And...we're back online!

As most of you know, we were robbed on Sept. 15th, so we've been without a camera for a few weeks. I find it hard to update my blog without pictures. We got our insurance money back a couple weeks ago, so we were able to replace our camera and video camera and all the other small electronics that were stolen. We definitely got the better end of the deal, since we were able to upgrade cameras a little bit! So out of a bad situation came some fun. And who doesn't love shopping for electronics? Connell is doing great in preschool! He stills loves going and his vocabulary is growing everyday. We still worry if he's progressing well enough, but I'm trying to keep close contact with his teachers to make sure we're doing all we can do to help him at home too. His speech teacher assures me he's doing really well. He's progressing in ways that aren't obviously apparent to others. His ability to speak sentences hasn't increased, but his understanding of the meaning of words is increasing, which in turn will help him combine phrases into sentences. He definitely does communicate a lot better than he used to. I'm thankful for good teachers. He's been having so much fun going on field trips to the fire station and last week they went to a local pumpkin farm. He loves it!

And he's very excited for Halloween! (For the candy and costumes, he says!)

Callister's a complete dollface! We just adore this happy baby! He's 8 1/2 months old now and is quite the social adventurer. We've been invited to a few barbecues and birthday parties the last few weeks, and he's just been having a blast. At one of them, they had twin girls that are his same age, so it was really fun to watch them interact. He didn't hesitate to take toys and do whatever he wanted to, the little stinker! People are always impressed by how happy he is. I guess we just make happy babies, cuz Connell was the same way! Callister already has his own little language and he says "mama" to me and "dada" to JayC, which is very cool! He already differentiates between us. I'm excited also, because Connell never called me "mama" until he was 3 years old! Oh, and Callister has his first tooth coming in. His bottom right tooth has popped through and is growing in. It's a sharp little guy too!

And for some very exciting news! Connell learned how to write his own name this last week! We were totally shocked when last Sunday in sacrament meeting he was doodling on a tablet, and I looked down and saw that he had written his name! He had forgotten the "e", but the rest he had written very clearly. I was so surprised, because as far as I knew, they weren't even learning that in school. Then Wednesday, he brought home this picture above with his name written on it perfectly! I called his teacher "Ms. Kristen" and she said they were just as excited as us about it, because it was totally unexpected! He did it all from memory! They had been working on name recognition and pointing out his name among 4 or 5 other words that start with "C", and I guess he just decided he was ready to write it on his own. There are a couple other boys in his class that can write their names, so I guess he decided it was his turn. It's very cool! I even bawled because I was so excited! I feel like this is a breakthrough.

And here is Callister with his twin friends. So cute!