Happy (Early) Halloween!

I thought I'd show off our Halloween banner, created by Grandma Deb! I just love it, but I'll hang it somewhere else next year. Maybe in front of our... NEW WINDOW!! Do you like it? I know, it's hard to tell what you are looking at, but it's a double pane, double hung window, replacing the one damaged in the hail storm. You also may be blinded by our freshly painted, white porch!

This year, Stephen is a robot for Halloween. I've been working for a week or so on his costume, and he tried it on this morning before the finishing touches were added. He wanted to be a dancing robot.

And a silly robot...

But mostly, just very happy with his costume. When I ask him, "Who's a robot?" he points to his chest.

We are going Trick or Treating at the Zoo tomorrow night, and going to our neighbors' homes on Sunday. Should be fun!

Our little Stephen has had many new accomplishments this week! In addition to pedaling his tricycle (downhill, but he keeps his feet on the pedals, which is an improvement!), he has also begun walking up the stairs outside our house without assistance. He will only do that with his dad thus far, but it's a major accomplishment nonetheless.

Stephen was invited to his first birthday party today. The party was for his friend's sister, who was turning 5. They had a Moon Bounce at the party, and after overcoming his initial fear, Stephen LOVED bouncing in it! He wasn't jumping on his own (we're still working on that), but got some good air time with the help of his dad. I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures. Stephen really enjoyed the party, and loved seeing his friend (this is another little boy in his preschool class).

This week will bring another first - the first FIELD TRIP!! I am, of course, going as a chaperone to the farm, where the pre-k kids will be learning about animals and pumpkins. I'm going to drive Stephen myself since they are not taking the buses with the carseats in them. When he's bigger he can take the bus, but for now, it makes me feel better to know he's safely strapped in to a carseat. I WILL remember to take the camera for this one!!

Preschool Progress!

School has been back in session for a few weeks now, and Stephen is doing great! His teacher said that he is so cooperative and helpful, and is very good about doing whatever he is supposed to be doing. He is also doing so well with using the bathroom there, that she has asked that he start wearing underwear to school next week. Eek!! We hadn't been sending him in underwear, even though that's what he wears at home, because he sometimes has trouble with using the bathroom when he is in a new situation. HOWEVER, he's been doing great with it since school started, so it's time to move on to the next step. He continues to do well at church school, too, especially since they moved into their new classroom!

This afternoon, Stephen was doing his very best E.T. impression in his room... Note the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. We brought those home from Pennsylvania at the request of Grandma Deb, who said that they used to belong to Erik. Stephen really enjoys playing with them.
Slightly cooler weather has also meant some quality time at the park. We went over the weekend, and we were the only people there!!

Stephen was thrilled to not have to wait for his favorite swings!

One of our neighbors was doing a project over the long weekend, and had to rent a Bobcat, which fascinated Stephen to no end. He loved going to watch "the boys" dig up dirt, and watch them drive around the "digger." So we went one evening to inspect it, and he got to sit in it! We didn't want him to drive it, though...

Stephen continues to do more "big boy" things every day. It's hard to describe them exactly, as they would seem to most to be such small changes, but it's definitely a sign that we no longer have a toddler in our home, but a little boy. A wonderful, challenging, funny little boy.

Too soon...

I've been avoiding writing this particular post for several weeks, and you can probably imagine why. On August 22, we lost the best mother-in-law a woman could have ever asked for. I hear and read about women complaining about their mothers-in-law, and for the last 8 years that Erik and I have been married, I've never understood how such a terrible relationship could exist. I never had that. What I was blessed with, was a second mother - someone who loved me unconditionally from the very beginning of my relationship with her son, and never once treated me like an outsider in the family. She was a beautiful, amazing woman, and I was so blessed to have been loved by her.

Deb was also an amazing grandmother, who loved Stephen and Zachary unconditionally. She embraced Stephen's challenges, and always wanted to know how she could help him to conquer those. Stephen loved his grandma Deb very much, and he will miss her a great deal. We were very fortunate to have been able to see her one last time before the end, and Stephen loved nothing better about that trip than being able to snuggle, and share kisses with his grandmother.

We were so fortunate to have had Deb in our lives, but it was too soon. We weren't ready. We love you, Deb.

Big Day!

Guess where Stephen went yesterday?

Did you guess? If you guessed PRESCHOOL, then you win! Stephen went back to his preschool class at the Elementary school, and the report from his teacher was that he was obviously THRILLED to be back in school. He was also very excited to see that his teacher had purple toenails, as Stephen has developed an interest in toes this summer...

He did really well, and even used the bathroom like a big boy, with no accidents. He was the only one of the kids not acting up when they came outside to meet the parents, even! It is clear to us that Stephen really NEEDED to be back in school, as he has been more relaxed and happy ever since coming home yesterday. Stephen refused to take a nap at the regular time, but this is how he ended up at 4:30. He had been looking through a book on the couch, handed it to me, and tipped over to go to sleep for a quick nap. After coming home from Church School today, Stephen has been more vocal than ever, and has even been using his big boy words to go along with his big boy voice! We know he can do it - maybe being back in school was just the little push he needed!!

Sunny Days, Sweeping the Clouds A-Way....

On my way... to where the air. is. CLEAR! Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?
Well, we got there eventually, anyways! After a long plane ride, including a nice nap on the plane, we arrived in PA, to visit with Grandma Deb, and Grandpa Rick!






Of course, since they live so close, we just COULDN'T resist taking Stephen here:

At 3.5, he was at the perfect age, we felt, and we all had a ton of fun! We met a lot of characters...

And saw some shows. We saw Elmo's World Live, which was basically just the live action version of the segment shown on Sesame Street. We were pretty proud of Stephen and how well he did watching the show.

We also saw Abby's Treasure Hunt, which he enjoyed much more than the Elmo show. The treasure, of course, was books. He loved all of the music and dancing, and enjoyed seeing Cookie Monster, Elmo, Abby, Grover, and Rosita live on stage!

We met more characters... as you can see, Stephen was not one bit afraid of any of them. He especially LOVED meeting Ernie!

Oh, and we went on some rides too. This picture was taken on Grover's World Twirl. It was a teacup ride, and I think we went on it 4 or 5 times! We also went on a flying balloon type ride, a water slide, a river raft floating ride, a roller coaster, and pretty much every other ride they had there!

I think this face pretty much sums up how much fun we had. Having never taken Stephen to an amusement park, we feel confident that he could handle another one should the opportunity arise. He had a really good time, and was so patient waiting in the lines (well as patient as one can expect a 3 year old to be!).

Playing

The other day, we did some dress-up play with Stephen. He really enjoyed it, and liked looking at himself in the mirror, and the bonus was that the extra-huge clothes that he was wearing (but not in the first picture) were MUCH easier for him to put on himself!

Stephen was pretending to be a soccer player... (and playing for Daddy's most favorite team!)
Now, he's a hockey player! In case you can't see it, he plays for Purdue - Boiler up!

Stephen was dressing up in one of Daddy's running shirts, and tried on his shoes as well!!

We've also been playing outside, even though it's super hot out! Stephen really likes to chase his Dad around the yard...

And here they are after he caught him! I just love this expression...

We are headed out to PA soon, and we are going to take Stephen to meet Elmo and Big Bird at Sesame Place. We haven't told him yet, but we KNOW he's going to have a fantastic time. So I'll post pictures when we get back!!