Big Doings at the Heine House!

Let's start with the events of Friday... Stephen went to the dentist! I don't have any pictures from that visit, as I was very busy wrangling a nervous boy. Stephen, unfortunately, has had to see enough "new" doctors in his life that he now gets very nervous at most doctors' offices. In spite of all of that, his teeth got a clean bill of health, and we'll head back in 6 months!

After the dentist, we headed over to the park to meet up with some friends. We played with a little boy from Stephen's class, and that boy's twin brother and older sister. It was FANTASTIC!! Stephen used to be very clingy when we went to the park, but this trip was completely different. He was running around with other kids, and trying to play with them - and not just the 3 kids he knew, but a large group of kids that were playing together! He went on the play structures by himself, and down all of the big slides on his own. He played pretend with his friend's brother and sister - the boy was pretending to be a giant, and once I explained it to Stephen, he decided to be the "brave boy" (that is what the sister dubbed him) who was chasing the giant. After about an hour and a half, we were pooped, and went home for a nap.
After naptime, Erik came home, and we went to the furniture store. We had decided last week that it was time to get Stephen in to a full-sized bed. His sleep was getting worse and worse, and we were guessing that he was waking himself up by rolling into the sides of his toddler bed. The bed was set to be delivered on Sunday, and Stephen was SO excited about his "big boy bed." Unfortunately, they brought the wrong frame, so they had to redeliver today.

Today... Stephen fell down some stairs and got his first goose egg. This was the best picture I could get of his injury. As you can see, he wasn't too upset about it at this point. He fell before school, but after watching him for 30 minutes, I decided to send him to class, but not after giving his teacher a head's up. She said that he did just fine all morning, and was fine by the time he came home. The swelling went down as the day wore on, but I suspect it will be more colorful when he wakes up in the morning!

This afternoon, however, the correct bed frame was delivered! They attached the headboard and footboard that used to be the front and back of his crib, and I got the rest set up for him! Stephen is quite pleased with his new bed.

After his stories, Stephen fell asleep with no problem. Here's hoping he'll sleep well all night, although I won't be shocked if he wakes up a little bit because it's hard for him to sleep the way he wants because of his head.

Trick or Treat!

We took our little robot out to the zoo to do some Trick or Treating on Saturday night. We had to wait in line for 45 minutes just to get in, putting it close to bedtime by that point. Stephen managed to keep up for the first half of the walk, but then he was just toast. It had been a long walk, and it was late. He really had a good time watching the other kids, and looking at all of their costumes. This picture was taken at one of the stops at the zoo.


On Sunday, we got a bit of an earlier start.

Stephen thought it was a lot of fun to show off his robot costume to all of his friends on the street. This was at one of our neighbors' houses, and he wasn't at all intimidated by the decorations!

In fact, here he is, dancing at that same house!

Halloween was a big success this year! We all had a lot of fun, and now we have more candy than we know what to do with!

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!!