Birthday Invite Outtakes

Now that they are signed, sealed and delivered, here are some of the more fun outtakes from Ben's 2nd birthday invite photo shoot..............

Josephine

At long last the Heimers are Home on Josephine street. After nearly nine months of living with parents and in-laws in Denver, our little family of 5 has closed on the house we hope will be ours for a very long time. Our new home is a small Tudor style built in 1925 with lots of charm and nearly 100 years of history. It is in our dream neighborhood of Bonnie Brae on the biggest lot you can get in this part of the city with plenty of room for future expansion. Ben's elementary school will be one that is frequently rated the best in the entire state, and both it and the middle school are within a short walk. The house is also within walking distance to Washington Park and several different enclaves of shops and restaurants. We are very excited to get settled in our new home. We closed last Thursday morning and were able to move in one of three Pods of our belongings as well as most of things we've had at our parents houses. As they say in life though, timing is everything, and the timing of our closing was right before two long planned weeks of vacation. So, we are being forced to sit back and relax a bit and will continue settling in in a couple of weeks. I will surely post more pictures as we make it our own and get moved in.

a moment worth remembering

This morning we stopped at our usual park on our way to run errands.  We usually walk here and enter from another side but today we drove.  The first thing that struck me is that the first time we stopped here, after a failed story-time attempt, we never even made it to the playground.  The trek across the soccer fields was more than enough workout for Ben just two months ago and now he ran all the way to the playground without missing a step.

The real moment I want to remember though, happened on the way back to the car.  Ben stopped in his tracks and turned and for the first time, discovered his shadow :).  He knelt down and patted it and waved to it and then tried to leave it behind.  But!!, what was this?? His shadow followed him! Ben began running trying to outrun his shadow looking mostly to the side to see if he was making progress.  By this point I was laughing hysterically and trying to keep up.  And then, as quickly as he'd discovered his shadow, he saw the creek running below the bridge and stopped to stare at the water.  His shadow was instantly forgotten and he began to gather things to throw off the bridge.  This moment inspired a Facebook status I posted later that day:

I have decided that the best part of being a man must be that the easy distractions of toddler-hood never really leave you:).

twenty-three months

Whew! The final monthly post is upon us:(.  I just finished looking at preschool backpacks and crying my eyes out.  My Monkey CANNOT POSSIBLY be needing a backpack!?!?! And yes, I know his "school" is a glorified twice-weekly play-date, but that doesn't make the milestone any easier to swallow.

Ben's twenty-three month birthday was a HOT one and we ventured out early to the Open Space to beat the heat.  It is hard to keep a nearly two year old inside all day though so we also enjoyed the water table and crazy sprinkler in the afternoon.

too hot hot hot for a hat

Ben's language progression continues to speed up and he is repeating new words every day.  Ice, out and MeeMee are his latest "regulars" and we still get goot gocks (good job) and others from time to time.  MeeMee has been promising him "100 bucks" for months if he would simply utter her moniker and at the Bavarian french fry place last week, out it came.  He questioned, "MeeMee?" while pointing to her beer and turning his head in request. While he didn't get any beer, he did get a check-on the spot!  His second on-request utterance came after he was promised ice cream if he would say it.  Now anytime ice cream is mentioned he wanders about muttering, "MeeMee!"

In the gross motor department, independence is the ticket.  He spent nearly an hour yesterday going up and down the long flight of short-stepped deck stairs without holding on to anything.  This mama was not more than a reach away and after an hour, my heart couldn't take any more:).

Ben's two year molars are finally starting to point through and his fingers are in his mouth more than normal.  Thankfully, we haven't had another exorcist-requiring night since the first teething incident.

Overall, I think Ben is enjoying his increased ability to communicate his needs and desires but struggles when the answer is no as all 2-year-olds do. 

Next month is a big one with a well-toddler visit.  With two weeks of vacation, a new house and a new school between now and then I would venture to guess there will be lots of changes.

My heart delights watching Ben search for and throw anything he can find into the creek in the Open Space.  I'm anxious and excited for the new favorite adventure spots our new neighborhood might offer.

so proud of himself :) 

His hands circle and circle with each dropping object.  His toes would surely be twirling if they could.

I've had the shirt Ben was wearing this day since my freshman year of college.  I collected lots of cute things and great deals while I worked at babygap and have given most of them away over the years.  I could never part with this cute t and hoped and hoped I'd have my own baby to wear it someday:).

 

At our haircut this week, my longtime stylist and friend and I discussed beautiful baby hair and how we all lose our natural highlights over the years.  I remembered to snap a few pics on our outing.  His hair color continues to lighten as the summer goes on and we frequently comment on how we never expected his hair to be lighter than Ryan's.

Well, off we go....full speed ahead into what might be the craziest month of the Nugget's short wonderful life.  Stay tuned :)

lazy days of summer

 

As I think I mentioned in a previous post, we were long expecting to be busy settling into our new home the last few weeks.  The "free" time has been a blessing in many ways allowing me to prepare for Ben's upcoming birthday celebration and our quickly approaching two weeks of vacation:).  While we still aren't quite sure when or how we will move in in the coming weeks if all goes as planned and we do in-fact become Denver home-owners, I've tried to embrace the time with Ben and plan lots of adventures and excursions.  I really did forget how wonderful the CO summer can be while we lived in KS and I take time each day to smell the dry mountain(ish) air and appreciate the temperature drop each evening brings.  

So, this is a picture-packed post of our latest mis-adventures.......

Hill sequence........

Checkin' out the ball game-ugh!

ahhhh-the epitome of a summer evening

just laid right down there on the dirt

dirt angel

Some food firsts.....

first entire chocolate ice cream cone with MeeMee at Bonnie Brae

first hot-dog was a no-go

first jelly. home-made from Julie Hoyer

lounging.  post-water play .........

Tegan

A wonderful, beautiful miracle joined our circle of friends on one of the best birthday's a person could have.  On July 4th, friends Caleb, Tisha and big sis Cadyn, welcomed Tegan Caleb to the world. 

 I finally secured permission to share my congrats and joy and a pic or two:).  We Heimers are absolutely thrilled for all 4 of you and can hardly wait to meet your new handsome son in 63 days, 10 hours and 44 minutes, give or take.

the panic and pressure......Pacified

So last week's preschool tour was a smashing success! Ben loved the school and I loved their philosophies and staff.  After discovering a couple other schools I was hoping to tour had medium to long wait lists for Ben's age group, we decided JCC ECC is the school for him! 

Ben will attend twice a week in the mornings and eat lunch with his friends before coming home for nap.  I'm so excited about all the fun he's going to have and also have a huge pit in my stomach about how fast he's growing.  I already know I'll be bawling after leaving him that first day and he'll hardly notice I'm gone.

If you care to read more about the school, you can do so here.

The center has lots of other opportunities for fitness and classes that we will have discounted access to because Ben is in the Preschool.

I will also have 7ish hours a week without my little sidekick and I'm hoping that by tackling less Monkey-Friendly tasks in those hours, I can make my time with Ben more focused and fun. 

He will start the week of his birthday and you know you can read all about it right here :).

the panic and pressure of PRESCHOOL

 

No. No. We didn't move to the Upper East Side-just Denver.  While finding a preschool for Ben has been keeping me up at night ever since we sold our Wichita house, I never dreamed just how trying this journey might be.  At each location where we thought we might buy a house I would pinpoint a few preschools with hopes that that house would be "the one."  During my research I did discover many schools that were full and many that were WAY out of reach financially.  In each place however, I would find a couple that seemed great and affordable and would hope one would have room and would even sleep better for a couple of nights.

Now that we have our eyes, hopes and dreams on a home that has a higher likelihood of becoming ours than any before it, I started the search again with earnest as I realized that fall is right around the corner.  I was able to eliminate many from my original list as they were already filling for the 2013/14 school year.  A friend even quipped during conversation, "well, yeah, I knew I'd have to start looking at least a year in advance."  Now she didn't know the panic she caused in my belly.  Not that I would have ever known a year ago that we'd be back in Denver, much less exactly where we'd live.

So, yesterday at nap time, I called my "stand-by." The place I was sure would have room, that was walking distance from our hopeful house, and that is quite affordable.  And I thought I was really calling to sign him up-ha!! At my "stand-by" we would have been #37 on the wait-list for 2 year olds!!! And this is not a day-care center.  There is no "aging-out" of a classroom.  37 families would literally have to move away or quit the school for us to get in!!  

The woman I spoke with at "the stand-by" was actually quite helpful and provided me with a list of nearby options.  I made my way feverishly through the list and actually ended the day with a couple good options.  We have one tour scheduled next week and are hoping for a couple more. 

Overall though, I was shocked at how many schools were full and how many were appalled that I didn't want to add my name to wait-lists that might take many months or even years to work our way to the top of.  Most of the schools give preference to current students and do lotteries for remaining spots in the late fall for the following year.  So, if I had lived here and been prepared, last fall would have been nothing short of college application time in the Heimer House.  I would have entered many many lotteries just hoping Ben got in somewhere.  Really?? Preschool??

to be continued...................

Sensory Park

 

This morning we ventured to a neighboring 'burb, Westminster, to visit their ADA accessible Sensory Park.  I came across this park on a list of great summer places for toddlers around Denver and it was fun.  It's great that nearly the whole large play structure is accessible to wheelchairs and children with different ability levels.  There is even a play area for physical therapy that is often used by the nearby Children's Hospital Annex.  Ben seemed to enjoy himself and all the other kids.  There was one sweet pair of brothers who despite their violent "guns and ammo" play with each other were overwhelmingly sweet to Ben.  As it often does, our morning got off to a slower start than we'd hoped, but we'll certainly visit this park again with a little more time to play before we move away from MeeMee's house. 

Wheel chair ramp to the left :)

 Big boy stair sequence...........