Avi - 10/31/2017

Avi ate most of whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, bite or two of brown rice, most of stir fry vegetables, and two servings of raspberries.  Hudson didn't want his raspberries and Avi immediately said she "want Bubba's berries."  Nora picked up on what Avi had just said and she started pointing and yelling for Bubba's berries too!!  Ha! Cracked me up!  (They both got a few of them!)

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  This age group is so "monkey see, monkey do!"  One will start playing with a particular toy, they all want to play with the same toy.  I can't remember who was on the floor first, but obviously they ALL ended up on the floor!  And more or less all pointed in the same direction!  (This never lasts very long so I have to be quick with the camera!!)

Hudson and Avilene were playing on the couch and Hudson asked her; "You wanna smell my head or my face!?!"  What a goof!  :)

Here's a picture of the kids waving bye to Daddy Ryan.  You know what I like best about this picture?  Yes, Atley's bat-girl cape is pretty stinking cute, but most of all I like how Ryan is holding up traffic!  Well done Daddy!  Haha!  (Just kidding!)  In the last picture Atley and Avi were peeking through the holes at each other and giggling at their own antics.  We also sang songs today, read lots of books, built with the big legos, and did some more sign language!!

Avi - 10/30/2017

Avilene ate bites of bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken salad; chicken, bites of tomato, bites of cucumbers, no peppers, and ate olives.  She had bites of pita bread, and ate two servings of pears.

It is a big day for Atley to transition to the Nap Mat so we all went on a "field trip" to the living room where I had all their mats laid out so everyone could see where Atley is now sleeping!  :)  I've been prepping her for a few days and the other kids get excited about it as well.  "Atley sleep on Nap Mat?!?!"  I asked the kids; "Who is going to sleep on a nap mat for the first time today?"  Hudson said, "Ba-nay!"  Ha!  No, it's not Baby "La-nay-ah."  Avi said, "Ba-La-nay!?"  :)  Last week I told Hudson it's "La" like in "Lauralea."  (Telling him the Baby's name starts with the "L" sound.)  So he said; "Lauralea Ba-nay!??"  Cracked me up!!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids - especially Avi and Nora were excited to find some animal masks to wear.  Here's Avi in her cute little cow mask!  This toy exchange has a farm and farm animal theme!

Avi was building a good ladder with the legos pieces.  These originally were used as part of a corral fence, but the kids use them like Avi is doing in the picture.

Avi - 10/27/2017

Avilene ate a large serving of malt-o-meal cereal and some dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate meat from baked beef kabobs; some zucchini, no mushrooms or peppers.  She ate bites of brown rice and bites of pineapple.  Avi has been so determined to get her bib on by herself.  (You can check out the bibs if you'd like and see how they are constructed, because it's not an easy task.  Although I open them up so the kids can be successful.)  I don't know what you guys see at home, but I'm very impressed how long Avi will stay focused on a task like that, work and work and work to accomplish it without getting frustrated!  Well done Avi!

Hudson and Avilene were running back-n-forth across the room yelling and saying things like; "help, help, help...help Mommy, help Daddy, help Gary, help, help."  (Hudson was doing the majority of the talking, but Avi was chiming in now and then!)  I was watching and finally had to ask; "What are you guys doing!?"  Hudson said, "We're playing Danger!"  Ha!  New one for me!  I love it that he can verbalize things like that because it's pretty fascinating sometimes to hear what they're doing and thinking!!  :)

In this first picture Atley kept raising her shirt and Avi was bopping her on the belly!  As you can tell they were having a grand time with lots of laughter!  Hudson said, "Look at those guys!  They're playing with each other!"  He made it sound like it never happens!!  :)

Avi was sitting on the legos table making a lot of racket by slinging the legos all over the table!  (Atley is the one who likes that activity most of all!!)  It kept getting louder and louder!  Ha! Anyhow, it rarely works to simply ask them to play quiet so I'll just go over and start building with the legos.  Almost immediately they will start watching what I'm doing and then start something of their own or want to build on mine.  Then after a few minutes I just back away and continue to watch and monitor their behavior and activity.  :)  Life at Little Treasures.

Avi - 10/26/2017

Avilene ate two servings of waffle and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch had a bite or two of "shepard's pie" with hamburger, green beans, and carrots.  She had a bite of whole grain tortillas, and ate cherries.  Atley only ate one cherry and Avi pointed at Atley's leftover cherries and said, "Want Atley's cherries."  ha!  Atley was more than happy to give them away!!

Hudson and Atley had already taken off their socks - Atley sits down and takes her's off every morning before she even comes into the play room!  Hudson had taken his off 30 minutes earlier and put them in his cubby.  I saw Avi's socks on the changing table and I asked, "who put their socks on the changing table?"  :)  Hudson said, "We did; because we don't want them!!"  LOL!!  As everyone knows by now I guess he's probably the spokesperson for the group!!

Avi LOVES to show-off every morning for Lauralea as soon as she gets to Little Treasures!  It's so cute!  She starts jumping off the blue balance beam and experimenting with every little leg kick, twist, and turn she can come up with!!  She was kicking her leg backwards like a donkey this morning!  Cracking us up!!

We had a fun morning and here are some pictures of Avilene.  She read stories, played behind the wall that Kenzie and Riley built yesterday afternoon, and we did some painting at Art.  Avilene's art piece is at the upper right in the picture.

Avi - 10/25/2017

Avi ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of salmon loaf, bites of dinner roll, half of squash, and ate tropical fruit.  This doesn't have anything to do with Avilene, but I know everyone gets a kick out of Hudson's constant talking!  At breakfast he started chanting my name; "Gary Gary Gary..."  Hi Bubba.  "Hey Gary, can we talk to you?!?"  Yes, of course you can talk to me Bubba.  "Gary Gary Gary....uhhhh, what are you doing Gary!?!"  Just listening to you chatter Bubba!  :)

I like this game that Lauralea was playing with Avi - identifying animals with the alphabet posters.  "Can you show me the Zebra?"  Avi was doing very well it and knows lots of animals!!  She pointed at the elephant when we asked and I pointed at the elephant's trunk and asked, "What's that!?!"  Avi said, "Lizard!"  LOL!!  Well it kind of does look like something long coming out of it's face!!

I had a Physical Therapy appointment early this morning and I parked the car in front of the window. The kids were at the window when Lauralea was leaving and it was so cute because Nora started blowing her kisses.  Then as Lauralea was leaving she honked the horn and Hudson (again) said, "She honked the horn; that's how she says bye!!"  As Lauralea was driving off Avilene said, "She gone." Atley is just happy to wave at ANYONE out the window!!  And She really doesn't care if they are waving back at her or not!!  :)

I took this next picture when Avi and Nora were playing with the head bands.  Speaking of Nora - she'd bonked on the side of the couch and was crying and I was giving her loves.  Avi went to the couch and had to show me exactly where it happened and was telling me all about it!!  "Right there, right there!"  Thank you for your concern Avilene.  She'd done the same thing earlier when Atley had fell off the mattress.  "Right there, right there!!"  :)

Avi - 10/24/2017

Avi ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of pork chop, most of whole wheat toast, a couple bites of beets, no sweet potatoes, and ate applesauce.

First, here's a correction from yesterday's Blog for everyone.  I'm sure most of you assumed this, but I confirmed with Linnea's (our new Baby coming in November) Mom that the "n" sound is NOT an "m" sound!  Ha!  So it's pronounced; "La-nay-ah."  :)  It was obviously a typo!

Lauralea is teaching an Evening Class this week so she didn't leave this morning until about 10:30 or later.  Everyone was in big time showoff mode!  Haha!  Avilene was the major one showing off!!  Avi arrived when we were eating and she went right to her highchair.  When she realized Lauralea was still here she said, "I'm done; then I go tell Lauralea hi!!"  :)  So I took these first two pictures while Avi was showing Lauralea some of her moves.  Typically, Lauralea is leaving right as we're starting breakfast so when Lauralea left about 10:30 Avi said, "Now we have food Gary!?"  Haha!

We also read lots of stories, sang songs, did some sign language, and waved at the mail carrier.  Whenever you'd like to see some of Avi's "knowledge" of sign language I'd love for her to "show off" for you!!  When we were going to wave at the mail person Avi spotted a squirrel running and playing in the street.  She said, "Squirrel in street!  Squirrel in street!!"  Then in the last picture Avi was pushing Hudson in the swivel/ rocker.  They sure have lots of fun in that chair!!

Avi - 10/23/2017

Avilene ate (after waiting the required 10 minutes Mommy!!  Haha!!) peaches and no whole grain chex cereal for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of hamburger meat, ate hamburger bun, no lettuce, tomato, or mushrooms, ate avocado, and bites of oranges.  I've haven't talked much lately about what I consider a "serving size" for this age group.  As all my Families know I participate in a Federal Food Program (CACFP) and you can look online to see what they consider a serving size for different age groups.  I think their servings sizes are small (and I also think it's just a suggested minimum).  So my serving sizes are considerably more than what they have listed.

Avi was SO cute after I washed her up and got her out of her highchair.  She said, "Thank you" with no prompting and I loved it!  Awww!!  It was so sweet.  Also, at the breakfast table she was talking about brother Peter having a robot in his bedroom.  :)

Several of you have asked about the new Baby and when she starts so here's an update!!  Her Name is  spelled Linnea and is pronounced "la-may-ah."  Full name is Linnea Ann Goe-Midtlyng.  (Mommy's last name plus Daddy's last name.)  So far Hudson has called her "Ba-na-ah."  And then "La-ba-na-ah!"  Haha.   For pronunciation # 3 he asked, "Am I gonna hang out with La-ba-na?"  She was born in July and will start November 13th which happens to be the day Avilene Nelson turns 2!  (Which opens up an Infant spot.)  I'm super excited for this addition to our Little Treasures Family and the kids and I will have lots of fun getting acquainted with "La-may-ah!!"  :)

It was pretty cute when the kids were waving at Momma Molly this morning.  A neighbor was walking his dog just before you drove up so it sounded like this in the Daycare Room;  Me - "Here comes Mommy!  Wave at Mommy!"  Avi - "There's a doggie walking!"  Me - "Here comes Mommy! Wave at Mommy!" Avi - "There's a doggie walking!!"  :)

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities;  Atley was pushing Avi around and around in the swivel/rocker chair.  In the next picture Avi is jumping blind off the climber.  :)  In the last picture Hudson had been mimicking Avi and wandering around "blind" too, but he wasn't about to follow her up onto the balance beam!!

Avi - 10/20/2017

Avilene ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, maybe a green bean or two, and two servings of applesauce.

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Hudson was pulling Avi and Nora in the wagon and Avi was working real hard to keep her feet out of Nora's space.  Thank you Avi, that is very sweet.  And it keeps Nora from yelling at you!  Ha!!  Thank you Hudson for working hard to pull them around.  You can see he's really leaning into it!

The second picture is also from yesterday afternoon.  Hudson and Avi got out this teeter-totter and immediately started playing a game they haven't done for at least three months.  They were taking turns diving off the side onto the ground and laughing like crazy!  Silly kids!

In the last picture we'd just finished building a "sidewalk" and the kids were having fun playing on it. We read lots of books, sang songs, did some sign language, and watched some people walking their dogs.

Avi - 10/19/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of hamburger and sausage pizza, whole wheat crust, with tomato sauce, olives, peppers, and mushrooms, and she had a bite or two of pineapple.

In this first picture Avilene was working with the stacking cups and after I took the picture she wanted to look at it.  So I showed her this picture and she said, "Avi building."  :)  And in the 2nd picture Avi is working the phone lines!!

We did some "golf ball art" and Atley was loving it!  What's golf ball art someone may ask?  :)  (I know most of you know this, but just in case...)  I put about 9 different colors of paint on the paper, put 4 golf balls in there, put on the lid, and hand it to the kids.  They make the balls roll all over and it's actually quite pretty with all the golf ball tracks!  :) We've tried it without the lid and that was crazy!  :)  And we used to do it with just one ball, but that took too long with everyone sitting around waiting for their turn!  Avi was looking at Nora and showing her the finished product.

Atley and Avi were pulling up their shirts and I think it started when Nora was covering her face with a dress-up shirt, so these two decided to cover their faces too!  "Ok kids, I don't think your Mommies want you stretching out your shirts."  (Did you notice how the Mommies got the blame for this one!?  Just kidding!)  Shortly after I took this picture Hudson yelled; "Look at Atley Condra!"  And she had her shirt completely off!!  :)  Uhhmmm...Atley, I don't think your Mommy wants you....Oh never mind I already tried that one!  :)

Avi - 10/18/2017

Avilene ate most of whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, half of whole grain tortillas, carrots and most of sweet potatoes, and ate fruit salad.  The grapes were pretty large and I was cutting them in half and she was arranging them ALL with the 'cut side' facing up.  Haha!  Also at breakfast, Hudson was trying to tell her something - I couldn't understand what he was saying - but when he's trying to make a point and no one understands he frequently uses the other kid's last name!  He said, "Avi Nelson, did you hear my words!?!"  haha!  (I understood that part!!)

Hudson was done with breakfast first and already playing when Avi was done and when she entered the play room Hudson said, "Gary, we're gonna be nice friends!"  (They've been hearing me frequently encouraging them to be gentle and sweet to each other!!)  Ohhh, thank you Bubba, that was very sweet!!  Well that lasted for at least 1.75 minutes!!  They were fighting over 2 of the large legos blocks.  Ok people, maybe you haven't noticed, but I have lots of blocks just for occasions such as this!!  :)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning!!  They LOVE to bounce beside each other on the mattress.  It's usually been Nora and Atley doing this lately, but Avi joined them today!  In the 2nd picture Avi was standing on the top of the green ramp and jumping to the floor!  Silly girl!!  (And how do I know it's green - because she told me it is!!  Ha!)  I took the 3rd picture primarily because she quit moving for a few minutes and I wanted to get a picture of her that's not blurry!!

Avi - 10/17/2017

Avilene ate most of toasted whole wheat english muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken, brown rice, and stir fry vegetables.  She ate half of her oranges.

In this first picture Atley was giving Avi and Hudson a ride in the swivel/rocker chair!  Hudson was exhorting her to increase the speed!  "Go fast Atley, go fast!!"  "Go Atley go!!"  She just kept going the same slow speed and kept grinning at him!  Haha!  I guess he thought maybe using her last name would help!  "Go Atley Condra, go!!"  Avi just sat and looked at him.  :)

We had fun singing songs and doing some sign language.  Avi remembers several of the signs we do. We also did our "Hickity Pickity" song and then I asked Avi what her favorite song is so we could sing it.  She started expounding about something and I had no idea what she was saying.  So I asked Hudson; "Did you understand what she said?"  Bubba said, "No, I did not."  Haha!  We also did some colors and she is doing so well with those.

The next two pictures: Avi was putting some little people in her school buses and Hudson came over and started doing the same thing.  Except he decided to take it to the next level and hoard all he could find.  I think your bus is overloaded Bubba!!  :)  The last picture; Hey, when it's a slow picture day and I can't think of something else I just take another picture of the kids watching and waving at the mail truck!  It's a daily ritual.  :)

 

Avi - 10/16/2017

Avilene ate bites of breakfast: cheerios and banana.  For lunch she ate bites of taco salad; Ground beef, olives, no tomatoes, and no lettuce.  She had bites of pita bread.  She also ate avocado, and watermelon.

In the first picture Atley and Avi were rolling this toy back-n-forth to each other.  It was very cute and they were both really concentrating on their game!  We also read lots of books; most of the "new" books in this toy exchange.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and all the kids were very busy and engaged all morning.  Avi put on the headband in the next picture.  It's a pretty innocent looking picture right!? She and Hudson were squabbling over the headbands and I cropped out a mad Hudson so the picture looks like everything is calm and wonderful!  :)

It's safe to include both of them in the last picture!  Ha!  Hudson is keeping a close eye on Avi's progress with her tower.  She likes building her towers with the small blocks.

Avi - 10/13/2017

Avilene ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked salmon, dinner roll, most of corn, and ate two servings of mangoes.
 
Avi was in her high chair and started singing, "Old McGary had a farm.."  (Obviously to Old McDonald tune.)  It was so cute and funny.  We have a book that the farmer has white hair and Hudson and Avi always say, "Look like Gary!!"  So I sing it that way; "Old McGary.."  The last time was several day ago.  I'd never heard her say that away from the book.  And it was pretty random! She has a great memory and recall!  She always impresses me with how she can remember the books; and I'm thinking primarily of the "special" books.  I'll ask; "What's this one about?" before I start reading and she remembers the majority of them and there are LOTS!!

We had a fun morning and did some reading, singing, and coloring with markers.  I took this first picture when Avi was pointing at our Monte picture and saying the names of the ones she knows; "Reid, Kenzie, Cooper, Gary, and Monte."  In the 2nd picture Avi was playing with the little house and trying to keep possession of Atley's house as well!  She said, "That my house!!"  Ha!

This last picture makes me laugh because the three girls are in such close proximity to one another!!  You do see Atley in this picture too right!?!  Haha!  (I didn't think Nora was big enough to hide the majority of Atley's body!!)

Avi - 10/12/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat english muffin and a couple bites of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, half of whole wheat elbow noodles, bite of peas, and ate applesauce.

Ok, now hopefully we should have uninterrupted Blogs for a few weeks until Thanksgiving time!!  I took some pictures yesterday afternoon and I'm going to Post some today that I think are too cute.  The UPS delivery man was treated special by the greeting committee!  And he was enjoying it too; you can see his big smile!!

Here are some more pictures from yesterday.  I told Avi I wouldn't sit where Atley's block tower could fall on her!  :)  In the next picture Riley was on the floor playing with Nora and Avi decided to dive on Riley as well.  Riley was still grinning, but she let out a big "Oooooofffff!" when Avi landed on her.

 

Many have asked about my EMG test yesterday and it basically confirmed what we thought; there is a pinched nerve coming out of C6.  It was kind of a fascinating test - using electrical voltage (at times needles were used) to test the muscles and nerves.  Kind of fascinating, but sometimes painful!

In the last two pictures Atley and Avi were peeking through at each other again.  I showed Avi the last picture of her sitting and waiting on the couch for story time to begin and she said, "pooping." And she had gotten poopy sitting there.  I just didn't connect the blanket over the head with that!  Wanting some privacy!!  :)  We also read books, sang songs, and did some dot painting and stickers.

Avi - 10/10/2017

Avi ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, bites of whole grain tortillas, taste of cabbage, and ate two servings of baked apples with cinnamon.

NO BLOGS TOMORROW!!  Just wanna make sure everyone sees that so I'll put it in bold capital letters!!  Ha!  Lauralea will be covering for me when I go in for an EMG test at 1:00.  (Right after lunch and during nap when I'm usually in the middle of working on Blogs.)  I may as well take time now to also mention some upcoming dates when Lauralea will be covering for me as well.  (You'll get another reminder later.)  I'm going to Louisiana to see my Daughter and her Husband during Thanksgiving week and I'm so excited and thankful for this opportunity again this year.  I'll be leaving Friday morning about 10:00 November 17th and returning the following Friday November 24th.  Lauralea will cover for me on the 17th, 20th, and 21st.  (Reminder: Little Treasures is closed Wed - Friday for Thanksgiving.)

I have a note from yesterday afternoon that I've already told Momma Molly about, but I'm gonna include it in the Blog because I think it's so cute.  I always ask the kids what they did the night before or what they did on the weekend.  Avi said, "Play soccer with Jackson."  (That's been the go-to answer no matter what day it is!)  Well Cooper got all excited about that because he has a soccer teammate who is also named Jackson!  Then another note;  Later, when Riley and Kenzie arrived they were asking Avi again to name all of her family.  They LOVE how she says "Peter" and they'll ask her that over and over and she'll answer every time!!

Avi was on the couch watching me put this first picture on the Blog and she said, "My summer hat." Yup, it sure is!  And then another picture building with the legos.

In the last two pictures we did some coloring with markers on coffee filters.  Then we spray them with water and watch the colors run.  They dry up and are really quite pretty!!  Avi's art is in the picture and on the top left-hand side.

Avi - 10/9/2017

Avi ate most of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of turkey burger, bites of hamburger bun, no lettuce or tomato, ate avocado, and ate a large serving of cherries.

Cooper is hanging out with us today and everyone is thrilled!  It's so much fun to have a visitor!  I took this first picture when Cooper was quizzing Avi about her colors and she was nailing it!!   Cooper was saying, "Where is red?  where is brown?  where is yellow?"  Avi is doing so well with her colors!  Then the difficulty level of Cooper's questions increased exponentially!!  He asked, "Which one (color) am I thinking 0f??"  Haha!  That cracked me up!  (That is SO Kenzie!!)  In the next picture Cooper was playing with Avi with the pop-up toys.

While Atley was playing in this area Avi found a string!  (about 18 inches long when she pulled on it)  Except it was hooked to Atley's pants!  You can see it in the picture if you look closely!  Atley stood up to take off and Avi yelled, "My string!"  Haha!  Speaking of Atley; I could smell someone was poopy and I asked Avi, "Are you poopy?"  She said, "Atley."  And pointed at her.  :)  She was right!

Here's a picture of Avi (and Hudson) standing on the blocks looking at .......... nothing!  Ha!  Really! No one is out there.  Nora had been doing this previously, Avi saw her and did it, then Hudson, saw Avi do it and came over to join in the sightseeing!!  Of nothing!  :)