Tubing, Neil, and Sentences

Our last day of the great family week turned out to be the best- weather wise anyway- so we packed the morning full of boat rides, beach visits, and even tubing! When we were up over Fourth of July, Matthew loved floating around in the tube so we decided we would actually hook it up to the boat and pull him for the real thing. So we did it, Kevin got in the tube with him, and Pop-Pop took the boat around the lake for a high speed fun filled ride! (OK so high speed for a two year old is 5miles per hour) Matthew loved it so much, he did not want to get off. In fact the only crying that we heard was when Pop-Pop decided it had been enough and stopped the boat. Then all you could hear coming from the tube were his little cries of "more more more". Its OK Little Man- next year there will be more tubing, we promise. The only photos of the event were taken with my mothers cell-phone, so as soon as I can get them on my computer, I will post them. It did turn out to be a totally lovely week though.
The clambake party was a huge success, and while I would love to post pictures of my best cake ever for Pop-Pop's 65th, they are certainly not G rated. Keep in my mind that my father is a Urologist, and the cake kept with that theme. But to save the eyes of any young children looking- I'll keep the photos private.

Saturday night Kevin and I took the train into Boston to celebrate our four year anniversary. We had a yummy dinner at Cheesecake Factory, and then went and rocked out to Neil Diamond. (OK, so I rocked out to Neil Diamond, Kevin sat in his seat and didn't complain at all!) The concert was wonderful, complete with sing-alongs to some of his most popular songs; Sweet Caroline, Coming to America, Forever in Blue Jeans. It was a blast, and despite the very late night (pulled in our driveway at about 1:30am) we had a ball. Needed naps on Sunday, but still had a great time. We also got to Catch up with Lynn while we were in Beantown, which was fun- its always great to see some old college friends. Turns out this weekend Lynn is moving to Worcester, MA, meaning he will be living only an hour from us. We are really excited about this- means more time to see our friends. After the concert, we had time to kill before the train, so we wandered through the Northeastern Campus, and were shocked at how much it has changed. New buildings, old buildings that have been renovated... it was almost like walking through a different campus. We also took the time to stop at the Veterans Memorial where we searched for Rob Pirelli's name and Plaque. Brought back some tears, and some memories- knowing it was this time last year I was told of his death, and heading up for his funeral. Just another reminder of how "grown up" we have all become.

And finally, sentences... Matthew had his evaluation with the Speech Therapist a while back, and she said all was fine. But Kevin and I still had worries, after all one of the 2 year old "milestones" is being able to speak in sentences, and as of his visit 6 weeks ago- he could barely use a two syllable word, let alone a two word sentence. But oh what a difference 6 weeks makes. Most of the "improvements" we noticed this past week while away- but it is amazing. In no time he goes from no words to 4 word sentences. His favorite phrase: "Dump Trucks must move dirt". He now is putting so many things together, and has even on occasion used his please and thank you unprompted! Just goes to show kids do develop on their own, and it is not worth it as parents to stress about all the little things. It is crazy to me to be watching him grow up right before my eyes, now that I can hold a real conversation with him, I am starting to really recognize that he is not such a baby anymore, but is becoming his own, wonderful, individual little boy. I can not wait to keep enjoying his growing up.