Not quite beach weather

A few weeks ago, we decided we needed to get out of our Boston apartment for a few days, so we headed up to Portland, Maine. One of the highlights of the trip was walking out to Crescent Beach on Cape Elizabeth. The road is closed in winter, and it of course didn't completely register that this meant we would be pushing the stroller through snow and ice.


However, the sun was out and the view was beautiful, which made it completely worth the effort.


On a completely unrelated note, Evan's head gets very sweaty when he takes naps (likely because we put him in lots of layers of warm clothes thinking that this will lull him into sleeping for an extra half hour), so he often wakes up with a really funky hairdo. Today's was particularly impressive, so I though we would share.

I hate to admit part of me is kind of proud of this

Ever since Evan was born, I've been promising to take him to the climbing gym with me. But, lately he's decided that our apartment can also function as a perfectly good climbing gym. Step 1: pick up car and set down in front of chair. Step 2: use car as stepstool to mantle onto chair. Step 3: grab handhold of window ledge and climb onto chair armrest. Step 4: bring feet up to window ledge and stand on tiptoes to get the best view. Step 5: look at Mommy with a face that says "why do you look like you are about to have a heart attack?"

Christmas!

Okay, so blog updating has not been my strong point lately, but hey, these things happen. The Heemstra family enjoyed a fun Christmas, complete with our biannual 1000 mile car trip from Boston to Chicago to see John's family. Nicky shook the whole way, and Evan stared at him with curiosity in between playing with toys. We then flew to Phoenix to see my family and Evan was once again a real trooper for a long travel day. We enjoyed a nice break from the job hunt, and Evan got to spend lots of good time with his Grandparents.


In the last month, Evan has also picked up a new hobby - sweeping the house. He's very much into emulating everything that we do, which leaves me a bit bewildered as to how he learned how to use a broom and dustpan. He is a bit dangerous with the real broom (think clearing off a table top in one fell swoop) so we had to find him a more Evan-sized version. As you can see, it also doubles as a very nice pony.

Halloween, helmets, and first snow

My Mommy and Daddy have been busy traveling lately, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about what I've been up to over the past few months.


For Halloween, I got to dress up as a bat. We didn't go trick-or-treating, but we did get to go to the lantern parade at the pond in Jamaica Plain. Lots and lots of people showed up dressed in their costumes and walked around the pond with lanterns. I also got to wear my costume to day care - it is pretty comfortable, but I. Do. Not. Like. The. Hood. On. My. Head!


However, when I was playing in the kitchen while Daddy was making breakfast, I thought it was pretty funny to wear my bike helmet. Hey Colin, I'm all ready to ride in the bike trailer with you again!


Then, today we had our first snow of the winter! Daddy took me outside to feel the snowflakes and I thought it was pretty funny when Mommy made a snowball and threw it in the air. I can't wait to learn how to snowboard!

Walking, walking, everywhere

Anyone who follows our blog might remember that, oh, about four months ago Evan took his first steps. After that, we had a long stretch of "I'll walk when I want to, and I don't want to." However, since about three weeks ago, walking is the coolest thing ever. So, we thought that we would share a video with you for anyone who last saw Evan when knee-walking was still all the rage.

Mommy needs to go back to kindergarten

John is at a conference in Germany for four days, and even though he has only been gone for a day, the wheels are already starting to fall off. I thought I was doing pretty well this morning - get up, let the dog out, have coffee, feed Evan, feed myself, dress Evan, dress myself, clean up from breakfast, and pack lunches. Then, as we were about to walk out the door, I saw this (and am such an awesome mommy that I stopped to take pictures before fixing it)


Yup, those are two shoes on the wrong feet. I guess I need to go back to kindergarten and have someone teach me left and right again. Fortunately, Evan didn't seem bothered by it at all, which is good since he had been walking around like this for about half an hour.


At the rate I'm going, John may just come home to find Nicky sitting in the high chair and Evan eating fish sticks out of the dog bowl.

Boston sandbox

On our vacation to Lake Tahoe, Evan had such a great time playing in the sand at the beach that we thought we should try to make him a sandbox to play in at home. I've heard a saying that "everything is bigger in Texas" and I can't attest to whether or not that is true, but one thing I have found is that "everything is smaller in Boston." So, we bring you Evan's very Boston-sized sandbox.


His favorite part of playing in the sandbox was shoveling up sand and tossing it into the air. We joke that by the time we move he will probably have filled in the whole space under the patio. It's a good thing sand is cheap . . .

Also, I caught this big smile on Evan the other day and thought I would share it with you. One of his fun new games is to pile a bunch of his stuffed animals into a box and push them around the house while making car noises. Here he is with "Tim Bob", which my brother's friend Brandy made for him last Christmas - there's a matching "Lucy Lou" but she's already in the "car." Maybe if Evan gets enough driving practice, he can take a shift at the wheel on our next trip to Chicago.