpkin. He slept through all of it in his stroller. We started going to TT's house last year to pass out candy and trick or treat. Not many people come through our neighborhood, but a lot of people go through TT's. Sara also really enjoyed giving candy out to trick or treaters, unless they had a scary costume. Then she would run behind an adult and refuse to give them any candy. We also went to Toys R Us earlier in the day. They passed out trick or treat bags and had four stations with candy and other gifts. It was very fun.