Avi - 12/29/2017

Avilene ate two servings of oatmeal and bites of apple for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  She had several bites of dinner roll and ate her apricots.

First I want to remind everyone that Little Treasures will be closed Monday, New Years Day and back open on Tuesday.  Also, I'll email your January invoices this weekend.  Happy New Year to all of Avilene's Family and whoever reads her Blogs.  :)

The kids were at the window waving bye to Momma Maddy this morning and this time it was Avi who was saying, "Bye Mommy, bye Mommy."  Ahhh...she's learned well Bubba!  Of course he was saying, "That's my Mommy!"

Atley was here for quite awhile and then Avi was the next one to come.  Atley was so happy to see her and she was loudly enthusiastic!!  :)  They ran ran ran and then jumped jumped jumped!  Prior to me taking this first picture they were at the big gate sitting on pillows watching me prep oatmeal and then I asked them is they could see Lauralea.  It was cute how they both leaned over and looked under the gate at the same time.  (They were looking down the hall.)

We read lots of books, watched the snow fall at the window, sang songs, and practiced some sign language.  In the picture below: All the kids were putting legos flowers on their fingers.  They do this frequently and I think Nora was the first one to get it going this morning.  Their little fingers fit the holes in the legos perfectly!  One size fits all!  Haha!

Avi - 12/28/2017

Avi ate most of her french toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, bites of peas, and ate watermelon.

I was sitting in the chair and she came up and stood in front of me and said, "squish me, squish me." Ha.  We play a game where I "squish" them between my knees.  Then we were reading books and I asked, "what's this book?"  Avi said, "Mommy come round the mountain."  Haha!  "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes...."

Here are a couple of pictures of Avi from this morning.  She has been playing with dolls more lately and in the 2nd picture I thought it was cute how she was just chilling out reading her book.

Avi and Atley were having fun doing their running back-n-forth from the gate to the mirror.  (Mommy Molly got to see what that looked like this morning.)  Over and over and over - on several different occasions.  Here are a couple pictures of them having fun and being silly.  In the 2nd picture they moved the stuffed animals off the mattress so they could play.  Avi said, "We make a pile!"

Avi - 12/27/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, bites of squash, and ate fruit salad.  When she got her bib on for lunch she said, "Ta Da!!"  Made me laugh.  I've not heard her say that before and then later I heard Hudson say the same thing.

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  Atley and Avilene were sticking their faces in the "sinks."  These are little stainless steel bowls that I used for the sinks and I think this started because they can see their reflection in the bowls.  And then they were both sticking their faces all the way in there!  Silly kids.  Speaking of Avi and Atley, they picked up this morning right where they left off yesterday.  Running back and forth across the room; from the gate to the mirror over and over.

Yesterday there were only two kids here; today all five are here except there will be no after school kids.  Kenzie and Riley are at the Grandparents Farm because of no school this week.  So it was very busy today and totally different group dynamics.  Avi was just laying her head on the pillow when she was me taking this picture and of course she started saying, "Cheese cheese, cheese."

Avi - 12/26/2017

Avilene ate several bites of whole wheat bagel and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, brown rice, most of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.

Well there are only two kids here today and Atley was pretty excited when Avi showed up!!  She yelled "Avi!!"  And it sounded like "Owie!!"  Avi said, "Jackson have owie!"  Haha!! Hey, While I'm thinking of it:  Avi needs diapers!

Avi had to tell Lauralea about a sledding "incident" with Daddy!  :)  She ended the story by saying, "It better now."  Ha!  She was telling me something about Jackson and his Christmas present.  I never did figure it out completely, but it sounded like some kind of "machine."  She kept saying, "machine." It sounded like "Jackson got a red sewing machine."  Haha!!

We were reading lots of books and one is called "Somewhere in the Ocean."  There are ten different ocean critters in the book and Avi knew seven of them.  It's been quite awhile since we've looked at this book, but she remembered "otters, shark, sea horse, turtle, jelly fish, octopus" and I gave her credit (haha) for "snails" too.  It was Hermit crabs, but they were in a shell that looked just like a snail.  You have an awesome memory Avi!!  I like this first picture when she was wearing her socks on her hands like mittens!  When I pointed the camera at her she started saying, "Cheese cheese."

We read lots of books, sang songs, and did some gluing at Art Time.  Avi and Atley play together so nicely and it was lots of fun just to watch those two interact all morning.  They only had one very minor squabble all morning and that was after lunch right before nap time.  Atley grabbed both  plastic food "knives" from Avi.  I said, "Which knife do you want to give to Avi?"  So she just handed Avi both knives.  Ha.  And that was it!  The rest of the morning they were running back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.  Then rolling, jumping, and standing on their heads on the mattress.

Avi - 12/21/2017

Avilene ate two servings of waffle and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of shepherds pie with hamburger, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She ate bites of whole grain tortillas and ate her cherries.

I want to wish all of Avilene's family a Merry Christmas!  She's a wonderful little girl, I love her a ton, and I'm thankful to be a part of her life and your life.!  :)  Little Treasures is closed Friday - Monday. The next Blog will be on Tuesday the 26th.

I took this first picture of Hudson and Avilene yesterday afternoon.  They (well mostly Bubba) had put LOTS of toys in the igloo.  You can't really see it in the picture, but there are doll blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and topped off with lots of building blocks.  They did pretty good just managing to crawl in there.

Here's the story behind the picture: We'd been reading some Christmas books and the kitchen timer signaled me to turn on the oven.  When I came back out Hudson said, "We are being so patient!"  And they were!!  It was so cute and that's when I moved them closer together to get a group picture.  And that was when Nora decided to cut and run!  She wanted no part of a group picture, but she'd been patiently waiting as well until that point!!

We did some dot painting today.  Hudson has been asking for dot painting all week so today we dot painted on snowmen and Christmas stockings.  If you look closely at the table you can see that dot painting activity does lots of splattering.  They all love it and it's easy to clean up!

Avi - 12/20/2017

Avilene ate french toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate salmon loaf, most of dinner roll, ate squash, and tropical fruit.  When Lauralea came upstairs just before breakfast Avi ran over and told her; "My other Andy went the other way!  It kinda slippery!!"  Haha!  That was too cute!  It obviously made an impression on Avi because she mentioned it again to me about 10:00 when I was changing her diaper.  "Andy go the other way!"

Right after lunch Avi and Atley were trying a new trick and going backwards onto the mattress.  Silly kids!  Avi did it first and Atley immediately turned around and stepped off backwards!  This age group is so "monkey see monkey do!!"  It's not easy jumping backwards off of something - and it was cute to watch Avi concentrating and getting ready to jump!  I saw it the first time and it was obvious what she was up to!!

This first picture was taken yesterday afternoon when Avi was wearing that frog suit again.  Well at least she has her arms in the suit, but not her legs.  And this morning they were reading again after we'd just finished Story Time.  You can never read too many books!!  They were looking at a book titled "I Spy."  I have some in almost every toy set and this one is a Christmas book.  You look at an object on one page and find that object on the opposite page.  So Hudson was pointing at the airplane and then said, "Can you find?"  Yup she can!

Avi - 12/19/2017

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chops, half of whole wheat toast, ate roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets), and ate applesauce.

We were at the window waiting for Daddy Andy to drive by - and he's always pretty fast.  We never have to wait long!  Avilene said, "What's Andy doing!?!"  LOL  That cracked me up!

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon when Kenzie and Riley were putting the animal suits on the kids.  Here is Avi in the frog suit.  I didn't think she was too fond of it, but this morning she was asking to put it on again!  :)

In the next picture Hudson was pretending that some "monsters" were after he and Avilene.  Avi would hide for a few short seconds then start jumping on the mattress!  Hudson kept saying, "Listen to my words.  Come back in here!"  Avilene is not real fond of being covered up and staying in one spot for more than five seconds so I felt like she was doing good just to cooperate for that long!!  :) We also read lots of Christmas books - the kids love those and so do I!

We did some Christmas stickers at Art Time and the kids had fun with that - even though Hudson would have preferred we do Dot Painting!  :)  Sometimes I will point to an open spot on the paper for their stickers, but I try to refrain from doing that and just let them put their stickers wherever.  (Trying to contain the OCD impulses!!  Ha!)  Atley had some stickers stacked about five high so I was proud of myself!  :)  Avi is very details oriented and never had one sticker on top of another one!  :)

Avi - 12/18/2017

Avilene ate bites of chex cereal and ate two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, bites of lettuce and tomato, ate avocado, and bite or two of oranges.

Atley was playing on one side of the room with Nora.  Avi and Hudson were playing on the other side of the room.  The two groups were out-of-sight of each other.  Atley heard Avi starting to cry and she IMMEDIATELY yelled, "BUBBA!!" (With a very accusatory tone!)  And went running over to check it out!  She was being protective of her friend Avi!    Five minutes later it was a repeat scenario.  I'd never heard or seen Atley do that before.  Super cute!  (By the way, Atley was right both times!!  Bubba!!  Be gentle to your friend Avi!!)

The kids spotted the Mailman across the street at the mailboxes.  He'd gotten out of his little van to rearrange some mail and Avi said, "Mailman has snow boots!!"  :)  Good observation!  The kids finally got his attention by banging on the window - thanks to Atleys hard and persistent five minute barrage of hand banging -  and he waved at the kids as he drove away.

Monday's are always interesting - especially Monday mornings - as the Daycare kids reestablish their spot in the Daycare.  We were preparing for Story Time and Avi always sits on the "bump."  (Arm of the chair - we call it the "bump.")  And that is her spot!!  Someone had sat there and Avi yelled, "I want my bump!"  Ha!!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids had lots of fun exploring all the toys.  Like I've mentioned many times we rarely do anything extra (except read lots of the new books) on toy exchange Monday!  In the first picture Avi was playing with the little animals in this set.  And in the last picture she and Atley were peeking at each other through the hole.

Avi - 12/15/2017

Avilene ate a large serving of oatmeal and ate dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, a couple of green beans, and ate applesauce.  When Avi was done with breakfast she had to stop at the bib hanger and rearrange one of them.  She said, "I'm gonna turn this around."  LOL  Three bibs were facing forward and the other bib was turned around.  Apparently I am supposed to keep em all headed in the right direction!  (My wife is a bit obsessive that way too Avilene!!  Shhhh...don't tell anyone I said that!  Haha!)

After lunch I was feeding Baby Linnea and Hudson always thinks that's a good time to go potty; when I'm in the middle of feeding Linnea the bottle.  I told him I thought he could probably hold it and he said, "Can Avi take me to the potty?"  LOL!  Oh sure!  That would probably work just fine!!

Several times this week Avi has been telling parents "I skunk.  I skunk."  Ha!  I told them I was pretty sure she was talking about halloween rather than just making a comment about her behavior!  She told that to Emily (Nora's Mom) again this morning.  At least she's temporarily moved on from the every day carousel announcement.

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  Hudson was stacking LOTS of toys in front of the gate and said, "Ba-nay-a's gonna hide."  (Baby Linnea is in her saucer on the other side of the gate.)  Avi was taking this opportunity to climb across Hudson's pile.  In the 2nd picture Avi was building with the legos and Atley joined her for a couple of minutes.  Speaking of Atley, she was doing something that Avilene didn't like and Avi said, "I don't like that."  That's actually one of my goals here - having them use words to express themselves rather than just yelling or screaming.  And teaching them to listen to each other's words is part of the process too.  Last picture; Hudson and now Avilene, like to sit in the play sinks.  :)  Sophie used to do it too and say she was going potty.

Avi - 12/14/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger pizza with whole wheat crust, tomato sauce, olives, peppers, mushrooms, and pineapple.

At the breakfast table when everyone was just about done eating Avilene started whipping her head side-to-side really fast and furious - just being a goof and showing-off!  Nora and Atley were laughing hard of course and started doing the same thing, squealing louder every passing second!  I told Avi, "Hold your head still please."  Hudson never misses an opportunity to add his two cents worth, and he followed with this; "Or your ponytail will fall out!"  haha!  (The fact that Avi didn't have a ponytail was apparently irrelevant!)

I took this first picture yesterday after nap time and Avi had just gotten up.  Her hair was pretty crazy so I took a picture - and the picture turned out so dang cute!!!!!  :)

Avi with her head in the chair pocket!  That's about all the commentary I can think of for this picture! (Except Atley was trying to push the chair around and around at the same time!!)  Here's a note that isn't all about Avi, but I think you'll like it!  I was telling Lauralea a story just before she left about Avi and I said, "She made me roar!"  (meaning, she made me laugh of course!) Well Hudson, the ever-present eavesdropper was listening and said, "You're not a lion!"  Haha!  Now that made me roar as well!!  :)

How cute is this - Avi with her "practice sister!!"  Earlier, when baby Linnea woke from her nap Avi could hear the baby crying in the monitor.  She said, "It crying."  Haha!  Yes it is!!  It always makes me laugh when they make remarks like that!  (Yes I know, I'm easily entertained and that's one of the reasons I love doing Childcare!)

Avi - 12/13/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole grain tortillas, sweet potatoes, carrots, and mixed fruit.

At least 4 times this morning Avi randomly came and gave me a love - usually by squeezing my leg -me then giving her a love - and then going back to playing.  She usually just "checks in" with me by talking to me or just eye contact, but today she was obviously needing a bit more.  She is so precious.

I took this first picture shortly after the kids had waved bye to Momma Molly.  As you have probably already noticed Molly, Avi has on different pants.  That was from the first diaper change just after you left, but she hasn't had another one so that is good.  She looked kinda sore, but she never whimpered when I changed her so that was good.  She had a great morning with lots of activity and she started by giving Hudson and Atley a high speed ride in the swivel/rocker.  :)

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities; Avi and Atley were working side-by-side building with the legos.  Avi said, "See my tower Gary."  Then I took a picture of them waiting at the gate with their paint shirts on!  Come on Gary!  We're ready!  Just take the picture!!  We were reading a special book that we've not read for 3 weeks or more.  What's this book about?  Hudson said, "I don't know.  I don't have an idea."  I thought that was so cute.  Avi said, "Lady swallowed a crab."  Wow!  You nailed it Avi.  That is one of the lines in the song.  (To the tune of "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly.")

Avi - 12/12/2017

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

We were reading Christmas stories and I asked, "Who is this?" pointing to the jolly fellow on the cover.  Hudson and Avi both said, "Santa."  I asked, "What do they call him in this book?"  Hudson said, "Nick."  Avi said, "Nicholas."  Very good!  "Jolly ole saint Nicholas."  It's a fun little tune.

I took this first picture when Avi was playing with the baby saucer this morning.  I got it out of storage for Linnea and of course everyone thinks it a new toy to play with.  Atley is obsessed with it!! She likes to turn the entire saucer when the baby is in it, so it has to stay on the other side of the big gate.  :)

Here are a couple pictures from this morning.  Avi was trying out all the phones - I think there are 6 of them - to find the one that worked for her.  In the last picture she was standing on some blocks to see what I was doing on the changing table.  She was saying random words and making me laugh.  She said, "Louisiana."  Now that was random!  Then when I took the picture she said, "Hallelujah!" I laughed and she repeated it!  And that's how it goes!!  :)  We read books and did some coloring at art time.  Also, Avi let me know when Atley was poopy this morning.  She's about the age when their sense of smell is becoming more keenly developed and they start talking about smells.  Hudson frequently asks; "What's that smell?"

Avi - 12/11/2017

Avilene ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of ground beef, ate whole grain pita bread, no tomatoes, ate two servings of olives, two servings of avocados, and ate watermelon.   Well we have a visitor today; Reid is here all day and we are having a blast.  (At least I've been thoroughly entertained!!)  For example; here's a note from breakfast, not about Avi, but I think you'll like it.  At the breakfast table Reid was watching Nora eat her cheerios and said, "OH MY GOSH!!  Look how much she put in her mouth at once!!"  LOL!  SO funny!  (It actually is kind of impressive!)  Speaking of funny; I remembered that cheerios did not settle well in Reid's tummy so I asked; "Do cheerios still give you stinky burps?"  He said, "Yes, rotten egg burps; but if you have chocolate ones?!"  LOL!  Haha!  I roared!  Nope, fresh out of those, but nice try!  :)

So the first picture is all about the chair.  Just like "old times" right!?!  Remember how Avilene loved to tease Reid by "stealing" his chair every chance she got!  Reid solved the chair problem this morning; he just reclaimed possession of it!  He said, "Well it was mine!"  Then he shared a solution; "I bring our truck, put chair in back of truck and bring it home!!"  He loved that chair and literally spent hours in it - including sleeping in it occasionally!!  He was enjoying having Atley and Avi push the chair around and around as well!   Then in the 2nd picture Reid was doing some block building and immediately had three squatters in his house.  :)

Here are a couple more pictures from this morning's activities.  Avi was jumping off the step, but jumping away from the mattress.  Made my knees hurt just to watch her!  :)  In the last picture she was taking advantage of the top of the block shelf to reach the top of the blocks.  I don't usually let them play up there, but she was doing a good job with problem solving so I told her she could finish her project!

Avi - 12/8/2017

Avilene ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate salmon, bites of whole wheat dinner roll, ate most of corn, and two servings of mangoes.  After lunch when we were ready for everyone to lay down I mistakenly told the kids to "go get your bibs" instead of "go get your binkies."  Avi giggled and said, "Noooo, binky!"  :)

Avi said, "I want to read Christmas bugs."  We have a book called "Jingle Bugs" in our Christmas set and the kids love it.  We read lots of stories and sang songs.  Here are some pictures from this morning's activities:  This was a pretty narrow seat Avi had chosen!!  In the 2nd picture Hudson was asking Avi (over and over) to pile the stuffed animals on top of his head.  He loves to be buried under the stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, dress-up clothes, and anything soft.  Avi, on the other hand, is not about to lay still and let him do that to her!  :)  The 3rd picture is just Atley being Atley when Avi was peeking at her.  Atley LOVES to laugh, be silly, and everything is hilarious to her.  Avi enjoys making her laugh!!  :)  Speaking of making some laugh - Avi said, "I love you Gary Sanks."  That made me laugh; it was so stinking cute!  Well I laughed and she repeated it and I laughed again and she repeated it again!

All the kids were pretty sure I got the baby saucer down for everyone except the baby!  Haha!  Hudson said, "I want to sit in it."  This may not be the most flattering picture of baby Linnea, but she was in the middle of sneezing!  :)   Can't delete that!!

Avi - 12/7/2017

Avilene ate whole wheat english muffin and two servings of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything: ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and two servings of applesauce.  (She wanted more applesauce so I mixed her peas and meat with the 2nd serving of applesauce and she ate it all.)

I took these first 2 pictures yesterday afternoon.  Kenzie loves doing everyone's hair and they all like having her do it too!!  She's takes them out to the living room, one at a time, and they get the "special treatment!"  The 2nd picture: Kenzie and Riley had set up an 'elaborate' color testing experiment!  Ha!  Again, the kids loved having the extra attention!  They reported that Avi passed her test with perfect efficiency!!  :)

We had a fun morning - the usual story time and then we did Christmas stickers at Art time.  Avi was a bit upset because she was watching Atley put her stickers down and overlapped a couple of them! Ha!  In the next picture Hudson and Avi were "discussing" the different animals in this poster!  (Did you notice the girl is still wearing the boots!?!  Haha  Everyday this week so far!)  I took the last picture of Atley and Avi building with the legos.  They eventually had these legos scattered everywhere and when I was feeding the baby her bottle I asked these girls to pick up a few of them.  Atley and Avi stayed on task and picked up every single legos and them all back in the drawer.  Wow!  Impressed me!  Then Avi wanted to throw them all out of the drawer and do it again!!  She said, "Do again!?!"  Haha!  Uhh...no, it's nap time.

Avi - 12/6/2017

Avilene ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of paleo stew with hamburger, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli.  She ate saltines and tropical fruit too.

I already told Momma Molly this, but I want to post it as well.  Yesterday at snack Avi excitedly said, "Kenzie!  I ride on carousel!!"  Kenzie said, "I know that Avi!!  You've told me a billion times!!"  Haha!  I roared and then I told Kenzie that Avi actually did ride it again.  Hmmm, she didn't seem to care!  Ha!

This is more about Hudson, but he was talking about Avilene and Atley.  He said, "I mixed Avi and Atley."  You mixed up their names?  "Yea, I called Atley, Avi.  Isn't that amazing?"  Haha!

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  We did some dot painting at art time.  Then  Hudson was calling the chair their "car" again.  He told Avi, "Now we're home Avi."  :)  (Did you notice that Avi is wearing those boots again today?)  I love the last picture when Avi was looking at the baby.  I asked her to recreate the scene for me again and she did.  Thanks Avi!  This reminds me when we had a little boy in our program and Mommy was about to have a little girl.  He played with a baby in the program and called the baby his "practice sister." (Molly - That was Colt Callahan.)  So Linnea is Avi's "practice sister."