Chess

Luca has been taking chess afterschool once a week for about 2 months now. Tonight he played a game with Daddy after dinner. He has a great understanding of the game, but not so much stamina to play for an extended period of time. So rather than playing until a king is taken, they played until someone captured 7 of the other's pieces. Luca won! Below is a video of Luca setting up the board a few days ago.

Fireside chess

Board setup

(sorry for vertical format)

1st Day of Kindergarten

Power breakfast

Doing what I do best

Watching the U.S. N.Y. Ship pass by - made from
World Trade Center debris, it pulls into town for 9/11 tribute

Two handsome guys ready for a big day

Meeting in the courtyard before entering the school

Coloring a page that will be cover of his "Notes Folder"

Reading the calendar with today's activities

Max 18 Months

Wow, its been months since our last post!

Better view from up here :)

Max is now 18 months.  A few of his latest tricks include shaking his head "no", nodding "yes" (as of yesterday), enjoying cappuccino, climbing to the top bunk of Luca's bed, climbing on the coffee table, trying to jump from the coffee table onto the sofa, moving chair next to counter and climbing up onto counter, turning on bath and then the handshower to flood the bathroom, exfoliating his face with Mommy's expensive face creams, "washing" his hair with diaper cream, wearing socks on his hands, and eating large live beatles off the patio, to name a few.

Remember when we thought unrolling the toilet paper was cute?

Here's a sweet little video of Max eating dinner last night where he makes all his cute faces and nods "yes":

If you can't see the video, click this link:
Max eating dinner

5 Year Old Check-Up

He got two "ouchies" -

"The best thing about getting 'ouchies' is the lollipop. The worst part is that it hurts."

40.8 lbs (50%)
43-3/4" (75%)

Grew over 3" and gained 4.5 lbs since last year.

Here he is drinking celery soda at Bubby's, out to lunch with Mommy after dr appt -

Luca's 5th - Bowling at Chelsea Piers

Luca's 5th Bowling, a set on Flickr.

The birthday celebration continues...

Luca's 5th Birthday

Luca is 5 years old! This much anticipated birthday was a huge success. Luca had a fabulous day and passed out cold in 2 minutes once in bed. Here are some of the highlights (most including sugar) -

Skyping with cousin Sophia over breakfast. Mommy bought some of the junky sugar cereal Luca always covets (and is repeatedly denied) as a special treat. This was so enticing he overlooked all presents until he was done eating :)

"Just what I wanted!!!!"

Well, that wasn't hard for us to guess since Cartoon Network played the commercial every chance they could this week, and he hasn't stopped talking about this Lego set...

Building Cars 2 vehicles

New Automoblox car -

When I was pregnant and we learned it was a boy, Gioel ordered every Automoblox car ever manufactured at that time (about 12). He has gotten one for every birthday and Chanukah every since he was born. This is almost the last one in the set. I wasn't sure how he would respond to the car gift since he doesn't play with these as much these days, now that he is more into Lego and fighting toys, but he was sooo excited and he loved the story of Daddy buying them back when he was still in the belly. (Don't be deceived by somber expression, he was just bored of my snapping pictures)

Thumbs up for 5 years!!!!

Off for an afternoon with Mommy. Fancy lunch (he did manage to get some healthy veggies and grilled arctic char before consuming the remainder of his sugary treats), visit to Mommy's office, then Daddy's office -

Chillin' at Bloomberg -

Cupcakes on the terrace at BB -

Arcade at movie theater with buddy Tristan -

CARS 2 Movie!!!

Enjoying litchi/mango ice cream cake from Tristan. What a great day!!!

Father's Day

We had a great brunch with Great-Grandpa Zoom and Anita, Uncle Steven and Aunt Julie. Not sure why I didn't even think to use my camera earlier in the day? Sorry about that. We spent the afternoon in the park where Luca launched a rocket Grampy gave him as an early birthday present.

Luca took his dad out for a "boys night" dinner. He was eager to wear his sportcoat and tie, just like he now sees Gioel wear everyday to work. Gioel wasn't too excited to have to suit up on a 85 degree Sunday evening to go to a super casual chinese restaurant for noodles and dumplings, but he was a good sport for Luca.

All dressed up - Luca insisted Daddy also wear tan pants and plaid tie, just like him.



Super proud kid!

Max 15 Months

34-1/4" tall (above 95%)
27 lb (90%)

Finally walking!

Father's Day In The Park With The Molinari's from Steven Fleisher on Vimeo.

1 yr Old Snuggle-Beatdown

Max's First Steps

This was taken exactly a month ago (May 21st) but I never posted. After this miraculous afternoon of walking all over the house for the first time, he didnt really walk again for about two weeks. Now he's the master walker after a week of building his confidence and enjoying his new upright view of life!

Anyway, here's footage of the actual first steps.

Luca Reading

Passover

Thanks to Aunt Celia and Uncle Eric for hosting such a lovely seder last night at their home. Luca proudly brought his own matzoh (a gift from Chabad) and a "seder placemat" that he made at school. Below is picture of Luca with his seder items, then a video of all the older cousins singing the four questions, led by Herschel.

(If you can't see the video, click on the link at the bottom of this email that says "The Adventures of Luca & Max" to open the blog website and you can view it easily there)

Here is a video of the kids singing the four questions: