Avi - 1/31/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, crackers, several bites of bean & bacon soup, and bites of peas.

Hudson is back today and he and Avi were watching Lauralea in the kitchen.  I asked Avi, "Where'd Lauralea go?"  She pointed down the hall where Lauralea had disappeared to.  Good job Avi.  Then Hudson started yelling, "Lor Lor,!! Lor Lor!!  Lor Lor!!"  :)

Avilene took off one of her boots and walked toward me holding it above her head saying, "shoosh, shoosh"  (shoes)   :)  Good job Avilene!

Sophie was being the Mommy and said, "Can you sit here with Mommy, Honey!?"  I asked, "Who's your Honey?"  Sophie pointed at Hudson and Avilene and said, "These guys."  Then Sophie said, "Hey guys!  Mommy got an owie!!"  Ha!  They didn't really seem to care about that either!!  :)

Hudson was here when Avilene arrived and I took this first picture shortly afterwards.  Hudson was playing with the pop-up toy and Avi was moving in!  The picture represents the calm before the storm! After I took the picture I showed Avilene where three more of the same toys are located! Ha!

Sophie had asked me to help her build a "castle."  She started to panic when Avilene was reaching for it and said, "AVILLLEEEEN!!!"  Hudson started mimicking Sophie and doing all three syllables of Avi's name too.  And with the same tone inflection that Sophie was using.  Silly kids.  Avi sat on my lap for all of Story Time and we read lots of books.  We were playing after that and she kept trying to stand on my lap and didn't want me to hang on to her!!  :)

Avi - 1/30/2017

Avilene ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate cheese & canadian bacon pizza, corn, and tropical fruit.

Daddy Andy got to see this, but I'm going to post it for everyone else; Baby Nora got so excited when Avilene arrived this morning!!  Adorable!!  She started squirming all over and squealing with delight.  LOUD!  She was obviously super happy to see Avilene!  It was SO cute!!

I love how much Avi is learning and how she explores with the toys to figure out different ways to make them work and manipulate them.  I took this picture of her playing with the legos.  She took off all the pieces that you see laying on the floor and also tried to put one or two of them back on.  She wasn't successful with that part, but it won't be long!  She also had one of the little musical toys and experimented with the buttons for several minutes.

I asked Avi to take some toys to Nora and she pitched a few in Nora's general direction.  Ha! I frequently tell Avi "gentle" with the toys as well as people.  She hears that word a lot and it's amazing how quickly they figure out what it means.  I also frequently show her what gentle looks like as well.  I put the toy down gently (exaggerated to make the point) and she is totally getting it!!

In this last picture Sophie had her bag packed and she and her Baby (Avi) were going someplace.  At least Sophie thought they needed to be going someplace!  She told me, "My Baby not listen to me!"  HaHa! I see that!  Your Baby seems to want to do her own thing!

Avi - 1/27/2017

Avilene ate kix cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, mixed fruit, and applesauce.

Avi was her usual delightful self all morning.  She's developing a very fun personality and she's a great fit here at Little Treasures!!  I love being able to provide care for her!!  She's so independent and busy, but she still "checks in" frequently; sometimes with making eye contact and sometimes coming over for a quick love.  We read Stories after breakfast and Avi sat on my lap for the entire Story Time again.  I didn't look at the clock, but I'm guessing around 15 minutes.

It was just Reid, Avi, and Nora again so we did some play dough this morning to keep Reid busy.  I put Avilene in her highchair so she could watch what Reid was doing.  And she really watched for several minutes and then I put her at the table.  She played with it for over 5 minutes, which I thought was great for how young and busy she is!  Reid put a couple of "accessories" (cookie cutters, pizza cutters, rollers, plastic spoon, knife, and fork, etc..) at her spot for her.  He said, "I'm teaching her how to do play dough!"  Then he cut through the dough with his plastic knife.  He said, "Don't ever do it like me!"  Hahaha!!  After a few minutes I said, "You're doing good Reid."  He answered, "Gooder than her!!"  LOL ! Yes Reid, let's compare your work to a Baby 14 plus months old!!

Avilene was so cute watching Lauralea and playing peek-a-boo with her.  She was ducking down and burying her face in the big bear and then looking up to grin at Lauralea.  (Lauralea didn't have to go into her office until noon today.)  Lauralea was gone doing errands for an hour and when she returned Avi immediately went right back to this same spot you see in the pictures.  "Let's have some more fun Lauralea!!"

 

Avi - 1/26/2017

Avilene ate raisin english muffin and blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, crackers, sweet potatoes, and canned cherries.  I took this picture of Avi in her highchair right after Lunch and she was ready for Nap Time!  I just had to take an extra few seconds and get a picture.  It was so cute when she was laying her head down.  She's like; "HURRY UP!!  I'M TIRED!!"

Sophie and Hudson are gone today and tomorrow so it's just Avilene, Nora, and Reid.  (Until the Cline girls arrive.)  Avi knows the routine when she sees me get her comb and spray some water on the comb.  She came right over to me without me asking and tipped her head down.  (Because I'm always combing the back of her hair!  Ha!)  So cute and very helpful.  :)  I think she enjoyed getting lots of extra attention today!!  She even sat on my lap for all of Story Time.  Speaking of Story Time, this isn't about Avi, but you might like it: Reid looked at a picture and said, "I thought that skunk with an acorn was a mouse!"  LOL!  Well actually, it's a chipmunk, but those are 2 good guesses!  :)

I had something in my left hand that Avilene was focused on when I took this picture.  (I took LOTS of pictures this morning and then chose the ones I liked best!  Ha!)  What a cute grin!  We were just being silly and she was grabbing at what I was holding.  (I think it was the camera lens cover.)  Then she was pestering Reid and grabbing his socks.  In the 2nd picture we'd built a structure with the big blocks and she was "hiding" behind it.

Avilene was kicking this can across the room again.  Then when I took this picture she was kind of trying to "stand" on it!  At least with one foot.  Ha!

Avi - 1/25/2017

Avi ate biscuit and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of baked beans, ate dinner roll, peas, and bites of crushed pineapple.

I took this first picture of Avilene right after Daddy Andy had left.  We were trying to get her to say "Bye" to Daddy, but this is what needed to be done first!!  Clear those shelves!!  In the 2nd picture Avi is taking toys to Baby Nora and I like the poster in the background; "Learning Together."

Avilene was doing something new this morning - at least new at Daycare.  She was standing in one place - running!  Haha!  They used to have us do that in Phys Ed and Football, etc!!!  ("Running in Place") ....  It was pretty cute and she did it several times.  She always gets this little proud silly look on her face when I laugh at her.  "Oh you like that!?  I'll do it some more!"  :)

I only have 3 kids today - until Kenzie and Riley come after school.  (Avilene, Sophie, and Nora.)  So Avi was Sophie's "Baby" this morning.  Avi didn't care; primarily because she didn't do anything "Momma Sophie" was telling her to do!  Ha!  And believe me, there were LOTS of commands! (Momma Sophie will probably be glad when her more obedient and cooperative child returns!  Hudson will usually play along.)  Sophie was putting lots of toys in her bag and they were traveling somewhere.  She was telling Avi to "Put the cookies in Momma's bag!"  Of course Avi took off running across the room with Momma's cookies!  Sophie was yelling; "Honey Honey Honey!!  I need the cookie in the bag!"  I took these pictures when Avi was playing by Sophie.  In the bottom picture Sophie is explaining the rules about the  cookies she has made for Avi's birthday party.  And there were lots of rules!  Avi was listening!  (And devising Plan B!!  Ha!)

Avi - 1/24/2017

Avilene had bites of breakfast: waffle and hash browns.  For lunch she ate everything: chicken & cheese quesadilla, carrots, and mandarin oranges.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Kenzie, Riley, Sophie, and Avilene were having a "Birthday Party."  Kenzie had just announced that "She's (Avi) eating Birthday Cake and we haven't even sang Happy Birthday to her!!"  Ha!  Yes, and she's 14 months old and didn't read the rules yet!  :)  Kenzie was singing "Happy Birthday" when I took this picture and I like how Sophie and Avi are both focused on her.

Avi had a busy fun morning - just a normal morning for her!!  I love watching her experiment and try new things.  That's always so fun to see!  This next picture was something I've not seen her do before. She was deliberately kicking the can along the floor in front of her.  She had kicked it in the igloo, went in and got it, then put it on the floor and continued kicking it across the room.  The 3rd picture is the same thing she was doing with the clear bowl yesterday.  Peeking at me out of the corner of her eye to see if I'm watching!  Cutie!

I had to run an errand this morning and Lauralea covered for me for 20 minutes.  Lauralea was so proud of herself for getting Avi to sit on her lap while she sang songs to her.  (And bounce Avi on her knee.)  I told her she should be proud because not just anyone gets that privilege.  :)  Lauralea does these cute songs; "Pony Girl,"  "Walk Walk," and "Here we go to Boston.."  Avi was obviously enjoying it a lot!!  Isn't this cute?!  Love it!!

Avi - 1/23/2017

Avilene ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate cheese sandwich, drank tomato soup, and ate pickled beets.  Avi, along with Sophie and Bubba, love the pickled beets.  When I first introduced them a few months ago I had to encourage the kids just to lick them or "kiss them goodbye." (Anything to get a touch of the juice on their lips!  Ha!)  Reid is not here today; he too will eat them, but doesn't care for them as much as these three kids do.  Sophie had 3 servings!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Avilene was SO busy checking out everything.  (Kind of like how she plays everyday, but with a touch of urgency!!)  In the picture below all the "big" kids here were playing with these pop-up toys.  Avilene apparently liked them a lot because I saw her go back to them at least 4 or 5 times!

Avi was thumping on this xylophone with a toy (still in her left hand), so Bubba took the yellow handle and was giving her some lessons on proper xylophone thumping!  Sophie said, "Uhhh...that hurt my ears!"  Speaking of Sophie, she was being the "Momma" this morning and was doing so quite authoritatively!  Ha!  She had Avi by the wrist and was pulling her to where she needed to be.  I rescued Avi as soon as I saw what Sophie was doing - Uhhh....Sophie, Avi doesn't care to play like that.  The look on Avilene's face was classic; Pleeeeeease don't let her do this to me!!!!   Neither one of them fussed about it, but went on their merry way.

Avi had a great morning - being silly like in the 2 pictures below!!  She played with the phones, looked at books, sat on my lap for 1 story at Story Time, looked at posters, looked out the window, and watched me closely while I was setting up Breakfast and Lunch.  She likes keeping an eye on everything that is going on around her!

Avi - 1/20/2017

Avilene ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had a few bites of: ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.

Avi had a great morning and did lots of playing.  I'm sure glad she only had the one day that she wasn't feeling well!!  She sat on my lap for 1 story at Story Time, colored for 1 minute, and hauled lots of toys to Baby Nora.  I turned on the Kid's music and Avi and Bubba immediately started spinning in circles.  So cute.

Speaking of hauling toys to Baby Nora, Avi loved it when I put Baby Nora in the saucer.  (Nora kind of likes it too!  Look at that grin!)  Avi took more toys to her and also took a few away from Nora! Hudson saw Avi take a little book from Nora and he took it out of Avi's hand and gave it back to Nora.  In this first picture I like how Avi has her foot in the saucer.  It looks like she wants to crawl inside with the Baby.  And in the 2nd picture Avi was trying to get inside the saucer after Baby Nora was taking a nap!

I laid one of the Big Bears on top of the igloo and Avi is wondering what that's about.  A few minutes later Sophie asked Reid to pile the two bears on top of each other and she called that her "bunkbed." Then she was telling Hudson and Avilene to come get into bed!  Ha!  "Come on you guys!!  Avi, Bubba, come here!!"  She said,  "It's time for bed!!"

Avi - 1/19/2017

Avilene ate raisin english muffin and blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, bites of flat bread, taste of green bean, and bite of strawberries.  Avi had a great morning and seemed much more like herself than yesterday.  When Daddy Andy was leaving this morning Hudson was saying, "Bye Andy, bye Andy..." over and over for a minute or two after Andy had left.  Also, first thing this morning, Lauralea said, "Bubba" and Avi mimicked her.  "Bubba" and she did it again, "Bubba."

I let Reid bring some of his toys with him as long as he's willing to let the little ones play too.  He was letting Avilene try to spin the propellors on this particular "Air Ship" while Bubba looks on.   ("NOT airplane," but "Air Ship" according to Reid!  Ha!)

Four consecutive days with a picture Avi reading a book!  Ok, maybe not, but this one is WAY cuter.  She had been reading and then started being silly.  We were having Story Time on the couch and she was reading the books I was depositing on the floor.  And of course she had to peek up because I was laughing!  Am I funny Gary!?!  Very funny and really cute.  :)  When I was done taking the pictures Reid was like; "Ok, now can we get back to reading books!?!"

 

Avi was having a pretty animated conversation with someone on the phone!!  Isn't this cute?

Avi - 1/18/2017

Avilene ate jelly toast and mangoes for breakfast.  I don't think she's feeling very well today.  There is a lot of crud going around the Daycare - primarily runny noses and coughing.  She was needing a nap immediately after breakfast and she slept until right before lunch.  She ate a bite of bean, chicken, rice burrito, bite or two of sweet potatoes, and ate her tropical fruit for Lunch.  Avi played for awhile after Lunch, but she was getting tired and fussy again and she's taking another nap now.

After Momma Molly left this morning I asked Avi, "You wanna wave at Momma?"  She started waving immediately and went running for the window.  She knows the routine!  :)  I already told Molly this, but yesterday Avi was coming over to me with her hands raised high, so I reached out to pick her up and she took off running in the opposite direction.  It was so funny and cute!  Little tease! However, this morning she was the only one here for maybe 10 minutes and she was very snuggly!! I knew she probably didn't feel the best, but I still enjoyed the snuggles!!  :)

I did manage to take some pictures of Avi's morning when she wasn't taking a nap!!  The first one is a reading picture - that makes 3 days in a row!  I like how Baby Nora is trying to see what's going on as well!  In the 2nd picture Avi had the energy for some bouncing play on the mattress with Sophie and Hudson.  Those two were sitting on the edge of the mattress bouncing up and down and Sophie kept trying to get Avi to sit beside her.  The last picture has a cute story behind it:  Hudson is in the igloo and Sophie kept going behind the igloo and counting; "1 2 3 4 5 6 "....running around and peeking inside and saying, "I find you!!"  (That's what the animals say in a little "hide-n-seek book we have.)  Avilene was watching the process and grinning all over.  Infant and Toddler "Hide-n-Seek" is quite entertaining!!  Reid was sitting in the chair observing it all and said to Sophie, "No cheating!!"  Ha!

 

Avi - 1/17/2017

Avilene ate cinnamon roll and several bites of canned prunes for Breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything: scrambled eggs, waffle, hash browns, and melon.  (We tried a "melorange" similar to cantaloupe and super sweet.  All the kids liked it.)

Avilene was so cute when she arrived this morning; charging around, grinning, spinning several different times (fast and never falling), and even letting me give her a few quick loves.  Later she came up behind where I was standing, stuck her head through my legs (by my knees), and wrapped her arms around my legs. It was so precious!  Hey, I'll take any kind of loves that Avi gives!!  :)

Another picture of Avilene reading books!  She is obviously starting to spend more time with the books.  You might notice that she's looking at this book sideways.  I always say that her age gets way more mileage out of the books; Sideways, upside-down, right side up - it's always a new book!

Here are three different pictures from Avi's morning at Little Treasures.  She was pestering Sophie at Sophie's table (with food set up) so I sat up the other yellow bench just like Sophie had her's.  And the picture shows what Avi wanted to do; climb!!  :)  I took the next picture when Avi was watching the fish!  She's obviously seen the fish many times, but this morning she really SAW them and watched them for 2 or 3 minutes.  And the last picture I took of Avilene was when I got Baby Nora up from her morning nap.  Avilene was so excited to see her.  It was very cute.  "Alright! Someone smaller than me and I can steal their toys!!"

Avi - 1/13/2017

Avilene had bites of brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast.  She ate some of everything for lunch: meat balls, flat bread, carrots, and apricots.

Hudson and Avi were playing with the jingle bells and shakers.  First they emptied the shelf and then they were shaking those toys and making lots of racket!!  Sometimes they simply empty the shelves; just because the shelves need to be empty!!  :)

This was so cute watching Avi getting drinks.  :)  She was very intentional in putting the cup at the faucet, then taking a drink, fill the cup, take a drink.  Over and over.  She started grinning when she saw me watching her.  Little cutie!!  :)

 

Avi sat on my lap for one story - almost - during Story Time.  But then she got her own book and laid on the floor in front of the couch.  Isn't this cute?!  I Love it.  She did lots of running back-n-forth across the room of course and she also piled toys in front of Baby Nora.

Avi - 1/12/2017

Avilene ate cinnamon toast and half of apple bites for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, bites of dinner roll, ate hash browns, and cherries.

When Daddy Andy brought Avi this morning Hudson started saying, "Avi Andy, Avi Andy, Avi Andy."  Then he said it once more after Andy left; "Avi Andy."

I took this first picture when Avi was watching Lauralea bounce Reid on her knee.  I agree Avi; that looked quite hilarious.  Lauralea does this little ditty - "walk walk, trot trot, gallopy gallopy...."  -  while bouncing the kids.  Reid looks a bit large bouncing on Lauralea's knee!!  Avi obviously enjoyed watching it!  I love it when kids enjoy watching other kids having fun.

Not too much to say about this next picture except I wanted to show you that she really does stop occasionally and catch her breath!!  Actually she was trying to bounce up and down on these blocks! So she really wasn't relaxing!!  In the 3rd picture Hudson was going down the slide over and over and Avi and Sophie were keeping a close eye on him!

I took this last picture to give you an idea what I do sometimes at Art with the little ones when they are close to participating.  Hudson colors at Art, but he didn't really get the idea what we were doing here so he just watched too.  I call it "golf ball" art.  Paper and paint in the pan and, and a golf ball rolling around on it leaves lots of very cool tracks on the paper.  Sophie is patiently waiting for her turn.  Avi and Hudson were very focused on watching and and watched for over 10 minutes before they got bored.

Avi - 1/11/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of everything: ham, whole wheat elbow noodles, corn, and apple bites.

Avi came in and was immediately busy, busy busy!!  She played with the flip phones, books, and a new favorite in this toy set; The doll bottles.  I took this picture when Avilene was showing Lauralea one of the bottles.

Before she left for work Lauralea was reading a book to Hudson.  It happened to be a little book that Avi had been looking at earlier.  Avi went running over to the chair holding out her hands and Lauralea was all excited; "Oh, do you want to read too!?!"  No!  I just want my book!!  Ha!  That made me laugh!

At first Avilene was perched on the top of this yellow bench (turned over like a table in picture).  I was wondering how she would get down, but she handled it like a pro.  She turned over on her tummy and simply slid backwards until her feet touched the floor.  In this picture Sophie is trying to get a dress-up vest on Avi's arm.  (Sophie soon gave up!  Ha!)  I like how one of Hudson's butt cheeks is teetering on the edge of the bench!!

I got out the 2 tunnels and hooked them together for the kids to crawl through.  Avi was watching, laughing, and peering in both ends.  But she waited until everyone else was bored with it and then she got in by herself.  Reid was playing with her and had her giggling when I took this picture.  She is a fun-loving little sweetie and a bit of a maniac!!  Later, she was grabbing the side of the legos table, looking at me to see if I was watching, and shaking it as hard as she could!!  And very proud of herself!  :)