17 Months!!!

Here we are yet again, another month older! We've been celebrating all week with lots of activities...

Sunday afternoon we had our monthly neighborhood barbecue at the Gold's house. It was great to catch up with them after their summer at camp and to see all of our other neighbor friends.

Monday morning we went to a story time that incorporated sign language, which Ari and Alex use quite frequently (they are masters at "more," "please," "thank you," "help," "all done," "drink," and "hungry"). We ran into twin friends Ivy and Brooke and their mommy, along with another set of twin friends Kyle and Brandon, so Alex and Ari were happy to see some familiar faces. In typical fashion, Alex wasn't shy at all: he helped the teacher read the book to the group (Brown Bear, a favorite) and ran around playing with the toys in the room, including a pretend kitchen. Meanwhile, Ari preferred to stay near Mommy and watch what was going on around her. Here is Alex helping with the story and playing with Brooke in the kitchen:

Monday afternoon Mommy took Ari back to the physical therapist for another appointment. The PT thinks Ari is making great progress, even though she's still not comfortable with walking. Part of her hesitation appears to be psychological, as she's afraid to let go of Mommy. We're working on both the physical part (with exercises and games) and the psychological part (this part's a little harder!)

Tuesday morning we met our twin friends Isabella and Samantha at the lake to feed the ducks. Later that afternoon, we went over to visit the Arking family and play with Vivi and Zach ("big" Alex was still in school).

Today, of course, is Alex and Ari's 17-month birthday! To celebrate, we hosted our weekly neighborhood playgroup and had a huge showing, including friends Ivy and Brooke (even though they don't live in our neighborhood, we're not an exclusive club and are happy to have non-neighbors participate!). In all, we had about 15 kids in the house, ranging in age from the very new Jessi (6-week old sibling to twin friends Lilli and Gregory!) to the new preschoolers (almost three years old).

Ari's "twin," pal Gillian

Alex asks Tess, "Who are ya calling?"

Ivy gives Ari a hug

So what are Ari and Alex up to at 17 months?

Ari is turning into quite the diva. She knows what she wants and no one can convince her otherwise. She is very strong-willed, especially when it comes to eating. One of her new favorite ways to bug Mommy is by slowly dropping food, piece by piece, off her tray while watching Mommy with a sly grin. Still, she's a sweetie pie and loves kissing the baby in Mommy's belly. We're working hard on helping her gain confidence with her walking, although again she is strong-willed and won't walk anywhere if she doesn't want to. She is still very attached to Mommy, which Mommy hopes will change in the next ten weeks. She's becoming more verbal, and one of her favorite words is "no."

"Piglet, eat my lunch while Mommy isn't looking so I won't have to"

Alex has also become amazingly more verbal over the past month. He will now repeat words he hears and has picked up the word "hungry" in particular. Alex is always "hungry." Unlike his sister, he's a great eater and will try almost any new food. His new favorite food (and word) is grape ("gape"). His other new words include Nana, Poppy ("Pop"), Miri ("Mi"), and Opa. He's swift on his feet, and climbs ladders, steps, and anything else climbable within seconds. He can also walk backwards, go up the steps holding onto the banister and spin around in circles.

This is a really fun time and it's so wonderful to watch all of Alex and Ari's developments and to celebrate their milestones. Fellow parents always tell us to appreciate every moment, because it goes by so quickly, and we are certainly trying our best to take that advice to heart!