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 :)