Happy Halloween! Logan did some trick-or-treating in the American section of town.

Trick-or-treat

Mommy set up crafts for the young kids at the base picnic

BATMAN!

Logan and Delenn make a monster craft. Back behind is the painted haunted house front that Logan and Mommy painted. It's attached to a little playground/slide for the young kids.

Our little clown

Batman enjoys a corn dog

Logan, Daddy and Delenn play rockets and jet planes

Delenn's Signs

Since we arrived home, Delenn has really started to take off with her
signing and communication. She now clearly signs all done, where, light, milk, hat, dog, and gorilla -- and she makes the fishy sound for fish and more or less says mama, da(d), ball, bear and that. She also waves bye-bye and night-night and gives kisses.

Yesterday, Logan and Delenn were really cute together. Mommy had put
some music on and Delenn started to dance. Logan then joined in as well
and it was cute watching Delenn bob up and down and Logan whirl around.

It's also cute to watch Delenn and Logan play rockets and jet planes. Delenn will often pick up a plane or rocket and hold it up above her head just like her big brother! (Yes, rockets and now jet planes are still the current fad in our household, though Logan also plays a wide variety of other games like cooking in the toy kitchen, playing with cars and trucks and building things. He also creates long narratives as he plays quietly.)

At one point yesterday, Logan looked at Mommy and asked, "what's that
smell?" Mommy said, "I'm not sure, Logan, I don't smell anything. Do
you smell something cooking?" "No" answered Logan, "I smell poos coming
out my bottom." Mommy burst and laughing and Logan ran off to use the
bathroom.

Both Delenn and Logan love books right now. Delenn will easily sit
through 10 books or more. Mommy and Daddy often give up before she
does! She really gets involved, patting her leg when she sees a dog (or
her chest when she sees the gorilla). She also really likes the fire
engine books we have and makes fire engine noises and moves some of the
movable parts. I think we mentioned that we've started to read Logan
chapter books during breakfast, lunch and snack times. A couple new
things have happened with that. For one thing, Logan has really started
to ask about vocabulary. He'll ask while we're reading (and throughout
the day) what specific words mean. (He's never done this before.)
Logan definitely enjoys this new routine and will ask for his book as
soon as he sits down. But there's another side to the story--Delenn.
She obviously gets jealous and has insisted on having a book read to her
too! (She makes this clear by grabbing at the book, at Mommy's arm and
screaming!) So, we now read a book to her as well.

This week is the Master's Games (for people over 30). Daddy has come
home early from work each day so Mommy can play soccer. It's been a lot
of fun, though Mommy is quite tired and a bit sore (having played two
games and with four more games to go!) Meanwhile, Daddy has also been
volunteering to help run the mountain biking races as well. It's a big
event here in Alice with more than 4,450 competitors from here and
around the country taking part in more than 30 sports.

Allegro

Logan really enjoys a show called "Little Einsteins." One show focused
on whether the music was fast, allegro, or slow, adagio. The rocket in
Little Einsteins would travel along the music score as the music played
and they would call out whether it was going allegro and adagio.

Earlier this morning Logan, Delenn and Mommy were getting to ride bikes
in the neighborhood. We were posed at the top of our driveway and Logan
hesitated for a moment, not wanting to go down the hill. "Mommy," he
said, "I don't want to go allegro down the hill."

Is it "Threesday" Yet?

We're finally back in Alice and are settling in nicely. Mommy and Logan
were both put on antibiotics to fight off strep throat. As a result,
we've had a very quiet week at home. But to be honest, that's what we
all wanted. Logan and Delenn are like different children back in their
own territory. Delenn has released her death grip on Mommy's skirt (so
to speak) and is off and running all around the house exploring and
having a grand ole time with all the toys. She has quickly mastered how
to put clothes pins in a plastic bottle, how to color on paper, and can
put shapes into the shape sorter. All of this, she does on her own!
She's even working hard to do some wooden puzzles. She enjoys picking
things up (toys, hats, shoes, etc.) and carrying them all around the
house. And, she loves finding a hat (often one of Logan's hats) putting
it on and coming over to us with a huge grin on her face and laughing
loudly!

Logan's imaginative play has also taken off. He spins great yarns about
monsters and ghosts (we're reading a lot of Halloween story books), his
jet planes and rockets. He spends long periods of time playing on his
own. (And so, for that matter, does Delenn.) He's also come out with
some funny sayings, though naturally we've forgotten most of them since
we didn't jot it down. Earlier today, though, we were talking about how
we'll start three-year-old kindy on Tuesday. Logan looked at me and
said, "And on Threesday too?"

Now that Logan's three we have started having him do a daily chore.
It's his job to put the silverware away. He's been really happy to do
it. We also have started reading a short story during meal/snack times
because Mommy read a book on how incredibly beneficial reading aloud is.
While we've only been doing this for 4 or 5 days, it's amazing how much
Logan looks forward to a story. Today after reading for more than 40
minutes during lunch, Mommy finally had to put an end to it! :)

Well, Delenn is now up from her nap (she now generally takes one 2-hour
nap). Better go for now!

Delenn enjoys reading books immensely