18 Months...Better Late Than Never!!

Zachary turned 18 months old on May 24th. I was holding off on this post until he had his 18 month visit with the doctor, which occurred last week. I have to start off by saying I am in *love* with Zachary's new pediatrician, Dr. Mark. I actually floated a bit last week I was so excited....and no, it has nothing to do with his looks. Ready for this? You're not going to believe me when I tell you, but I swear it's true...the man, an actual pediatrician with credentials on the wall and everything, honestly and with all of his being, believes that the parents of the children he is treating get to have a say in how the children are going to be treated. And not even just that! He actually believes that WE decide, and that he is just there to inform and guide us!!! He asked me - ASKED me - if I was *okay* with Zach getting two vaccines that day. Let me just repeat that for you...HE asked ME!!! I honestly almost fell over. I didn't know what to say...I think my jaw hung open for a good three minutes...drool oozing out and everything before I finally came to and was able to answer the man...the real, live pediatrician who CARED what I was OKAY with!!! As you can see, I am still in a state of shock over this, as I had long ago come to the conclusion that the only pediatrician that actually cared about the children, or cared about what the parents thought was Dr. Sears...and since he lives in California, I just wasn't ready for the commute.

So, I will resist the urge to transcribe the entire dialogue of the visit, even though reliving the conversation actually makes me giddy. Instead I will just say again, that we really like our new doctor, and it has given me peace over something that has previously caused so much agita. SWOON!

Zach, of course, has once again been described as "perfect" - no surprise here!

Here are his stats:
Weigh - 23lbs 12 ozs - 10-25th %ile
Height - 32 1/4 inches - 50th %ile
Head - 19 1/4 inches - 75-90th %ile (to hold that huge brain)

Dr. Mark is thrilled with all of his developments - how well he is talking, the things he understands, and can do, etc. He's a very smart boy.

Here are some of the new highlights:
Follows one and some two step instructions.
Has started forming a few sentences - "Mama, ah you" (Mama, where are you?)
Eats with a fork and spoon (he's been doing this awhile now)
Knows lots of body parts, and can name or point to them on the appropriate person (Mama's eyes, Zachary's ears, etc.)
Can re-program my iPhone...not a skill we're encouraging. :)
Okay...there are lots of others, but my brain has just entered nap mode...

Anyway, the boy is perfect in every way. I still cannot describe the joy when Zachary and Lexi play together. They are so good with each other, and the sound of the two of them laughing is music to my ears. I am so proud of both of my babies, and we are all really looking forward to a summer full of loads of fun!!

Lexi's Last Day of Preschool

Today is Lexi's last day of preschool at New England Montessori School. It's a very emotional day as we've both really gotten attached to her teachers this year, and we'll be sad to say goodbye. Next year she will be in the same school, in the Older Learner's Classroom with "Other Miss Melissa". She already has a great relationship with Miss Melissa, as she's been doing yoga in her class every Thursday all year. We are looking forward to all of the excitement that her new class will bring.
Today she and her classmates put on a little show for the parents (and grandparents) and then had a little "graduation" ceremony. I was quite proud of myself for not crying...apparently I got it out of my system on the 20 minute drive from her school to my office where every little thing made me cry. Lexi sang beautifully, and with a big smile. She told me yesterday that she was feeling a little bit nervous, but it didn't show at all during the performance.
Lexi has come a long way in the past year, and I couldn't be more proud of her accomplishments. She had a stellar progress report again. Here are a few of the nice things her teachers had to say about her:

"Her ability to communicate is advanced, making her a role model to her peers."

"We are very impressed with Lexi's new developmental milestone: reading!" ... "Way to go, Lexi!"

"Lexi is determined to master any challenging gross motor milestones we have encouraged her to try. We are very proud of her progress physically."

"Lexi has made leaps and bounds with her fine motor development, most notably with her writing."

"Lexi exemplifies her knowledge and intelligence each day in many different ways. She is a wonderful role model to her peers, especially when paired with a younger child. We are confident Lexi will thrive in the older learners classroom as both a learner and a role model."

I'm so, so proud.

I am still having technical difficulties with my videos uploading, so for now a few pictures will have to do:

Almost There...

I am very tempted to "pull a Bush" and report "Mission Accomplished" with the deck...but we are just not quite there yet. Ahren and I worked long and hard this weekend to finish off the decking, railings and nail down the trim, but it was a big job and we had other commitments, so we were very sad to call it a night with just a few hours to work to go last night. In the end, we'll probably call Lou back in to help out with some gutter repair and trim repair, because we are losing steam. Ahren, bless his heart, is a perfectionist. There have been many points in the project where he has added hours of work to the project because he had to make something look right. And he was right to do so every time - the entire deck is gorgeous!

At this point, minus a little bit of trim, the deck is beautiful and fully functional. We are really happy with the result, though now we feel like the rest of the house needs a make-over to match the deck! Not gonna happen...this year at least. For now, we have a few more hours of work ahead of us, and then we're going to take the rest of the summer to enjoy what we have created.

You Should Have Seen The Other...Er...Girl

In the past, Lexi has had an issue with a little boy named Jack who just loves her too much. In daycare, he would come running every time she walked in the door and hug her so much that she would fall down. She, of course, hated that and they often had to be separated. Much to Lexi's dismay, Jack eventually followed Lexi on to NEMS and was in her classroom. Since they've been together this year they have become friends, and get along very well...but Jack's mom and I have often joked that someday they'll end up getting married and we'll all look back and laugh.

Well, long live the Lippman/"M" Family Rivalry! Jack's little sister, Kelly is now in daycare with Zachary. They too apparently love each other a little too much, and often need to be separated. Zach is much less of an innocent bystander in this situation, and often hits or pushes Kelly. Apparently on Wednesday Zach decided Kelly looked tasty and bit her arm. They were separated, but a few hours later Kelly noticed no one was watching, followed Zach under a play slide, and scratched his face. Hopefully this will teach him not to bite the girls...they always get revenge. :)

Swimming Lessons

Last night Gigi came with us to swim lessons while Daddy was at the Celtics/Lakers game in Boston. It was a great class as always, and Gigi got some pictures and video and put it into this smilebox for us.

Zach has settled right into the swimming class. He's still a bit shy in there, but he has started to paddle and kick, and really loves jumping into the pool and singing songs. By far his favorite part is still when he gets to play with the balls, and he *loves* throwing them out of the pool to Lexi, who in turn throws them back in.

Lexi is simply amazing! She can now swim the entire class without a bubble, and last night she swam the entire length of the pool without a break. She is swimming much more calmly now as well, head down, bum up, and less frantic looking. I am really very impressed with her improvement over the last few months. We decided to try some goggles to help her get used to putting her face in. She wears them for a few minutes each class, and I think it's helping a lot. I really hope she'll be confident enough to move on to the independent class in the fall. Once this class is over we'll take the summer off of lessons, and just do our swimming in the pond.

Art Class With Grammy

If it weren't for the help that we've been getting from Grammy and Grampy, we wouldn't be even half as far as we are on the deck. They have come up at least four or five times since we started the project. Each time Grammy comes with a game or project to do with the kids, which they always enjoy. Yesterday we decided that it would be fun to paint with Grammy, and boy were we right! Lexi learned some new techniques for painting trees (which, by the way, is one of the fondest memories I have of playing with my Nanou around the same age...he taught me to paint a tree much the same way Grammy taught Lexi, and I will never forget that day!), flowers, etc. Zach had more fun painting himself than the paper, but that proved to be pretty entertaining for the rest of us as well.
We are so grateful for the help they've given us with this project. It's been great bonding time for all of us.

Deck Project 2010

Back in early spring I told Ahren that I was tired of the ramp on our back deck. It took up too much deck space, and dumped us into the driveway when we wanted to go into the yard. It was becoming increasingly annoying now that we have two kids who want to play outside, one of whom is easily distracted by the driveway. So, I convinced him that it would be easy enough to just raise the ramp, build a set of stairs into the yard, and we'd be done. So...one morning in early April he began demo....

...And, here we are in June, not quite done with the...er...simple project. The project has expanded now, and with the help of Ahren's parents (Grampy helps build, Grammy entertains the kids), Brian, my dad, our neighbor's equipment, and finally having to call in some experts for a tough section (Lou Martone) the ramp is now gone...along with basically the entire existing structure. The end project has resulted in a set of back steps going toward the yard, the back deck being bumped out so that it lines up with the side porch, the entire side porch being torn down and re-built and connected to the back deck, new side steps, and really beautiful railing all the way around.

We are almost getting to the finish line. I feel confident that this project will be put to bed in June (...of this year!) and we will be fully enjoying our new outdoor room all summer. We have already set up a table and chairs back there and we're really enjoying the ability to eat out on the back deck. The project, while turning out to be much more work (and money) than originally planned, has been well worth it. I'm very much looking forward to posting final pictures...but for now, here is the progress.