Giggle

Parent - Teacher Conferences x 2

This past Wednesday we had parent-teacher conferences with Miss Steph, Zach's speech teacher.  Zach started speech this past January. It has been almost six months and he has made amazingly fast progress in that amount of time. Miss Steph even commented she has never had a child progress so quickly before. It's a combination of Zach being a smart kid and then all the extra time spent at home practicing 'words'. 

Hands down Dave did 98% of the work for the at home work. Bedtime has become a Daddy Dave and Zach ritual of reading books, going through speech sounds, learning sight words and just being silly together. Which is nice as Zach tends to be a bit of a mommy's boy so I'm glad that they have this special time together. Dave typically has activities on Thursday nights and on those nights I would go through words and read with Zach but he always wanted to wait up for Daddy to come home and run through his words with him. Daddy liked the time too and he is also very proud of the quick progress Zach has made with his speech.

We went through Zach's goals set at the beginning of speech with Miss Steph and he has accomplished almost every one of the goals set. He has mastered the speech sounds /k/, /g/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /SH/, /CH/, and /J/.  However, he still has some distortion of /S, Z/ at the sentence/conversational level, usually in the final position of words.  This being said, he is still accurate about 80%+ of the time according to Miss Steph and we would agree with this. We're also continuing to correct words like its. Additionally, Zach needs to continue with the /L/ sound.  He partially met this goal for initial and final position of words (Lion, Lake, Goal), but he is still substituting "w" for "l" in the medial position of words. The sound /L/ is not mastered until year 5 for boys so technically Zach is right on track.  He technically could graduate from speech at this point but we're going to keep him in through the summer session as he enjoys going to speech so much.

Both Dave and I were fighting back tears of joy on Zach's amazing progress in speech. Because of going to speech he has blossomed since January. He is more confident and it shows in every aspect of his personality and his development these past five months. It is simply amazing and we are so proud of him!

Today we had parent-teach conferences with Mrs Chuhel, one of Zach's Pre-K teachers at Primrose School. We saw how far Zach has grown and learned since September. In September he tested at an advanced level but still had some growth. In September he scored 100% in colors, 93% in letters, 72% in numbers/counting, 68% in sizes/comparisons and 55% in shapes with an overall rank of 88%. In March when he was tested again he scored 100% in colors, 87% in letters (Mrs. Chuhel said he had an off day because she knows he knew 100% of his letters in March), 100% in numbers/counting, 86% in sizes/comparisons, and 85% in shapes with an overall rank of 96% which is considered very advanced on the assessment. Hey we have a smart kid! Not that I'm biased at all...nope...not at all! *giggle*

What we all remarked on was Zach's progress from February-March to May. Not only in his test results but in other ways. His writing skills have improved and he writes much more legibly. He can write his name and he prefers to sign his name as Zachary not Zach so he is writing it the long way! He can also write the entire alphabet in uppercase letters and lowercase letters. He is working on writing his numbers and is doing very well. He can count to 100 both 1,2,3...99, 100 and by 10's. He understands concepts of adding and subtracting. His drawing skills have dramatically changed from the beginning of the year to now. He can even read on his own at the level one readers and can read the words on the pre-primer of the Dolch word list. He knows some of the words on the Primer level as well. Zach is an active learner and if he doesn't know something he speaks up and asks questions. He enjoys science and knows all of the planets. He enjoys school and he is a joy to have in the classroom.

Now remember Zach is four-years-old and will not turn five until the end of August. He is one of the top students in his class, yet among the youngest. The kids he compares himself to are five and a couple will turn six later this fall. Although, Zach is comparing himself to them in relation to size as the kids are bigger than he is. He wants to be taller. Hopefully some of those genes from my side that made my brothers Bryan and Shawn tall are in Zach as well...otherwise the odds of being tall are stacked against him. Sorry Zachary - I loved your daddy for who he was and didn't care that he was only one-inch taller than me.

Zach is ready for Kindergarten and will be attending Private Kindergaten at Primrose next year. Then our plan was to put him in all-day Kindergarten in the South Washington County Schools the following year. Most kids in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area start their kids in school a bit later - turning six in Kindergarten rather than five. Mrs Chuhel cautioned us to evaluate where Zach is at the end of Kindergarten at Primrose because he may be bored going through Kindergarten again even if it is in a different setting. If Zach's progress in school continues at the current pace we will definitely have to play a second year in Kindergarten by ear.

Zachary Conner...

Your Mommy and Daddy love you!

You are SMART

You are KIND

You are a JOY to everyone who knows you

You are LOVABLE and and wonderful SNUGGLER

You give fantastic HUGS

You are INQUISITIVE and CURIOUS about the world around you

You are THOUGHTFUL

Your laugh is contagious as is your smile

You LOVE to LEARN and GROW

You are CREATIVE and we love to listen to your IMAGINATIVE play

You are PATIENT especially with your little sister

You are OBSERVANT and notice the smallest details and things

You are HELPFUL and feel great joy and satisfaction in helping others

Your MEMORY is amazing! You continually surprise your daddy and I with the things you remember!

You are INDEPENDENT and prefer to do things rather than have our help

You are DETERMINED

Your are PERSISTENT -- especially if you want something

You are COMPASSIONATE and CONCERNED about the well-being of others

You are MISCHIEVOUS

You are EASY GOING

You are HAPPY

Zachary we love you "infinity times infinity" and cannot imagine life without you. We are so proud of you our AMAZING little boy!

Zach's 4-Year Check-up

Zach had his four year well kid visit on September 6 (yes...I'm a little behind on the blogging).

His stats:

Height: 39 inches tall

Weight: 36.8 pounds

Zach sits squarely in the 50% percentile for height and weight. A good place to be considering his parents are not that tall to begin with.

We sat back as his doc went through the appointment and chatted with Zach to check on areas of development. They went through the alphabet identifying letters and saying the ABC's, they counted, identified colors, copied shapes and drew pictures on the paper covering the exam table. Dr. R-D was impressed that he drew people with bodies, apparently this is a developmental milestone.

Dr. R-D talked to Zach about the foods he ate which was entertaining as he is quite the picky eater. Dr. R-D asked, "What foods do you eat that are orange?" Zach responds, "I don't know." Dr. R-D energectically replies, "Sure you do, how about carrots?" "I don't like carrots," Zach replies. "How about peaches?" Dr. R-D asks. Zach nods in reply. They go through this interation about different colored foods. Zach doesn't eat many vegetables but at least he is eating some and identifited, green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

We chatted about Kindergarten for next year and if we should start. She explained typically in our community they wait until the next year. We'll go through all the motions of enrolling him as if he is going to attend Kindergarten next year but I think our plan will be to red shirt him for a year and give him a year to mature.

At the end of his appointment Zach had 3 shots including his flu shot. He cried for quite some time in the car on the way home. "Mommy that nurse hurt me - she pinched me hard! She was NOT nice mommy!" I held back my giggle because it is true - she did hurt him and it was OK to be sad over the shots. He was a cuddle bug for the rest of the evening which I never mind at all. I love snuggling with Zach.

Well that's all for now folks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Zach's 3 Year Visit

Today was Zach's 3-year well child doctor visit.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 34 pounds 6 ounces (85%)

Height: 37.5 inches (45%)

Zach is doing fantastic and growing well! Again, he's remained pretty much average for height just a hair short of the 50% percentile. However, considering both Dave and I are not very tall being average is to be expected. He is progressing as a typical 3-year old.

When we went into the doctor's office we taught Zach his doctor's name, and he was all set to say, "Hi Dr. Rhodes!" But his shyness overcame him and he zipped that mouth of his shut!  She was able to get him to chat about Buzz and a few other things. The doctor wasn't worried that he is shy with this speech as she noticed he is extremely observant.  Actually since starting KinderCare again we've noticed that he's advanced leeps and bounds with his speech.  The doctor did say this is normal and seems to be typical for his age. However, we're going to take her advice and get his hearing checked just to be sure there isn't an issue.  Then if we so desire we can also do an early speech prescreening.  This would be convenient to do in the next couple of months while I am home on maternity leave - so why not?  It is not going to hurt anything we'll just know if he is progressing like a typical 3-year old or if he isn't.

We're doing all the right things with encouraging creative play especially arts and crafts. She cautioned us on Halloween this year as 3-years see people that are dressed up as Buzz, witches, dogs, snow white and so on as REAL. Also no masks for Halloween as that adds to the fear. (All good things to know!) She also commented that 3 is not a good time to visit Disney World as it can be a frightening experience for them.  Good to know! Granted, with the new baby, buying a new house and my not having a lot of vacation time being in a new job - a winter vacation this year probably is not in the plan anyways. But we already had a sense for this as when we go to the Mall of America to see Dora, Deigo, Linny, Tuck or Ming-Ming Zach is frightened. So once he's comfortable meeting the characters at the MOA then we can fork out the money to venture a trip to Walt Disney World. *giggle*

We'll continue to encourage the reading instead of TV and keep on growing and learning.  We're excited for all the changes we'll see Zach go through from 3 to 4!  Although, a little sad that he's growing up so quickly right before our eyes.

Zach's 2 year Well Baby Visit

Today was Zach's 2 Year well baby toddler doctor visit.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 29 pounds 4 ounces (81%)

Height: 33.5 inches (59%)

Head: 19 1/4 inches (83%)

Zach is doing fantastic! He's remained pretty much average for height but considering both Dave and I are not very tall so being average is to be expected. The doctor was impressed with his vocabulary and understanding colors, and that he could catch a ball (on his third try today). Dave and I normally go to Zach's well baby visits together and Zach's doc noticed Dave's absence. (He had a meeting he wasn't able to get out of....oh well.) All in all a fabulous visit to the doc. If you asked Zach he would have said it wasn't good because of the owies - he received two shots today.  He's now all done for shots, except flu shots, until kindergarten.  Yeah!!

Zach's 15-Month Well Baby Visit

Written 12/18/08 - Posted 12/11/08

Today was Zach's 15-month well baby doctor visit.  Here are his stats:

Weight: 26 pounds 8 ounces (75%)
Length: 31 inches (50%)
Head: 19 1/4 inches (80%)

Zach has slowed down in his height, he only grew one inch from his last visit. But if you think about it - growing one inch in 3-months that's still a lot! He is still growing just where he should be and is doing great!  The doctor was not concerned that he is not exclusively walking yet and said that it actually helps build stronger motor and dexterity skills earlier.  *giggle* All that means is that in the next couple of months when he DOES start walking exclusively and can see more things to get into he'll have the motor and dexterity skills to figure it out.  Yes...yes...we are in big trouble!  My brother Bryan crawled late and he was also the one that took a screwdriver and unscrewed all of the screws in my mom's kitchen cabinets.  To this day no one knows where the screws are.  So I'm sure I'll have fun antics to blog about.

Zach is also saying a lot of words now and seems to pick up new words every few days.  He can say: momma, daddy, ball, eat, yea, huh-oh, car, dog, truck, banana (ie nana), and Obama (just kidding Grandpa Jim). He is trying out new sounds all the time and loves to copy us when we make new sounds.

The doc says he's right on for development so that's all that matters.

Thanks for reading folks!