Avi - 3/30/2018

Avilene ate bites of brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate salmon, most of dinner roll, ate green beans, and two servings of mangoes.

At Story Time I was picking out some books and Hudson kept asking me for a book and I couldn't get what he was saying!!  Over and over we tried!!  Finally I said, "Avi, do you know what book he is asking for?"  She immediately answered!!  Haha!!  "Froggie went a courtin!!"  Thank you Avilene!! (Next time feel free to jump in earlier!!  Ha!)

I took this first picture when we were doing puzzles together with Nora.  This morning when I said, "Turn the puzzle piece around."  "It's upside down Nora."  She did it!  Big cheers for Nora!!  :)  Avi and Atley are keeping a close eye on Nora's progress!  And they're waiting for Nora to give up and hand it to them!!  :)  In the 2nd picture Avi said, "I got on my jumping hat!!"  The girl loves to jump!

Yesterday I talked about how Linnea is a great baby, mild temperament, super congenial and social.  And I said that makes her a fun baby for the other kids in the daycare and they all love her. Well this morning I realized I was taking pictures of her with every child.  I counted and there are 7 pictures of Linnea in the Blogs and she's in everyone's Blog!!  Ha!  I love how she basically reacts the same to all of the kids and she loves them all!  It's adorable!!  Avi was putting the hat on the baby again; she said, "Are you ready!?!"  Put it on and yank it off!   Linnea was cracking up!!  Then Avi turned around and sat on the baby's hand!  "I'm sitting on her hand!"  Again, Linnea was laughing hard!  :)

Avi - 3/29/2018

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and half of her oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, half of peas, and two servings of applesauce.  At the lunch table Hudson and Avi were saying, "Thank you Lauralea, thank you Lauralea."  Then they ran with it and were saying anything they could think of!  "Thank you eyeball!" (Avi)  "Thank you Buckwheat!" (Hudson)  And on and on!  :)

Don't you wonder what the kids are saying at the window when they're waving goodbye to you?  This morning Avi was waving bye to Daddy Andy while looking at Hudson and she was saying, "That's a pickup truck.  That's a pickup truck."  After the 3rd or 4th time Hudson said, "I know."  Ha!

Here's a picture of Avi wearing a dress-up shirt this morning.  She asked me for help and I said, "I think you can do it."  She said, "It's tricky."  :)  Ok.  Then she wanted one button hooked so we did that and Nora was instantly mad because there were no buttons on the one she was wearing!  Ha!  

Avi asked if she could crawl under the legos table.  (Next picture - there she is!)  "Can I crawl under here?"  Well of course.  Hudson said, "That's a safe place to hide.  No monsters, no mommies, no anything!"  Hahaha!  When Hudson was under there Avi peeked at him; "Peek-a-boo!"  He said, "Come find me Avi!"...."You are great finder Avi!"....."Come find me Avi!"  She got tired of that and said, "No."  Then as she was walking off she said, "See you tomorrow!"  LOL!  So stinking cute.

Last picture; Avi and Hudson were putting hats on Linnea and they did it over and over.  Linnea is a great baby, mild temperament, and is super congenial and social.  Which makes her a fun baby for the other kids in the daycare.  They all love her.  She has a brother at home about the same age as Hudson so she is very well adapted to up-close and personal attention from little people!!  :)  Avi said, "You're a crazy baby!!"  Ha!!

Avi - 3/28/2018

Avilene ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of Paleo stew with meat, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans.  She also ate crackers and her tropical fruit.  At the breakfast table Avi was being silly and closed her eyes and started saying, "I can't find Atley; I can't find Nora."  And she went around the room and said everyone, including herself.  Of course Hudson joined her and then they were running with it and saying it about everything.  Bubba said, "I can't find my glass of wine!"  LOL!  I roared!!

I'm gonna put this in everyone's Blog;  The days and weeks go by so fast, but I frequently try to tell everyone how much I love your kids and I love what I do.  I have the most awesome families at Little Treasures and I'm super attached to all of you!  All of your children have their own strengths and challenges and I count myself blessed to work with them and care for them.  Thank you!!

Here's note from Hudson's Journal I think you'll get a kick out of!!  Hudson looked at me and asked, "How did your tummy get so full!?!"  LOL!!  A lifetime of careful and precise engineering Bubba!! And that's why I love children; total unfiltered words!  Just say it as they see it!!

Here are a couple pictures from this morning; Avi was getting ready to jump and she said, "These are jumping boots!!"  Ha!  Good one Avi!  Next picture; We did some coloring on coffee filters while the babies were sleeping and then sprayed them with water.  (The pictures, not the babies!!)

In this last picture Hudson had rocking duties while I was putting food on the lunch trays.  He said, "She likes to rock."  Then he said (at least 2 times - mimicking what he'd heard me saying earlier), "She's just a doll."  I agree!!  Hey Molly, here's a benefit to having two kids in Daycare - you'll get lots of pictures and notes about Svea long before her first birthday and she gets her own Blog!!  Or maybe at that point I'll combine their blogs, but have notes and pictures about each of them - I'll leave that up to you!!  (I think that's what I did with Riley and Cooper!)

Avi - 3/27/2018

Avilene ate three servings of waffle and ate her grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of baked chicken, half of whole grain tortillas, ate corn, and baked cinnamon apples.

(Just an FYI: this is what I Posted in everyone's Blog today.)  Ok, I have permission from Momma Molly to post a picture of Svea in everyone's Blog.  Thanks Molly!  This is Avi's little sister!!  She is here today and again tomorrow and then will be here full-time starting in the middle of April.  So if your Blog seems late today here is the primary reason.  She is a doll and I'm already in love.  So precious.  So I want to remind everyone at this point, the general time frame for the Blogs are around 12:30 - 2:45.  If the Blogs are not posted by 3:00 then it's been a very busy day!!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange over the weekend so this was Avi's "Monday" after toy exchange.  She was a busy girl.  Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  Avi, Atley, and Hudson love doing the puzzles and will spend up to three different sessions daily doing them.  In the next picture Avi was putting her Baby to sleep on the shelf and she said, "That guy needs to sleep!"  Haha!  Then Hudson told Avi; "That Baby likes you!"  :)  Speaking of Hudson, he said, "Hey Avi!  It's time to go to the battlefield!"  LOL!!  Avi said, "Ok, I'm ready."  So I asked, "What are you going to do there?"  Hudson said, "Soccer....basketball."  That's comedy!

Next picture;  Avi was wearing some rain boots and a hat.  Here's what you can't see happening at this very moment!!  Nora was so furious when she saw me put this hat on Avi.  Why was she mad?  My only guess was this; she must have thought it was a special hat because she wanted it!!  All the hats are identical and she was wearing one!!  Moments after I took this picture Nora took off her hat and threw it at my feet!  (As if to say, "you can have your stinking hat!")  More comedy!!  I had to post another picture of Svea!!

Avi - 3/23/2018

Avilene ate two servings of breakfast:  kix cereal and baked cinnamon apples.  For lunch she ate half of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.  She also ate apricots and most of dinner roll.  The kids didn't seem to notice or care that the baked apples at breakfast were loaded with cinnamon.  Kenzie and Riley helped Lauralea fix them yesterday and well...that's just what happened!  :)

The lady that monitors the Food Program was here today checking my charts, freezer temp, refrigerator temp, checking the menus, and more.  The kids generally enjoy someone coming, but it can be stressful for kids with certain temperaments too.  (Think Nora.)  :)  Atley, on the other hand is friendly to everyone and comfortable with all!!  Atley and Hudson were at the gate jabbering to her like she was their best buddy so that was good.  Ha!  Avilene had been doing puzzles and was peeking cautiously around the corner.  So cute.  So I took her hand and she held my leg while keeping an eye on that lady!!  :)

Here's another group picture of the kids looking in the crib at Baby Linnea when we went to get her from her morning nap.  I tried to get a picture of all four looking into the crib, but that never worked and I took several pictures!  Haha!!  (Three out of four looking in the crib is still pretty good!!)  All the toys and stuff around the room are too interesting to ignore!!

Here are a couple more pictures from this morning's activities;  Atley and Avilene were doing puzzles side-by-side and working hard at them.  The last picture was obviously taken during art time and they were having fun doing some dot painting.  Avilene was being somewhat rowdy when I took the picture (waving the dot painter above her head) and she had Hudson's attention as well.

Avi - 3/22/2018

Avilene ate half of french toast and most of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, a large serving of peas, and ate watermelon.

All my pictures today are "group" pictures and I love that!  It means I can "copy and paste" for the Blogs!  :)  This first picture was taken yesterday afternoon after I fed Baby Linnea.  (She's on the floor in the 2nd picture.)  I just want everyone to see how well the kids can clean up the room entirely on their own!!  I never helped with anything...here's how the routine goes.  I was preparing to feed the baby and I said we can go outside after the room is cleaned up and after I feed the baby.  I started singing our "clean-up" song and they immediately kicked it into gear!  A lot of the motivation is to go outside, but there is also the routine aspect associated with singing the same song.  (And I'd be happy to share the tune with anyone interested!!)  They did awesome.  Good job Avilene!!

The primary attraction this morning for probably 20 minutes were the street sweepers!  Geez!  I've never seen them spend so much time going over and over the same area!  Which was just awesome because it was major entertainment for the children at Little Treasures!!  However, after they went past about the 8th time I was beginning to wonder if our window was going to withstand the beating!!  Haha!  The kids did some serious pounding!!  In the middle of the street sweepers a moving van went by very slowly and the driver noticed all the kids at the window and he started waving too!  That was very cute and the kids loved it!

The last group picture from today:  The kids love to go with me to get Linnea after she wakes up from her morning nap!  They all ran down the hall and were knocking on the door.  I said, "Ok, you guys keep knocking and I'll go get the camera!!"  Haha!  Linnea was probably thinking; "Alright alright, come in already!!"  :)

Avi - 3/21/2018

Avilene ate half of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce, whole wheat spaghetti noodles, squash, and two servings of fruit salad.  How long did it take for Hudson and Avi to start "bickering!?"  I'm glad you asked!  Avi arrived at 8:45, we have breakfast at 9:00, so the answer is 15 minutes.  Haha!  During breakfast time:  "I'm 2!"  "No! I'm 2!"..........Well it's nice to see that you kids missed each other!!  :)

Here are a couple pictures of Hudson and Avi playing together and Hudson covering her with blankets as she was requesting him to do.  I didn't notice until after I edited the first picture, but zoom in and it looks like the doll is grabbing Avi's foot.  Haha!

Next picture: All I have to say; "Does anyone want to do sign language!"  or  "Does anyone want to sing some songs?"  or  "Does anyone want to do Hickity Pickity?"  And they race to the step below the window and I sit in the chair facing them.  In the picture everyone is looking at Hudson and I'm sure he was sharing some of his insights learned at the petting zoo in Arizona while he was gone!  :)

Another milestone reached today!!  :)  Avi stood up on the "first level" of the igloo and jumped off onto the mattress.  Ha!  Way to go Avi.  Atley actually did it first this morning which surprised me and I yelled and cheered for her.  Avi listened to me cheer and must have thought she better do it too!  Haha!  However, after a few jumps Avilene was totally sticking her landings like a boss and several times landed on her feet and just stood up.  Love it.

Avi - 3/20/2018

Avilene had bites of whole wheat bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, a bite or two of brown rice, ate half of stir fry vegetables, and ate her raspberries.

One of the special books we often read is "Over the river and through the woods..."  There's a picture of a scarecrow that all the kids think is very funny.  The illustrators remove the clothes off the scarecrow to use in a play.  Today when we read it Avilene said, "They took all the clothes off the spare-crow!"  I asked, "scarecrow or spare-crow?"  She said (grinning), "spare-crow."  Haha!

I just thought this first picture was cute.  Linnea had just awoke from her nap and Avi was glad to see her.  (This was the first time she'd seen her since Friday.)  The next picture needs some explanation! Avi brought me a couple of booklets from the igloo that were left in there by Kenzie and Riley.  I peeked in and saw the igloo was now empty.  Except, a few minutes later Avi brought me another booklet!  Where did you find that?!?  Avi said, "The igloo."  So I lifted the igloo way up and found where Kenzie and Riley had made holders for their papers and booklets! Haha!  Love it!!

In the next picture Nora was looking at one of the color posters and Avi joined her.  Nora would point at the colors and Avi would name them.  This is obviously one of many ways they learn from each other!!  :)  It's like Nora has a big sister who's four and a half months older!!  :)  In the last picture Avi was just being silly and scooting her head along the floor - using it like a snow-plow!  Except the carpet is not real gentle on the forehead and she quickly realized it!!  :)

Avi - 3/19/2018

Avilene ate bites of bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, bites of salad with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives, and ranch dressing.  She ate bites of avocado and two servings of pears.  Atley was done first at lunch ("I'm done, I'm done!!") and immediately Avi and Nora started saying, "I'm done!" between bites!!  Ha!  

Avi came in talking and continued talking for a long time.  I finally told her she had to stop jumping up and down while talking because I couldn't understand a word she was saying!!  haha!  She had lots to say!  "Parade, parade, parade."  I heard lots about the parade!  "Mommy took me! Not Andy or Svea; they stayed home."  :)  "I'm gonna play golf with my daddy.  I'm gonna do it last night."  Haha!

"Momma called Grandpa Mark"....."computer."  Oh, to help him with his computer?  She said, "No, Peter's a tuba player."  Oh, ok, that makes perfect sense.  Haha!  And on and on and on.  SO CUTE!!  I love that!!  We do this thing where we shake hands and I always say, "Nice to meet you, I'm Gary Sanks."  She said, "I'm Avi."  Avi who?  "Avi Nelson."  Then she added a middle name.  I couldn't remember it and I asked, "Avi...also...Nelson?"  "NOOOO!!"  Haha!  So I finally had to go look at her chart!!  Oh!!  "Avi Arlo Nelson!"  "Yes!"  She's SO much fun!!  Love you Avilene Arlo Nelson!!

Avi did puzzles and we also did puzzles as a group to help Nora with her puzzle skills.  Avi and Atley (and Hudson when he's here) point where the puzzle piece goes and Nora gets first shot at placing it correctly.  Then Atley or Avi put it in place if Nora can't get it.  Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  Avi, Nora, and Atley were running from the gate to the mirror and back and I tried to get all three in the picture, but that wasn't working so I took a picture of them individually.  I think that is a super cute picture of Avi.  In the 2nd picture we did some painting at art time.  The last picture; all three girls were putting blankets over their head and jumping.  It was Nora's first time and she actually started it.  Not many weeks ago Nora was not yet jumping and now she's blindly jumping!!  Yikes!  :)

Avi - 3/16/2018

Avilene ate a large serving of cream of wheat cereal and a couple of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of baked beef kabobs with meat, zucchini, peppers, and mushrooms.  She ate bites of brown rice and ate her pineapple.

The kids learn what the other child is saying regardless if they can talk clearly or not!  They figure it out!  Atley and Avi were at the window and Atley was pointing and saying, "eh-ca-cot, eh-ca-cot, eh-ca-cot."  Avi said, "I don't see any helicopter."  LOL!  That was so cute, sweet, and funny all at the same time!  You are a good friend Avilene!!

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities: Avi wrapped this doll blanket around herself and said, "Look Gary, it scarf."  (It took me several guesses, but I finally got it right!  "scarf!"  Either I got it right or she got tired of all the words I was saying!!  Ha!)  In the 2nd picture Avi was standing on the blocks trying to move them along.  She called it "roller skating."  :)  The last picture; she told me; "I'm gonna fill my bucket up!"  As you can see in the picture she got it full.  She said, "It's stuck!"  I said, "No, it's full!"  :)

Avi - 3/15/2018

Avilene ate two servings of whole grain waffle and ate half of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of shepherd's pie with hamburger, potatoes, green beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  She also ate whole grain tortillas and cherries.

I told Lauralea I'd obviously missed Avi - within the first 15 minutes of her at Little Treasures this morning I'd taken at least 6 pictures!  :)  She said, "Hey Gary, I'm gonna go to carousel in Missoula with my Mom.  Haha!  Last Sunday I was walking on the trail past the carousel and thinking how much Avi loves that carousel!!  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange last weekend so Avi was a busy little girl this morning.  She brought 2 of the stuffed animals (whales) to me and said, "These live in the ocean."  :)  Then during Story Time she told me what she saw on the page; "the elephant drinking from the water with his trunk."  Wow!  That's a great sentence Avilene and it pretty much sums up the whole picture!!

So here are some pictures from this morning:  Avi greeting Linnea!  She is so attentive to the baby and immediately alerts me to anything and everything that the baby might need!!  "Baby Crying Gary, baby crying!!"  "Linnea spit up!"  Thank you Avi!  It's all very helpful.  (especially alerting me to the baby's spit-ups!)

Next picture: Avi is pulling all the toys out of the shelves to see which ones she may want to play with!  :)  Following picture: Well Avi is back and it's time to build a sidewalk!!  If you look closely at the picture you can see Avilene is grinning while nose-to-nose with Nora.  After I took the picture Avi just stepped off and went around Nora.  Thank you Avi.  That was a sweet thing to do.  In the last picture; The dress-up clothes had not been touched this week, but as soon as one person gives them a try then everyone wants to do it.  :)  Avi wanted to put on some pajamas and then Atley and Nora. Thanks for getting everyone motivated Avi!  (Atley had her PJ's on all morning until Lunch Time.)

Avi - 3/9/2018

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

Here is a `picture of Avi and Nora racing back-n-forth across the room.  Hudson and Atley were late today and these two were having a TON of fun!  It's so cute how dynamics change when one or two of the kids are gone for awhile!!

I've mentioned this before, but while reading stories I will sometimes let them finish the last word or two of the sentence and they really like doing that!  So this morning we were doing "Farmer in the Dell" and they were all yelling out the ending.  So we got to the line, "The cat took the ______!" The answer is "rat."  Avi says, "Dirty Rat!!"  Haha!  You've got a great memory Avi and I couldn't be more proud!  :)

This is a familiar looking picture right!?  Hey, when you're seeing the same picture over and over it's safe to say that it's an activity that they enjoy!  She really is quite the little engineer and likes to build and create things with the legos and big blocks.  I guess these big blocks really are big legos.  They fit together so well and are easily manipulated by all ages!  Then in the last picture I helped them work on another sidewalk going the other direction.

Avi - 3/8/2018

Avilene ate most of 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, peppers, and pineapple.  She also ate mixed fruit.  Sometimes it's a bit rowdy getting through the gate for meal times and I have to watch them closely.  Tuesday and Wednesday Avi walked into the corner of the gate (or was jostled) and hit her forehead.  Today at breakfast Hudson said, "Hey! Avi didn't hit the gate this time.  :)  Thank goodness!!

Lauralea has been teaching evening classes so she is at home today.  The kids were greeting her at the gate this morning and it was SO cute.  And re-creating the moment looks pretty good too, right!?  (See picture!!  Ha!)  Speaking of Lauralea - during meal times I have the kids say, "Thank you Lauralea!" And she usually isn't around to hear it, but she was today!  Side note about that: This morning at Lunch I mixed some baby food with infant cereal for Linnea and Hudson said, "Thank you Lauralea!"  (As he watched ME fix it. That cracked me up!)

Ok, this next picture is so cute!  Does it look familiar!?  Haha!  It cracks me up, so I decided every time she wears this sweater with the large collar and uses it for a hoodie I'm gonna take a picture.  The last two pictures: Avi worked hard at building a sidewalk again!  She loves doing that.  The girls were running back-n-forth to the mirror again as well, but now they had to deal with a sidewalk obstacle!  We also did golf ball art, or as Atley calls it; "goo-ba art."  :)  Speaking of art, Avi wanted to put on her paint shirt by herself and it went like this: "I'm doing it by myself Gary...uuhhhh....can you help me!?"  :)  That moment of independence lasted for at least 2 - 3 seconds!!

Avi - 3/7/2018

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pork roast with carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.  She ate whole grain tortilla and a large serving of fruit salad.

Avi was talking about her halloween shirt and then she said, "I remember Santa from halloween!" Ha!  Hudson, of course, had to jump on that!  "He's from Christmas!!"

Nora, Atley, and Avi were all lining up these legos toys like you see in the next picture and lining up some little car toys.  We see this frequently with this age group and it's totally normal.  It's just a way of exploring, organizing, and manipulating their environment and some kids do it a lot.

Here are some more pictures from this morning's activities.  We were doing some selfies and Avi was watching herself play with her hair.  I kept moving her hands away from her hair and she thought that was pretty funny.  Cutie!

We did some stickers at Art Time and it was fun to watch Avilene put down her stickers.  As you can see in the picture their papers are pretty full, but Avi worked hard to not overlap very many of them. Atley was flying through her's!  Haha!  Overlap!?!  Who cares!?!  :)