I just love to see C's face light up when he is praised by D or myself. His eyes shine as he grins from ear to ear, and his entire body shivers in the pure thrill of it all. He just loves to be told "great job!" or "you did it!". Of course, all children love to succeed and be praised, but it is different with C. He can hardly contain his joy at the idea of having his very own captive audience/cheerleaders. I have noticed the joy in his reaction becoming even more pronounced over the past few weeks. Lately, he says "Mama, look at me!" every chance he gets. It is clear that he is finally starting to realize that his dad and I are his FOREVER cheerleaders, and that we want to celebrate ALL of the successes and joy life brings his way. He is finally figuring out what the words Mommy and Daddy really mean. Up until now, my name has been Mommy to him, but it might as well have been any other name. I think C is really starting to understand that Mommy and Daddy are his to keep. Praise God!
C had a great first Halloween! We spent all last week teaching him to say trick-or-treat and talking about what we would be doing and how trick-or-treating works. The excitement of the other 3 kids clued him into the fact that something exciting was about to happen... and he was thrilled about the idea of getting so much candy! C had a few practice runs with dressing up and getting treats before the big day (went to 3 pre-Halloween parties), so he wasn't too impressed with all of the preparation before we left to go trick-or-treating (he was not impressed with jack-o-lantern carving either- in fact, he was completely disgusted with the process). Once we started knocking on doors, however, he was clearly a little confused. For the first 4 houses, he followed his big brother and sisters quietly and dutifully to the doors, looking very uncertain. He even handed his candy back to the neighbor at the second house! By the fifth house, though, C had caught on just fine and boldly led the troop to each door, all the while loudly proclaiming "Trick-or-treat!" like a pro :0)