Family update

So, River is now 13 moths old. He is really good at mocking what you do, be it words, signing or laughing or doing something else. He has got a few words he can mostly say, "ni,ni" (night, night), "guh gah" (good job), "ah dah" (all done), "dada" (dad, obviously) "hi dada" (this is his morning greeting to his dad and his phone gretting to anyone-- believing he is always on the phone with his father), "momma", "ki kah" (kitty cat). He also has various signs that he uses, a few of which I have yet to figure out their meaning. He is an avid nurser still and LOVES his morning nap, which is his only nap. He'll beg for nap time by grumping and standing over by the stairwell and asking to go up, sometimes saying, "ni,ni."

He, of course, ADORES his sister and doesn't often get a chance to play with her, due to her unwillingness, but when it does happen, he laughs more than anytime else. He loves Clayton like crazy as well and misses him SOOO much. For those of you who don't know, he's been gone for a month and a week now-- working on a campaign to unionize 22,000 PCAs. Its a huge and VERY important campaign-- he's mostly living in a hotel in Springfield, Mass. right now and we see him for a few hours at a time every 3-4 days, if that. When he does make it home, River is very possessive of him. He also tends to wake up for 1-3 hours in the middle of the night on those days from excitement. Luckily, it will be over as over November 7th and we'll get our family back inshape and Clayt should get a fair amount of time off with the holidays and such. Not to mention having worked a month and a half straight with no time off and only about 3-5 hours of sleep a night. Yes, his days are THAT long! But, it should end up in a promotion and new position for him, that he SOO deserves after his hard work on this campaign.

Anyway, River has gotten good enough at walking that he runs these days, especially, AWAY... if I'm trying to change his diaper. He has a great sense of humor and is always doing something silly, in between all the trouble he causes. He still goes for all the things he shouldn't. But, he has a wonderfully adorable personality and is quick to smile.

Summer is totally enjoying Kindergarten. We got her school pictures back a week ago and compared them to her preschool ones, she has grown so much more mature in just one year! After school, she usually plays with her neighbor friend, McKenzie who is in 1st grade. She has learned the value of weekend time and spends a good portion of it playing "school" where SHE gets to be the teacher and in charge. She has wowwed us with her spelling ability. She came downstairs and spelled "October" the other morning with no help whatsoever. She is just thriving and its wonderful to watch her grow. She really misses her dad, but having him gone has really helped her relationship with me. Usually, Clayton gets her ready for bed and stuff while I take care of River and somehow that makes her feel like the baby is more important to me than her. Now that we have gotten to spend so much time together, she realizes that she is just as special and in my heart. She is looking forward to Halloween next week. She has chosen the theme this year-- Scooby Doo. She will be dressing up as Daphne, I'll be Velma, Little man is Fred and Clayton will be Shaggy-- we'll be carrying around a stuffed Scooby. It should be fun, and I will definitely be putting pictures on the blog afterwards.

That's all the news here for now. Enjoy the falltime weather!