Avi & Svea - 10/31/2018

Avilene ate french toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of "whole 30 chili"
with meat, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers and lots of spices.  She also ate tropical fruit and whole wheat dinner roll.

Mommy requested a picture of the girls together with their halloween shirts so this is probably the best one!  I told Avi to put her arm around Svea's neck and Svea started howling!!  Ha!!  Ok, that didn't work real well!  Later, Avi just randomly said to Svea; "Hey Svea!! I think my Mom or my Dad will pick me up!"  LOL!!  I asked, "Do you think they'll take Svea also!?!"  Avi said, "YES!!"  Did you know "Your Mom and your Dad is also Svea's Mom and Dad!?"  "YES!!"  :)

Next picture: Avi was playing with this little stuffed froggie and then wrapped two of it's legs around her neck.  It was pretty cute because it just stayed there and she was loving it.  Look at her cute grin. That's her "pleased with myself and I'm not gonna move" look!  :)

More pictures: First: "Hey Gary!  What is the elephant doing?"  Jumping the fence...That's the "Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack" book.  Next: The three "big" girls doing some Preschool trays.  Last Picture: You can see the pattern that Avi was supposed to follow, but she was having a hard time putting the buttons in a circle.  So I got a little plate and just let her practice arranging them in a circle.  We did the same thing for a square - with a little book.  Eventually she'll arrange them with the colors that you see in the pattern.

 

Avi & Svea - 10/30/2018

Avilene ate two servings of toasted whole wheat english muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork chop, ate whole wheat toast, half of sweet potatoes, ate beets, and ate applesauce.

The kids wash their hands in the kitchen sink now and we have a nozzle on the sink that can switch from spray to full flow.  It happened to be on spray and Avi exclaimed, "Water not working!!"  Haha! So I switched to regular flow and she said, "Thank you" with relief!  :)

Here's Linnea with her favorite Baby!!  The only one younger than her at Little Treasures!!  In the first picture Svea was leaning in toward Linnea and in the last picture I like how Linnea has her head all tipped off to one side saying, "Awww, my sweet buddy Svea."  :)

Speaking of Linnea, in this next picture she was close to Avi (who was performing some kind of Yoga maneuver on the wall) even though Linnea is not in the picture.  Avi yelled, "Linnea's bossing me Gary!!"  LOL!  Oh really!  What do you mean?  "She's not leaving me alone."  Ok, backup Linnea! Avi needs some space to do whatever kind of meditation she's doing.  :)

We read books, sang songs, did some sign language, and even some videos that Lauralea helped me with.  Three or four short videos of the kids singing - hopefully get those put together with other pictures for something on DVD by Christmas!  (Hopefully!)  Last picture - We worked with some play dough and Avi was pretty impressed with what she'd done!  I was impressed too!  She said, "I make an O Gary!"  Yes you did.  "O for an ostrich!!"  Wow!  You're so right!  She has the inside part in her hand and was kissing it and being all goofy!  She asked, "Can I take this home!?"  Haha!  No.

Avi & Svea - 10/29/2018

Avilene ate chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat hamburger bun, ate avocado, bite of tomatoes, and ate oranges.

We were at the breakfast table and Svea came crawling around the changing table and Nora let out a LOUD squeal of delight!!  It was piercing and quite startling!  haha!  (Avi and Svea had arrived moments before that and Nora's so in love with baby Svea.)  Sometimes Nora's squeal of delight and scream of anger are so close in tone I have to look at her face to see her expression!  It guess it wasn't just nerve wracking for me; Avi looked at me with big eyes and said, "She's laughing too loud."  Ha!

Avi was telling me a very serious story ...."somebody is sad....somebody misses him".... She was saying names (not somebody), but I couldn't get it.  I said, "Awww; in a book?"  She said, "No no no, in Toy Story!" Haha!  Then later she was pointing at the wall and counting.  What are you counting?  She said, "Dots on the wall."  And it went like this:  "1 2 3...(up to)...10...(then)...there's 59!!"  Ha!  She looked at me with a big grin.  Yup that's a pretty cool number!!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange in the Daycare and Preschool rooms.  The kids were super busy all morning and Avi worked hard at exploring everything!!  First picture: We call these "tech toys" and we only have one or two "tech toys" in each toy exchange for the preschool area.  It would be easy to have ALL tech toys - there are so many available!!  We like lots of activities that they can explore and create things with their own imagination, but "tech toys" are definitely fun!  Second picture: I like watching Avi use the magnet stick and move these "buttons" around; she's always very strategic in how she places them!  Last picture: I don't even know what this set of building toys is called, but Avi and Atley were enjoying it for a long time.

Avi & Svea - 10/26/2018

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

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon when Avi was pulling Nora and Svea in the wagon.  It was a bit nerve-wracking because Svea insisted upon standing up and I was afraid she'd topple out. At least her feet were on the bottom of the wagon so she wasn't standing tall, but she was pretty wobbly.

Yesterday afternoon Avi said, "Tomorrow is Friday.  Then it's Wednesday, then the weekend.  AND I can watch Rock Dog!!  And Ice Age!!"  Haha!  First thing this morning she said, "Atley!!  It's Friday and two more left and then it's the weekend!  Ok Atley!?!"  Atley was like; "Ok whatever."  Haha! Anticipating the weekends begins at an early age!!  :)

Pictures from Avi's morning: Jumping and flying off the igloo!!  You'll notice the igloo was not up against the mattress so the babies could crawl and walk through, but she had to give it a try and was successful!!  Picture Number Two: I like how Avi and Nora both have their legs crossed-over in the next picture.  About the same time Atley was reading and singing, "Old McDonald" and got to "and on that farm he had a..."  Avi jumped in and said, "Guinea pig!"  Ha!  Pictures 3 & 4: Building a structure with the duplos and putting shape/color puzzle together.

Avi & Svea - 10/25/2018

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and three servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate sausage and hamburger pizza with whole wheat pizza crust, tomato sauce, olives, pineapple, and peppers.  She also ate two large servings of pineapple on the side.

Reid was here after school yesterday and he was regaling us with some stories at the snack table.  He really does have a funny sense of humor and comes up with some dandies!!  He looked at the little kids and said, "Hey Guys!!  The only thing you do in Kindergarten is sit in your seat and listen to your teacher!"  Haha!  Thank you Reid.  You make it sound like lots of fun.  :)

I asked Avi this morning: "Did you get a pumpkin at the store yesterday?"  She said, "No; at Orange Street Food Farm."  LOL!!

First picture: Not sure what Avi and Atley were building exactly, but they had all the stuffed animals, dress-up clothes, dolls and blankets, and more piled on and around the blue balance beam.  (Did you see both of them between the yellow supports?)  Atley said, "Where'd Avi go!?!"  Avi was like 6 feet away.  Haha!  Avi said, "I'm right here Atley!"  Then they were building with the big blocks and I'm not sure what the context was, but I heard Avi say, "When you're ready to listen say OK Atley."  Haha!  Following picture: The three older girls were reading in the preschool area.  Do you like Atley's choice of places to sit and read!?!  Under the highchair!  Ha!!

Avi was laying in front of the little mirror watching herself and Linnea plopped down and starting messing with her.  You can see by the look on Linnea's face she was pretty proud of herself.  :)  Yes, you're very funny and cute Linnea.  Last picture: This time it's Svea in front of the same mirror and Linnea joins her there too.  I love having several mirrors at kid level because they enjoy them a lot!!

Avi & Svea - 10/24/2018

Rather than sending out a separate email I'm gonna include a reminder to begin the Blog today.   Please write these dates down, put them in your calendar, or whatever you use.
Closure dates for the remainder of 2018:
November 19 - 23.  Little Treasures is closed for Thanksgiving week.  (Louisiana here we come!!!)
December 24 - 25.
Also, closed for New Years Day January 1st.  That's a Tuesday and I'm scheduled to be open on Monday December 31st unless most families have other plans.

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork roast, ate whole wheat tortilla, bites of carrots & potatoes, and ate fruit salad.

Every day my daughter sends me a picture of our new grandson.  (My request!  ha!)  Avi knows that and when she hears the "cricket" (sound on my phone of a new text coming in) she says, "Can I see the picture of Gideon!?"  She doesn't even ask who it is!!  haha!  Isn't that cute?!  She also knows the picture in the window by the daycare table is our two granddaughters.  Today she said, "There's your two granddaughters.  You're getting a lot of granddaughters!!"  Haha!

First picture: Linnea loves her Svea buddy!  She gets all happy and excited whenever Svea arrives.  She was saying, "baby baby baby."  She's amazingly gentle with Svea!!  I probably shouldn't say this, but so far I haven't had to teach her "gentle touches!!"  Second picture: This is the stacking game that comes with the saying, "Dang it!"  Today within 15 seconds of sitting down with the little building blocks Nora and Avi immediately started saying, "Dang it, dang it, dang it!!"

More pictures: Some library time in the preschool room!  Nora was singing the "Alphabet" song over and over and over and over.... Avi and Atley don't even notice.  There is no "quiet" sign in this library!  :)  I love the last picture!  Avi was so serious in conversation and walking around and around with the swivel chair.  Nora and Atley noticed that and they soon had their phones as well!

Avi & Svea - 10/23/2018

Avilene ate two servings of toasted whole wheat english muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  She said, "My Mom calls them prunes."  :)  For lunch she ate most of chicken, ate brown rice, most of stir fry vegetables, and ate oranges.  At lunch Avi just randomly started talking about going to the fair again.  "We saw turkeys at the fair!"  Then she turned to Nora and asked, "Did you go to the fair?"  Nora looked at her and before she could answer Avilene said, "Say yes Nora."  Hahaha!!  Also at Lunch time Avilene said, "You wanna come to my house and see Christmas decorations?"  Then she added, "Can Bubba come?  We have a ghost at home."  Haha!  Those would be halloween decorations.  :)

Yesterday when Avi got up from her nap I was snuggling her and she was all lovey like she frequently is when she wakes up.  I told her I loved her and we were naming family members that loved her.  She said, "There's a lot of people that we love."  So sweet and cute.  And I felt pretty special to be on the list.  I made the cut!!  :)

Avi did several preschool activities this morning.  I like watching her trace the letters.  She's figured out that if she'll hold the marker close to the end she has much more control.

A couple of pictures of Svea doing what she does best: being the cutest thing ever.  :)  I like the first picture where you can't see her hand hanging on and she's leaning backwards.  :)

Last two pictures: Lauralea was giving pieces of tape to the kids as they asked for the colors.  Then in the last picture they were having fun with play dough.  (Nora had abandoned her play dough.)  Earlier, they were stacking little wooden blocks and during that activity Avi will frequently say, "Dang it!"  So of course they are all chanting, "Dang it!"  Except at first Nora said, "Dank it!" But it didn't take long under Avi's fine tutelage for her to get it right!!  :)  "Dang it!"

Avi & Svea - 10/22/2018

Avilene ate cheerios and most of banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, no avocado, ate olives, bite of tomato, and ate cantaloupe.

It was fun to have all five kids back this morning!!  Atley was thrilled to have someone roaring at her shenanigans and Nora didn't disappoint her.  Atley was "bonking" her forehead on the window and Nora was cracking up!  Speaking of window, when Avi got through waving at Momma this morning she got all teary-eyed and said, "Atley missed my Mom!"  Atley was still taking off her shoes and coats and not there to wave bye!  :)  Later Avi and Atley had been playing and Avi kept saying, "Five more minutes Atley, five more minutes!!"  Then; "She's not listening me Gary!!"  :)  Maybe her watch isn't working Avi!

So here are some pictures from the morning activities at Little Treasures!!  As soon as Svea arrived she went right over to where Linnea was reading and started tugging on the books.  Haha!  Up to that point the library had been very peaceful!  Second picture: Avi's face is blurry in this pic, but she was working very hard at bouncing on one foot!  "Watch this Gary, watch this!!"  I like that Avi!

More pictures: I thought it was cute how Atley and Avi were laying on the mattress together.  They were attempting to make heart shapes with their fingers.  In the middle picture Avi was asking; "What's happening with this?"  Haha!  Well that's your dishwashing soap in the play toys.  She said, "There's a lemon."  Yes, it's lemon scented.  Last picture; Avi did several preschool activities and trays.  She's a whiz at these color sorting activities and she likes them.  She kept at these until the white basket was completely empty.  Nice work Avi.

Avi & Svea - 10/19/2018

Avilene ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she salmon, most of whole wheat dinner roll, ate green beans, and mangoes.  Here is a piece of lunch time conversation: Atley; "We have a back room."  Or maybe it was; "We have a bath room."  Or maybe; "We have a vacuum."  Avilene and I were guessing, but with limited success.  Finally, Avi looked at Atley's mouth full of dinner roll and said, "Chew Atley!"  Haha!  Forget talking, just chew!

Avi did lots of preschool trays and activities this morning.  She and Atley were doing the little wooden blocks and Avi started saying, "Dang it!  Dang it!"  And of course Atley was now going; "Dang it! Dang it!"  Ha!  Avi was watching Atley try to find the letter "V" and Atley couldn't see it and really doesn't know it anyhow.  Avi said, "It's right across from the "L."  Ha!  (That was true.) The first picture: They had fun gluing and trying to get things to stick on the round paper towel tubes.

Second picture: We also set up the marble maze and they played with it for awhile.  Here's a scenario that amused me this morning and it's pretty typical when trying to teach 2 and 3 year old children to "share" their toys.  (Something we discussed in our Parent/Provider meeting.)  Sharing is a concept they really aren't totally capable of grasping until usually in their 3rd year.  And that's' why I have 3 and 4 duplicates of everything!!!  Today it was doll blankets.  Avilene had 6 and Atley had none.  Atley was whining for one.  So I said, "Avi, which doll blanket can Atley have?"  Avi; "This one."  And she gave her one so Avi now had 5 and Atley had 1.  Avi immediately said, "Hey Atley! You wanna share?!  LOL!  Which meant: Avi wanted that blanket back!  Too funny!

Last picture: Here are the two girls reading some Daycare books.  Earlier these books were still laying in front of the bookrack; we didn't get them put away yesterday.  Atley looked at them and said, "Linnea got the books out."  Haha! Except she hasn't been here since Wednesday.  :)

Avi & Svea - 10/18/2018

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and bites of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, a large serving of whole wheat elbow noodles covered with a large serving of applesauce, and she ate most of her peas.

First picture: Nora has been in Vermont with Mommy and Daddy this week seeing the beautiful fall colors, visiting farms, teddy bear factory, orchards and having fun.  I showed the kids this picture on Tuesday and told them Nora was eating a "cider doughnut."  Yesterday afternoon Avi wanted to see the picture again and she asked; "Can I see Nora eat spider doughnut?"  Atley immediately said, "I wanna see Nora eat spider doughnut too!!"  Me too!!  LOL!!  I roared!

Avi and Atley were doing stickers and Avi asked, "Can I do stickers on my knees?...Until I get bigger?"  Huh?..?  Oh yes, of course.  She wanted to "stand" on her knees on the table bench to reach better.  I initially thought she wanted to put stickers on her knees.  Ha!  There is a LOT of "language translation" that happens in this setting and it can be very challenging!!  Next picture: It's just the two big girls today so I tried letting them do some big ink pads with the big stamps on a big paper.  (Using a very limited amount of the colors and stamps.)  There is a process and directions to follow and Avi did pretty well with it.

I love how curious Avi is about Everything!  And the non-stop barrage of "why" questions and wanting details on everything!!  (This reminds me of my son and all of his continual "why" questions at that age! A very bright child and I can brag about him as he's adopted.  Ha!)  She was looking at a book this morning and the boy had his hands cupped around his ears to ear better.  She asked, "Does he not like that sound?"  What a great question!  Then this morning she extended it to the picture she was drawing that you can see below.  She pointed and asked, "What's that lady doing?"  My answer - Well Avi, you drew the picture so you tell me; what's that lady doing?  Avi thought for a few moments and said, "She's doing hip hop."  Whoa.  What?!  What's that mean?  Avi said, "It's like exercising."  Wow! Ok, I'm impressed again!!  :)

Avi & Svea - 10/17/2018

Avilene ate french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of hearty paleo stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She also ate saltines and most of tropical fruit.  Avi asked me this morning: "Hey Gary! Can I watch Rock Dog at my house!?"  Haha!  You'll have to ask Mom and Dad about that one!!

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon just before we went outside to play.  Linnea and Svea were playing close to each other and they really do get excited to see each other after naps or first thing in the morning.  Linnea is so gentle with Svea!  I'm so happy about that and also impressed that I actually only remember one time I've had to tell her (and show her) "gentle."  Linnea's personality is really starting to blossom and she's a funny little kid.

Momma Molly: Did you immediately notice Avi has on different clothes in the pictures below!?  Yup I thought you probably did!  :)  Not a potty accident!  She was doing a preschool tray transferring water from one bowl to the other bowl (same as picture posted on Monday's Blog) and doused herself pretty good!  So all her clothes were in the dryer.

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning activities.  I think this toy exchange is the first time these little stacking blocks have been out.  I cut the majority of these out of different sized dowels and sanded them.  Avilene was enjoying these and working hard at them.  I mention this all the time, but I love how involved and engaged she gets in her work.  She's a busy little girl and loves to move about, but when she finds something that captures her interest - wow - she can stay focused for amazing amounts of time.

Next picture: pretty much the same as yesterday.  Atley reading loud and Avi plugging her ears!  Ha! I was watching from the kitchen while putting food on the plates and decided it was worthy of another picture!!  Last picture: Avi and Atley had the igloo STUFFED with big blocks, blankets, dolls, pillows, and animals.  They said they were packing their "dryer."  (their words)

Avi & Svea - 10/16/2018

Avilene ate waffle and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortilla, ate corn, and a large serving of baked cinnamon apples.

Lauralea was with us for an hour this morning and we played with a "marble maze" that we found at a garage sale.  Marbles are "choke-able" for babies, plus we wanted a way to contain them so I bought this cheap little blow-up pool!  Ha!  Avi and Atley both kept asking; "Are we gonna put water in it?"  "Can we have some water?"  Haha!  No.  However, when they came out to play with it Avi still started to take off her pants!  LOL!!  Lauralea and I were laughing hard.  "It's dry!"  In the following picture Avi was putting the little plastic "chain links" together after Lauralea demonstrated how it's done.  Nice job Avi.

Next, a couple of preschool trays doing some tracing.  First one is several different shapes and the second one is obviously some letters.  Wow, we were impressed how well she's doing with tracing those letters and boy was she working hard at it!!  Well done Avi.

I took this last picture after lunch shortly before nap time.  I was in the kitchen putting away lunch things and Atley was reading/singing SO LOUD!!  If you've never heard her on high volume it's kind of astonishing!!  And hard on ear drums.  Occasionally I'll ask her to tone it down a bit, but generally speaking we operate on a fairly high volume anyhow so it's just fine.  Anyhow, it sounded loud in the kitchen and when I came around the corner to where the girls were at this is what I saw:  Avi plugging her ears.  Haha!  And just reading - not complaining about it.  :)  Atley was singing "Old MacDonald" with passion and volume!!