Happy Halloween

Leo doesn't leave the house much. But I'm glad for him when he does. He should have time away from this nut house too! I was thinking about how nice it would be to have a quiet evening once I got the boys to bed. I could catch up on blogging, pictures, you know - stuff. Well Nathan is finally asleep but Benny is screaming his head off. Most nights he does well. And really, once both of them are asleep they stay that way. But getting there is tough. They don't want to let go of the day. Benny has a little bit of a lingering cold too. But still, of all the nights . . .

Ah, I hear quiet. And of course Leo just got home.

Anyway, tomorrow is Halloween. Nathan is a pirate this year and Benny...well, we dressed him in his grey Adidas track suit from Christmas last year (that was always said had a gangster look about it), put a "gold chain" around his neck, unzipped the top and drew a curly hair on his chest. He was the cutest mobster ever. That was for some parties over the weekend (Leo went as Bat Dad - look it up, it's funny - and I put on my shiny clothes and devil horns. Sexy Devil of course.) I don't like the dress up part of Halloween. Or Halloween at all really. I just see myself arguing over how much candy the kids should get. Ugh. But we were all able to play the part at least a little to get into the spirit. For me it's about the colors, the leaves, the crisp air . . . the desserts! We are having various people over to trick or treat with of course but I afterwards we'll have some cider and pie. I was thinking warm cider but I hear it's going to be a very mild 78. Better than rain I suppose but hot is not Halloween weather. Oh well. You can have pie in any temperature.

We went to Pullen Park this week. Nathan has been begging to go. Tomorrow maybe we will hit the museum in Durham. It gets hard to fill the days sometimes. I don't mind down days at home but the boys get bored. They have been playing better together lately. Nathan makes his "spaceship" of blankets and pillows and Benny tries to climb under it all too. More and more Nathan will sit in the playroom with his legos and build things. I can hear him from the kitchen, him digging around the giant bins looking for the perfect pieces. And Benny is loving the trains. He makes sounds, pulls tracks apart and then together again, making one long train and trying to keep it together as he pulls it along, not quite understanding why the little magnets aren't quite strong enough. It's fun to watch them both play and figure things out. For a while I thought they would never go off and do things on their own. But they are getting there.

Benny is not yet saying much. I sometimes worry, thinking he should be saying more. He has this way of saying something perfectly once. You turn around to encourage him to say it again and he won't do it. But you know he just said it perfectly! Stinker. But looking back at most motherhood worries, there wasn't much need to worry after all. So we will just keep talking to him like we always do, because he does understand it all, and hopefully her's taking it all in and will spit it all back out at us soon. God knows Nathan doesn't hush most of the time; I'm sure it will be the same with Benny. It's funny to imagine the two of them talking to each other someday. I can't wait to hear those conversations.