Avi -1/31/2018

Avilene ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of  paleo stew with turkey burger, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.  She also ate saltine crackers and tropical fruit.

Well I have lots of pictures in Avi's Blog today, but there were none I wanted to delete!  In the first picture she'd taken off her socks again and she was using them like mittens - again.  :)  Silly kid.  Her block building in the 2nd picture was unique and she was experimenting with what would stand and where she could place the blocks.

These next three pictures have to stay together!!  Avi was spinning so fast and furious - it was hilarious!  I don't care how coordinated you are, there's a high probability you're gonna crash when you go that fast!  However, when you're two years old you're not aware of that and the crash surprised and embarrassed her!!  (Primarily because I laughed!)  So she came running for a hug and life was good once again!  It was highly entertaining!!

I'm including this last picture in all the Blogs just for kicks.  There are some of you who never, or rarely, see the kids at meal time so here is today's lunch group!  (I took several pictures before I got one where every child is eating and focused on their food.  Ha!  Cheers for digital camera technology!)  The kids do a great job at meal times and know the rules and expectations I have set for them!  Good job everyone!  Here are a couple quotes from Hudson at breakfast and lunch today.  He asked, "Are you letting Atley sit at the table now instead of her highchair?"  Yup I sure am and I have been for the past 2 months in case you missed that!  Then he asked Baby Linnea who was watching from her saucer; "Are you gonna go to sleep now? Yes or no?!?"  Ha!  What a goof!

Avi - 1/30/2018

Avilene ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken legs, whole grain tortillas, corn, and applesauce.

I smelled poop and I said, "Ok, I smell poop!  Who's poopy!?"  Nora, Avi, and Atley - all three of them grabbed themselves at the same time and started saying, "I am."  "I am."  "I am."  Haha!  Nora was the only poopy one!  One out of three telling the "truth."  That's about par for this age group!! (That's a joke!)

Hudson was happy to be back and see his friends and was hugging everyone this morning.  It was very sweet.  So I asked them if they'd do it again so I could take a picture and here's Hudson and Avi re-creating the moment!  :)  Nice job everyone!!

Here's a picture of Avilene doing puzzles.  She impresses me with how good she is at doing these.  And she can easily do puzzles that don't have the pictures on both pieces.  What that means is this; she's not just matching pictures, but seeing the shapes and sizes of the piece and putting it in the right spot!  (It's an aspect of Spatial awareness.)  Then in the last picture I was changing a diaper and said, "Where did Avi go?"  She was being so quiet!  Here she was right below me on the shelf!  Haha!

Avi - 1/29/2018

Avilene ate kix cereal and two servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of turkey burger and hamburger bun, bites of lettuce salad with tomatoes, and she ate her cherries.

When Daddy Andy stopped to wave at the kids Avi was telling everyone "there are cheerios in truck!"  Ha!  Then she was jumping (sideways!) off the balance beam steps.  I like watching her when she's trying something new.  She really concentrates!  So cute.

We had a humorous incident this morning and I'll try to set it up for you.  A volunteer with the Sheriff's Department came by to pick up a check for a fundraiser they do every year.  The volunteer was a character about my age with long white hair and white beard.  (Like Santa Claus without the suit!)  He had stepped just inside the front door and of course the kids were lined up at the big white gate to see who it was.  When he saw the kids he started talking loudly (and perfectly I might add) like "Donald Duck."  Oh man, Avi took off running, Atley started laughing, and Nora immediately backed off and sucked her thumb more vigorously!  Hudson's not here today, but his reaction would probably have been negative as well!  :)

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning's activities.  In the first picture she'd gotten some blocks to stand on to see what was on the changing table.  She was mostly interested in the small "white" object that was attached to one of the key rings in this toy set.  (It had broke and I"d laid it there.)  In the 2nd picture Avi was working hard on starting a legos tower.  She let Nora add some legos to it as well which was very nice of her.  Avi likes playing near or beside Baby Linnea and earlier she'd been lining up cars right beside the baby.  Did you notice in the picture how Avi has her foot up against the side of the baby's head.  This baby does not care.  :)

Avi - 1/26/2018

Avilene ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  She also ate a large serving of apricots and ate her dinner roll.  After Lunch I was tying up the garbage bag from the lunch room and Avi said, "Gary, what is that!?"  So I just repeated the question to her.  What is this?  She said, "Poop!"  Ha!  That hit my funny bone because I do wrap the poopy diapers in plastic bags, but never one quite that big!!

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Kenzie and Riley wanted to do art with the kids and they had lots of fun.  First they did stamps, coloring, and dot painting on this paper.  Then after I took the picture they literally covered it with stickers!  This project went on and on and on.  Ha!  So much so that the little ones were abandoning ship and that rarely happens!

Avilene was strolling around this morning and loudly said, "We're ready!!"  For what?  She thought for a moment and said, "Uhhh...books!!"  Then after thinking about that for several seconds she changed the answer; "We're ready for Bubba's Party!"  :)

There are only 3 kids here today until the after school kids arrive.  Avi, Nora, and Baby Linnea.  So the group dynamics were very different, but the kids had lots of fun.  Here are three pictures of Avi from the morning activities.  Lauralea was here until about 10:30 so Avi and Nora spent LOTS of time showing-off for her!  The first picture Avi told Lauralea, "I'm a bear."  In the 2nd picture she was dancing for Lauralea.  If you look closely you'll see she's on her tiptoes.  The last picture; several times this morning she was organizing and lining up the masks.  :)

Avi - 1/25/2018

Avilene ate french toast and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pulled pork, ate whole wheat bread, peas, and watermelon.  I almost cancelled the Blogs for today because it kept coming up "service unavailable."  So these Blogs are running late, but the site is finally working fine!  So this Blog may be a bit shorter!

Avi was telling Lauralea all about her soccer exploits and Lauralea told her; "You play soccer more than anyone I've ever met!"  :)  Avi said, "Yup."

Stop me if I've mentioned this before!!  I love how engaged Avi gets in her work/play.  Awesome!  She was fixing a pretty awesome sandwich with the food toys and I like the 2nd picture when she topped it off with a phone!  :)

Hudson and Avilene were playing in the chair with a doll and Hudson was giving them rides around and around.  Then he got the pillow and was holding the doll's hand and showing it how to make the different designs on the pillow.  :)  "You do it like this!"

Avi - 1/24/2018

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate squash, and two servings of fruit salad.  Avi joined Hudson in chanting after breakfast and lunch; "Thank you Lauralea, thank you Lauralea!"  (For fixing our food.)  Hudson watched me fix the toast at breakfast and asked, "Did Lauralea make this?"  Haha!

During Story Time this morning one of our books we read/sang was "Shake my Sillies out."  Whenever we get to the page that goes; "gotta jump, jump, jump my jiggles out.....(repeats 3 times)...and wiggle my waggles away!"  Avi cannot sit through that part - ever!  She has to get down and start jumping like crazy!  So cute!

Here are several pictures from this morning's activities.  Avi gets very engaged in lots of different activities and I love having her at Little Treasures and watching her grow and develop!  She's definitely a treasure!  She and Hudson did several puzzles this morning.  In the 2nd picture she was building with the blocks and said, "A house Gary!"  Then I had to add a picture of her reading as well.  In the last picture she'd work hard and persistent to get on these boots.  When she noticed I was trying to get a picture of them she hid behind the chair!  Haha!  Turkey!

Avi - 1/23/2018

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, most of brown rice, ate stir fry vegetables, and raspberries.  Lauralea is working from home on Tuesdays and today she came out at lunch time and made this observation, "Wow, those are large serving sizes!"  Haha! The serving size recommended by the Food Program are tiny - my opinion! :)

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon and I just think it's so cute!!  I was wearing one of the kid's masks in this toy set and Avi was getting a huge laugh out of that.  She loved it and I was still wearing the mask when I took the picture.  Isn't this cute?!?

This next picture cracks me up!  Hudson said, "Can we watch for Kenzie and Riley?"  Well I guess so, but you'll have to stand there for over four hours!  :)  No problem!  We can do that!  So they watched for 30 seconds and Atley happened to spot a jet flying over so that held their attention for another 30 seconds.  (I'm sure you already picked her out, but Avi is on the right!)

Avi and Hudson were having an "age appropriate" squabble about who was talking to Baby Linnea!  It went like this; both of them were yelling, "I am!"  "I am!"  "! am!"  The problem was this; the baby was laying on the floor and Avi and Hudson were positioned on each side of her.  And they met in the middle so their faces were directly over Linnea's face - only about 12 inches above her yelling, "I am!"  It was loud and the baby started crying and needed rescuing.  Sorry, but now no one is talking to the baby.  :)  Not a big deal; just normal life at Little Treasures!  :)

We did some "golf ball art" at Art Time and here is a picture of Avi taking her turn.  There is card-weight paper in there covered with about 10 different colors and 4 golf balls rolling around.  :)

Avi - 1/22/2018

Avilene ate a couple bites of bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, cucumbers, bites of tomatoes, ate olives, avocado, and ate her pears.  We'd sat to eat breakfast before Avi arrived and Hudson said, "Where is that Avi at!?!"  Like Daddy Andy said this morning; "Hudson has a way with words."  He certainly does.  I asked Hudson and Avi if they played soccer on Saturday and they both said, "yes" and also let me know that "coach Joe is still at soccer."  Ha!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were busy all morning exploring everything.  The "new" toys keep them engaged all morning so we rarely do Art Time or sing songs on Toy Exchange Monday.  We did read a tall stack of books from this exchange.  In this first picture I love how Avi just quietly explores everything and is interested in everything.  Atley approach is similar except for the "quiet" part!  Haha!  She also explores, but is singing at maximum volume!  How do you like the 2nd picture with the mask on upside down?  Or do you prefer the "one-eyed" mask look!?!  :)

Avi and Hudson were playing in the igloo and pretending to sleep when I took this last picture.  Moments later Avi was done and Bubba was begging her to come back and using every phrase he could think of!!  It went like this: "Hey Sweetie! Come back, come back."  Not working.  "Come back Sister, come back!!"  Not working.  "Come back Avi, come back!!"  Not working.  "Come back Avi Nelson!!"  Not working.  "Why you say no Avi!?!  Tell me!!"  Silence!  I think she knows silence is the most effective weapon to use against Hudson!!  :)

Avi - 1/19/2018

Avilene ate malt-o-meal cereal and bites of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch - from the baked "beef kabobs" she ate meat, no zucchini, no peppers, and no mushrooms.  She ate brown rice and pineapple.

Here's a picture of Avi greeting Baby Linnea this morning.  All the kids love Linnea and the Baby loves all the kids too!

We have this daily ritual as we prepare for Story Time.  The kids LOVE Story Time and they all eagerly sit and wait on the couch while I pick out some books, usually from the "Special Book" shelf.  When I put the last book on my stack of books and they know I'm done they all start cheering.  Every day!  It's the cutest thing!  The moment we were done with Story Time today Atley sprinted to the gate, never made a sound, just stood there and waited for Nora and Avi to join her.  Sure enough, they ran over there too and they started running back-and-forth across the room again.  Then they were flopping on the floor and eventually went to the mattress to play.

Nora was watching Hudson and Avilene at the mirror with their "hoodies" over their head.  Actually, Avi's is not really a hoodie, but an over-sized collar on her sweater.  (I'm sure there's probably a name for such things, but I have no clue.)  Anyhow, she had it pulled over her head like a hoodie.  Nora was getting more mad by the second tugging on her collar trying to pull up her hoodie!!  Dang, that was funny.  It looked like she was going to lift herself off the floor with her collar.

Avi - 1/18/2018

Avilene ate waffle and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of shepherd's pie which has hamburger, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She ate whole grain tortillas and cherries.

In this toy set we have two copies of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" book.  Avi brought them over to the couch and said, "Here are the two twinkle books!"  Haha!

I've always liked how Avi studies the toys and explores how everything works.  This first picture depicts it pretty well; she's studying the tambourine and looking at both sides of it.  She's done this from the very beginning!  :)  I frequently see her doing this when all the other kids are playing and there is Avi - sitting over there studying something!!  :)

We read books, played with the blocks, and watched the workers next door at the neighbor's house. Then I took these last two pictures.  They are kind of silly pictures, but I was actually quite impressed with how far Atley could move her legs apart doing the Toddler Splits.  Wow!  She was getting pretty close to the floor and doing some impressive splits for a two year old.  Well as soon as I said something about it ALL the other kids came running over to give it a go!

Avi - 1/17/2018

Avilene ate two servings of french toast (amazing what a little syrup does - ha) and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of "whole 30" (which basically means no beans) chili with hamburger, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasoning.  She also ate tropical fruit and dinner roll.

This story is more about Hudson, but it does have Avi's name in it!  Ha!  Here's a random question that Hudson asked me this morning and then asked Atley!  Ha!  "Hey Gary, what's the funniest joke you heard?"  So I said, "knock knock," but that kind of fizzled out before it got started.  Ha!  Then Hudson turns to Atley and Avi, but directed the question to Atley; "Hey Atley, what's the funniest joke you heard?"  LOL  I roared!

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning's activities; Avi was working hard with the blocks and she told Lauralea she was building "a house."  Later, she was working with them again and said, "my tower" when I took this picture.  In the second picture she and Hudson were playing with the "I Spy" book again and were identifying objects from one page that were on the next page.

Hudson and Avi had lots of fun doing puzzles this morning.  They basically did all the puzzles in this toy exchange - probably a dozen at least.  (I got curious so I went and counted.  There are 14.)  Both of these kids are very good at puzzles - recognizing the same pieces and putting them in the right place, shape recognition, and using cognitive skills to organize the pieces.  (This doesn't really matter, but they were both working at about the same speed as well - pretty quick!)

Avi - 1/16/2018

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chops (because I mixed them in her applesauce), whole wheat bread, bite of roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes), and ate applesauce.  At the breakfast table Hudson just randomly asked me if I went to Louisiana.  He said, "Did you go to easy-anna?"  Haha!  Avi knew that I found it humorous so she gave it a shot!  She said, "weesy-anna?"  Haha!!  She gets the cutest twinkle in her eye when she's being funny.

Hudson and Avi always find something to argue about or fight over!  Siblings!!  This was a first: Hudson: "I Love Gary!"  Avi: "I love Gary!!"  Back-n-forth.  Ok, lets find something to do!!  :)  Story Time everyone!!

Last Friday Atley made it onto the "first level" of the igloo and she did it again today.  So Avi was not about to let that go and here's a picture of Avi at the same spot.  That's a Little Treasures Milestone! Ha!  They've watched Cooper, Reid, Kenzie, and Riley jump off the top onto the mattress so that's where this is all eventually heading!  :)

Next picture: I love how each of the kids do the painting in their own way.  Atley was going straight up and down with her paint brush, Avi was using the paint brush at first and then her hands, same with Hudson except he was using his fingers more, and Nora was dabbing at it and trying VERY hard NOT to get any on her hands.  :)  When I took the picture Atley was starting to paint the table and Avi was rubbing her hands togerther!  :)  In the last picture Avi was looking for a spot of paint on her right cheek!  Cutie.

Avi - 1/12/2018

Avilene ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a bite or two of tilapia, bites of whole wheat elbow noddles, one green bean, and ate applesauce.  I don't think I've mentioned much about how Avi does at the meal tables, but here at Little Treasures she does great and follows my directions.  Which are; "hang on to your plate, keep your tummy up to the table, and your head over your plate."  They even remind each other.  (Of course they're pretty good at bossing each other and then doing whatever themselves!)  :)

I took this first picture shortly after Avi arrived and she was being silly poking her head through and saying, "I'm stuck Gary, I'm stuck!!"  :)

Then Avi was running to where Baby Linnea was laying and saying "hi" to the baby and then charging off to somewhere else!  This may look like a pretty simple picture, but I had to take about six pictures to get this one!  Avi was blurry in every picture!!  She doesn't stop moving!  :)

Then in the last picture we made a tent with a big blanket.  It's amazing how much fun you can have with a blanket!  There were three kids (Atley, Avi, and Hudson) in the tent when I took this picture, but Nora wasn't about to get in with them!  It did sound kind of rowdy!  :)  She was having fun lifting the blanket, watching them, and giggling!!

Avi - 1/11/2018

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of hamburger/sausage pizza on whole wheat crust with tomato sauce, olives, pineapple and ate a serving of pineapple on the side.

The kids were waiting at the window for Daddy Andy to drive by and another car drove past.  Avi said, "That NOT Andy!"  Haha!  Of course Hudson then had to torment her by saying, "My Daddy" while waving at Andy.  I quickly moved them on to something else because she's already a bit sensitive with the arrival of a new sister!!  Just a note about Avi at Little Treasures in general.  I feel like she has done super good with everything on this end.  I don't see much difference with her except a bit more sensitive, but she comes here and this is her turf and everything is just the same as always!

Yesterday afternoon Kenzie and Riley included Hudson in their playing with the food toys and they were serving him kabobs and other things.  So he picked right up on that this morning and was trying to involve Avi in his food play.  I took this first picture when he said, "We need more shish kabobs Gary!!"  Yes, it certainly looks like you have room on your plate for more!  Then to Avilene he said, "If you eat all of this Avi I'll get you more!"  No answer.  "Ok Avi?!?"  No answer.  Now he's yelling, "OK AVI!?!"  She finally noticed he was talking to her;  "Ok."  :)

The kids had fun coloring on their art paper and then putting some stickers on top of it.  These stickers peel off fairly easy, but we have some that are not easy at all.  So I help lots with those, but the kids still like doing them.

Avi - 1/10/2018

Avilene ate two servings of  breakfast; whole wheat toast and grapes.  For lunch she ate roast beef, whole grain tortillas, bites of carrots and potatoes, and ate a large serving of fruit salad.

I took this first picture of Avi yesterday afternoon and here's the story of what she's doing.  Baby Linnea was laying in this spot and I was sitting on the yellow bench playing "peek-a-boo" with her.  I was putting a blanket over her head, then pulling it off and saying, "boo."  She was giggling and enjoying it.  As soon as I moved Linnea to the changing table Avi laid down there with a blanket and started doing it to herself.  Haha!

Avi said, "Hey Gary!"  And when I turned around she had a doll blanket wrapped around her head.  By the time I took the picture she'd moved the blanket, but this is still a cute picture if you ask me!!  Earlier she was jumping on the mattress and said, "Hey Gary, here comes a big splash!"  :)

When we were done with Story Time we did some gluing at Art Time.  The kids had lots of fun with it and I took the last picture to post with my comments.  Avi's art is top left and Nora's art is at the bottom left.  It was really bugging Avilene that Nora laid down some of her animals "wrong-side up!"  Avi reached over and was "fixing" them (turning them over) which now left lots of glue on the top.  Haha!  Nora didn't care; she was much more concerned about the glue on her fingers!  :)