October has been a generally quite month which has been quite nice after a very busy summer. We do find ourselves less productive when in a slower routine but I think taking a breath is always helpful. Here are some overall updates on our activities and the boys. Sadly, October was a slow photo month--yet again.
Monkeys
The past few weeks Oliver has developed a love/hate relationships with monkeys. One night he randomly woke up crying (sobbing actually). He was muttering something but we couldn't figure out what he was saying. He settled back to sleep but then the next morning had a fairly clear idea that monkeys had come to his dreams. He repeated throughout the day that the monkeys were not nice and they should go to their home. We tried to shift the monkeys to be friendly monkeys which somewhat worked. We also talked repeatedly about the fact that we'll keep him safe at night and he can tell the monkeys to go home. He continues to wake up almost every night crying but we can't tell if it is all monkey related. The monkeys are no longer completely scary to him and he vasilates between scary monkeys and funny monkeys. In the car the other day he started leaning away from the window and laughing. I finally understood that he was telling the monkeys to go away. Apparently they had come in through the window. He wasn't upset and was actually laughing but it all seemed really random. Coincidently, about this exact same age Samuel had a reoccuring dream with a crocodile that lived in the walls in his room and came out at night. Maybe we should stop going to the zoo?
Computer & Work Obsession
Samuel fills up his days "working". This isn't new but is taking on an almost obsessive nature. He actually talks about needing to hurry home so he can finish his important work. His work generally revolves around filing papers, reorganizing his office, filling out forms, and various other tasks. It is funny that the boring tasks of real life can seem so fun in pretend land. His current work focus is on receiving emails. He now looks at our computer and we put junk emails into a folder with his name. I suppose this just encourages the behavior but he gets really excited when a new email appears.
Trains, Trains and more trains
Oliver's obsession (besides the monkey thing) is trains. He LOVES to ride trains, play trains, talk about trains, look at pictures of trains and carry trains in his backpack. Oliver has an amazingly long attention span and he can be found playing at his train table for hours. We have ridden every possible train within a 25 miles radius. His favorite is the Steam Train which he knows is only open on Saturday and Sunday. Every morning he asks the day of the week. If it is not Saturday or Sunday he'll say, "Steam Trains closed. Working on Saturday".
Playing Blocking
Another popular game in our household right now is to Play Blocking. It generally starts with the boys trying to "block" the cat from entering/exiting a specific area of the house. They soon realize the cat can jump over almost any blockade they make and it turns to general blocking. They are quite creative in their blocking efforts--pillows, blankets, tables, chairs, baskets of toys. You name it, it has been used in the Blocking Game.
Cleaning
This particular game is one of my personal favorites. Both boys are quite into cleaning the house. I can give them a spray bottle and a rag and they go at it. Oliver spends more time spraying than wiping but Samuel is quite helpful. Samuel enjoys cleaning the kitchen floor but is also a fan of dusting the furniture and cleaning the windows. He does a reasonably good job and since these tasks don't get accomplished too often in our household I'm pretty happy when that is the game of choice!
