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I love October. Steven teases me that I look at the whole month of October like it's my birthmonth not just Oct. the 24th being my birthday. But, I just love looking forward to and anticipating the 24th!

It's only 4 more days til my birthday and my life has been so crazy that I haven't even really counted down that much. I usually have countdowns and I'm dreaming up something fun to do on the big day. This year, life has been a bit wild.

In other exciting news, R has learned 5 new words since he got here. He says:

Mickey (the cat)
Gaggie (Maggie)
Uh-oh
Whee
Baby
and drum roll.............MeMe (Mommy)

He has started eating with a spoon and eats real food now. He was only eating applesauce and rice cereal when he came here. Amazing what 2 weeks will do!

We think he said "hot dog" and "daddy" tonight, too. He loves the hot dog song from Mickey Mouse clubhouse. Maggie turns it on and he starts dancing and stomping her foot in time to the music. It turns in to a big dance party! So, after every meal, he runs to the computer and screams something that sounds like "hot dog" at the computer.

With J, we have started doing "time in" instead of "time outs". Since she has bonding issues, we have been trying to hold her when she needs to be disciplined instead of sending her to her room. It seems to really work. My hip is getting pretty strong from holding her so much. She wants to be around us more and is doing much better. Every day is a little better.

In other family news, I am kind of sad to report that Maggie's imaginary friends are on a vacation. I haven't heard from Johnny, Logan and Sleeping Beauter in a couple of weeks. I asked about them and Maggie reported that they are in Ok-a-homa visiting Johnny's parents. I am actually a little sad about this. I miss them and their adventures.