I know it’s been a while since my last update, but our family spent the last half of October suffering from various ailments, from head colds to croup and ear infections. But now that we’re all healthy again, I have some time to write.

Halloween was no big deal around here. Justin refused to wear his costume and had no interest in going trick-or-treating, which was fine by us since it was raining. I put Brayden’s costume on him (he was the cutest little cow — check out the photo gallery) and the four of us just played in the house all evening. Pretty low-key.

I’ve started leaving Brayden with the grandparents while Justin and I go to play school each week. For a few weeks I brought Brayden along too, but that meant I spent all my time keeping him out of the paint, and the sand, and the Play-Doh…Justin would get frustrated and cranky cause I wasn’t available to read him a story or pay any attention to him at all, really. So this is working out much better. Justin now actually says his name during circle time (for the longest time he was too shy) and participates a bit in the group. It’s not quite preschool, since Mom is there, but it’s a good start.

Justin can count to 100 now and has even started printing all his letters. He’s mastered the computer mouse and pesters us constantly to let him play Sesame Street games online. It’s very tempting to give in, cause he can use the computer all by himself and it keeps him occupied for quite a while, but I try to limit his time on there in favor of more active pursuits.

Brayden is babbling a lot more than he used to, but no real words yet. I’d be a lot more worried about that if it wasn’t for the fact that Justin didn’t start talking until he was well past age two. It’ll come. Brayden’s current favorite toys are the Word Whammer and the Alphabet Town, so he’s very interested in letters. (Maybe Justin’s alphabet obsession has rubbed off.)

Our baby just keeps getting bigger. Brayden got weighed and measured a few weeks ago — he’s half an inch shorter but three pounds heavier than Justin was at this age, so he’s still a tank. We’re having trouble teaching him to be gentle: he can take a fairly good lickin’ and keep on tickin’, so it’s hard for him to grasp that other people might not be the same way. He’s also far less cautious than his brother, so he’s not inclined to hold back. Sigh.

Both boys are napping (yay!) so I should get some stuff done…