Apple Picking

This is one of my favorite times of year to visit our PA family.  The trees are beautiful and the air is crisp for some fun fall activities.  We made our annual trip to the apple orchard and all together we picked 80 lbs of apples!  Even split between three families, that's a lot of apples.  So if you have any favorite apple recipes, send them my way.

The boys got some great Halloween costumes from Grandma and Papa.  I won't reveal the whole costumes until they go trick-or-treating, but you can catch a sneak peak of Mr. Mister's because he wore it everywhere we went.  It is pretty much his dream costume at this point in his life!

The Wedding

I just saw got some pictures from the wedding that Mr. Mister was in last month.  Here are a few of him and the flower girl, who is our good friend.  How cute are they?!

photos by Katie Derickson

Separation

About six weeks ago, Mr. Mister started having a really hard time anytime a babysitter came.  We don't have babysitters often, but we did have our neighbor come over every Wednesday night so we could go to small group.  We purposely have small group at 8:30 when kids are sleeping, so ideally he would go to sleep and it wouldn't make a difference who was sitting downstairs.

But all of a sudden it started being very traumatic for him every time we left.  He would ask every day if we had to go to small group that night.  On Wednesdays, he would get so sad and say things all day like, "This is just really hard for me.  Can we talk about this?"  It was actually kind of hard not to chuckle at his adult like verbal processing.  When it came time for us to leave he would cry hysterically in his bed, begging us not to leave.  Eventually, he just cried himself to sleep after we were gone.

The last couple weeks our group has been meeting at our house, which has made him very happy.  But last night he woke up in the middle of the night sobbing and came into our room asking if we were going to small group.  He must have been dreaming about it.

Until recently, he was great when we would leave.  He'd give us a hug and say goodbye and go off playing with the babysitter.   So I'm wondering if there is some sort of correlation between starting preschool and this separation struggle.  He has no problem going to school or saying goodbye when we get to his classroom.  But my sister said she has heard that separation anxiety resurfaces in some kids when they start preschool even if they don't struggle with going to school.

I know most of you who read my blog have younger kids, but does anyone have any insight into this?  I'm sure it's just a stage, as everything is, but when he woke up in the middle of the night crying about us leaving it made me so sad!

My Spirited Extrovert

I once read or heard somewhere that parents should study their children.  We need to be intentional in seeking out to know who they are more deeply than what we see at first glance.  Knowing them builds our relationship with them and connection with our kids is central to loving and parenting them well.  Obviously, I fail at this daily but studying my boys is something I am attempting to become more intentional at doing.

So I am reading this book called Raising Your Spirited Child, which I am so thankful that a friend recommended.  Her son and Mr. Mister are very much alike (at least from what I read on her blog - she lives too far away in beautiful Oregon!).

I will definitely be posting more on this book later because it has been tremendously insightful for me.  Some of you have probably heard me talk about it enough already!  But it is so exciting to me to read a book and think, Did you know Mr. Mister when you were writing this?  Because I have read (or at least started) a lot of other parenting books and as I've tried to implement what they say, I've been left feeling like a failure, discouraged because nothing works how it seems it should.

But that's because I'm learning that my treasured little boy needs something different than 90% of other kids and 90% of what other parenting books offer.  (I completely made up those percentages by the way).  The subtitle of the book is A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic.  And that he is!!



I will spare you from every insight I've gained from this book so far.  But I wanted to share one and a funny story to go with it.  The author provided a checklist to evaluate if your child is an introvert or an extrovert.  Mr. Mister fit every single qualification of an extrovert and not surprisingly, I fit almost every description of an introvert (more insight for another day).  I have always seen that he gains energy from being around people but I didn't realize to what extent and how that impacts our relationship.

Anyway, we were playing outside one day soon after I had read this.  A group of about 4 adults were out for a walk and as they approached, Mr. Mister yelled as he was already running toward them, "COME ON MOM! LET'S GO MEET SOME NEW PEOPLE!"

And there you have it.  If that doesn't describe an extrovert, I don't know what does.  And I laughed as I realized that in the same circumstance, my reaction is to hide and hope I don't have to strike up a conversation with people I don't know.

So there is one little step of my journey in understanding my spirited child, embracing his intensity and learning how to guide him in it instead of trying to quench it or change who he is.

For Sale!

We put our house on the market about a month ago so I thought I'd do some shameless advertising on my blog. It's a great first home or good for downsizing - 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms, quiet neighborhood with wonderful neighbors who I will miss!  If you know anyone who might be interested, pass it on or let me know!

Some pics... (compliments of my fabulous husband)

P.S.  If you're wondering, we are planning on staying nearby in this community.

Beautiful and Healthy

That's what the ultrasound tech said today about our little one. Everything looks wonderful and the baby was so sweet to watch.  

Seeing the baby today put me in go mode with thinking of names.  Our two boys have completely become the meanings of their names, which makes me think seriously about naming this baby something like Obedience or Peace or Always Listens.  Okay maybe not, but I'm kind of serious.  We definitely value the meaning of the name as much as the name itself!