Alex, Cole & Zach at the concert

Zach and Alex turned 3 on January 29th, so we all helped them celebrate the big day.  The Sunday before their birthday, Grandma Pat, Papa Bob, Debbie and her boyfriend, Ben, came over for a little party.  The boys had a ton of fun opening their presents, although they were a little confused as to why no one else had presents like at Christmas.  They got a bunch of great games, cars and other toys and even got a set of their very own tractors! After opening the presents, the boys went downstairs to try out the tractors and some of the games. To cap off the day, we had a chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting that was decorated with Star Wars figures, which they thought was pretty darn cool.

Their checkup was on the 28th, and they are doing great, although they are of course still skinny.  Zach measured in at 25 lb 15 oz (under 5th percentile) and 36.75 inches tall (30th percentile).  Alex was 26 lb 8 oz (under 5th percentile) and 37 inches tall (30th percentile).  Both of those marks are pretty consistent for them so far.  They are doing great in development too – they exceeded most of the development marks expected at their age, esp with speech and reading, and the only thing on the list they couldn’t do yet was pedal a trike, which they are close to doing.

On the day of their birthday, Debbie surprised them with a breakfast treat of donuts and then Joe took them to the Children’s Museum.  They wore little “Birthday Boy” buttons that they had picked out at the store – they were SOOOO excited to wear them (their “ties” as they called them).  They’ve been working really hard at holding up just three fingers and telling people how old they are.

We of course have a ton of pictures that we took, and they’ve all been posted in the Zach and Alex’s 3rd Birthday album.  There are also a number of pictures in the new Jan – Feb 2009 album, including photos from Cole’s recent band concert.  Cole’s band did a fantastic job – we were all so proud of him!

Also, I never posted the link to it, so if you’re interested, you can check out the Christmas 2008 album to get a peek at our celebration.

Tags: Alex, birthday, checkup, Cole, concert, milestones, Zach

I still can’t believe it, but on Jan 29, Zach and Alex turned 2! They did really well at their two-year check-up. They’re still skinny, of course – Zach almost made it on the charts at 23 lb, but is still in the 0 percentile, while Alex at a “beefy” 23 lb 10 oz is actually in the 6th percentile for the first time. For height, Zach was measured at 34″ (44th percentile) and Alex was measured at 34.5″ (60th percentile). The great news is, they are very healthy and are developing quite well. They were so excited to see the doctor, having seen some in books and TV, and went running down the hall looking for her: “Doctor! Doctor!”

For their birthday, we had a little celebration on the actual day with some special treats and some fun, but we really celebrated that weekend with the help of Cole, Grandma Pat and Papa Bob, opening presents and enjoying a special cake. Check out the pictures in the Z & A Birthday album.

There are also lots of new pictures in the Jan-Feb 2008 family album, including a peak at Cole after his band concert, a day at the Children’s Museum, and a glimpse at Zach and Alex as they play and explore.

Tags: Alex, birthday, checkup, milestones, Zach

OK, so I’m posting this just a bit late, but Zach and Alex had their 18 month checkup on 8/1. They are healthy and doing well, although they have apparently inherited their father’s body type since they grew in height but not much in weight. Alex measured at 32.5 inches tall (60th percentile) and 20 lb 11 oz (0 percentile). Zach is also 32.5 inches tall but is a little lighter at 20 lb 2.6 oz. The doctor was OK with the weight because their height and development are doing so well (in fact, they demonstrated their climbing abilities for her right in the room).

They are learning new words and new things almost every day. Both can walk halfway up the stairs with the help of the balusters before they crawl the rest of the way. I’ll have a pic up on the site soon that shows Zach nearly climbing into his crib. They have learned to say “all done” when done with a bath and can imitate many farm animals. They’ve become big fans of watching bee-ball (baseball) and wheel (Wheel of Fortune). They still love to read and can often grab a certain book that you ask them to get. They are now starting to figure out how to open doors (uh oh!) It’s truly amazing how quickly they learn.

Check out the latest photos in the July-Aug 2007 Family album.

Tags: Alex, checkup, milestones, Zach