Avi - 1/31/2019

Avilene ate waffle and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of Shepard's Pie with meat, carrots, potatoes, and green beans.  She ate whole wheat tortillas, and she ate her cherries.

First picture: Avi was being the "voice" for these two dolls talking to each other.  It was super cute even though she was talking quietly and I couldn't hear what she was saying.  I love to watch them use their creativity and create whatever they want.

Speaking of creativity - in this next picture Avi was again doing some creating with the legos this time.  Nora was watching and Avi was giving her hints and instructions on what to do next.  Ha!

I have to be careful not to report the same thing or same pictures in Avi and Svea's Journals!!  :)  I mentioned in Svea's journal about the "shelter in place" plan and here are a couple more pictures I took while we were downstairs.  The bed was the reading zone and as you can see Avi was the only one at this moment occupying that area.  :)

We stayed downstairs for several minutes so the kids could mess around before we came back up. Lauralea was letting them bounce on this big ball and they thought that was a blast.

Avi - 1/30/2019

Avilene ate most of French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate "whole 30" chili with meat, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and two servings of tropical fruit.  At breakfast Nora asked for more strawberries and I was feeding Svea at the time.  I said, "Ok, but you'll have to wait a couple of minutes before I can cut up more strawberries."  Avi added; "So you don't choke!!"  She LOVES making additions and corrections to my statements!!   :)  I'm making that judgment by how often it happens!

First picture: Avi went into the preschool room first and when Nora and Atley followed Avi said, "I can't hear!!"  Haha!  And they hadn't even started their singing/reading thing!  That was funny and she knew she was being funny!  Every book Atley read out there was either "To grandma's house we go" or "Way up in the arctic."  And it was borderline deafening!!  :)

Avi said, "Gary! I wanna go with you into the play room."  Ok, well come along!
Avi; "I wanna tell you some questions!"  Haha!  "Ok, I'm listening.  What do you want to tell me!"
Avi; "I dunno."  "Hey Gary!" What?  "I'm going to Slide-Town."  Where's that at?
Avi; "I dunno."   :)

Avi; "Hey Gary!  Will you put this on!?"  Uhhhh, no I don't want to wear it.
Avi; "Will you put this ON!?!"  No thank you!
Avi;  "Put it on ME!!"  Oh, sure, I'd be happy to!  :)

Next picture: Nora was reading this ABC book and Avi was loudly singing the "Alphabet Song" so Nora stuck the book in front of her face to block Avi!  (In case you were wondering: There was a little bit of intentional terrorizing going on here!)  Last picture: We did some gluing on hearts for art.

Avi - 1/29/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of pork chop meat, ate whole wheat toast, beets, sweet potatoes, and applesauce.  I was impressed she ate both vegetables; beets and sweet potatoes.

First picture; Avi was wearing the head band and it seemed to help her run really fast!!  Second picture: She's posing here and said she got this move from some movie!  It sounded like she was saying, "Mega-man," but she said that wasn't it.  

Next picture: Avi, Nora, and Atley were all in the preschool room doing activities.  Earlier, Nora was reading a "Care Bear" book.  And Avi scooted up beside her and started looking at it too.  Things kind of started to go south and Avi said, "You gotta share Nora!  You gotta share!"  (Which translates to;  "I wanna read your book!")
Nora; "No!!"
Avi: "Don't you want me to read Care Bear!?!"
Nora; "No!"
Avi: "But I like Care Bear!"

Last picture: Avi's ponytail lasted until 10:30.  She saw me trying to take a picture of her and she went into the igloo to hide and work on it.  After 3 or 4 minutes she came out and the little rubber band was still in her hair.  You can still see it hanging down in the picture.  She got frustrated, grabbed some hair, and yanked on it!  Well Avi, you managed to pull out quite a bit of hair, but the rubber band is still there!!  :)

Avi - 1/28/2019

Avilene ate Chex cereal and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground beef, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, ate avocado, and no oranges.

We've been doing group sessions to the bathroom;  it always seems to help the next ones see the potty routine!  Here's how I would classify them: Avi is the "veteran" of the group, Atley is the "rookie," and I'll call Nora the potential "prospect."  :)  Avi likes the fact that she knows the routine and is helping the other two learn.  (Atley kept her diaper dry all morning - two potty trips!  Cheers!!  And they cheer for each other.)  I have the "observers" sit on the floor and I sit on the edge of the tub.  Last week Avi joined me on the edge of the tub and then of course Nora tried.  The next thing I knew Nora went over backwards into the tub!!  Dang!!  Thankfully she wasn't hurt!!  So the "sitting on the floor" rule has been carefully observed and enforced after that!!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and like usual everyone was super engaged in checking it all out!  Here are three pictures I took of Avi busy at work.  Reading books, using a little electronic game, and putting the shapes on the stick following the example of the picture.  Middle picture and the electronic game;  Not sure what else to call it, but we try to have at least one "tech" type of activity in the preschool.  I think kids probably get enough tech stuff at home so most of the stuff here is more hands-on learning.

Last picture: Avi was trying to give Nora another one of the egg-shaped shakers.  Avi said, "You don't like hard-boiled eggs!?!"  (Using an incredulous tone!)  And she kept repeating it!  Ha!

Avi - 1/25/2019

Avilene ate a large serving of oatmeal and bites of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, green beans, and two servings of applesauce.  At the breakfast table Atley was coughing and Nora (very sweetly) asked; "Are you ok Atley?"  No answer.  Again; "Are you ok Atley?"  No answer.  Avi said, "She's ok."  (ha!)  Nora; "Are you ok Atley?"  Again Avi answered, but this time said, "She's not ok."  Nora said, "Gary!!  Atley not talk to me!!"  Me: "Atley, please answer Nora. We answer when someone talks to us."  (I guess I was caught up in listening and being entertained by the entire exchange!!)  Haha!

Momma Molly did the "I love you" to her girls when the kids were waving at the window.  Avi looked at me and said, "Did you see that!?!"  Haha!  Yes I did and it was very sweet!  Shortly after we went to the couch because she was asking; "Will you snuggle me Gary, will you snuggle!?!?"  I took this first picture; a selfie of her and she when I showed her the picture she said, "That's cute!!!"  Haha!  I agree!

Nora was playing with a toy and one of the babies came by and reached for it.  Nora was yelling; "NO! Its' mine! It's mine!"  With great authority Avi said, "Well actually, it's Gary's!"  Haha!!  Avi has heard that a few times.  Except I add; "and I'm happy to share these toys with all of you!"  Avi saw Atley playing with a toy and Avi asked; "You wanna share that toy with me?"  :)

Next picture: These three were reading books in the preschool room and Atley and Nora were again singing SO loud and again Avi acts as if she doesn't hear them.  And she probably doesn't.  She's no doubt conditioned herself to tune them out because it's a daily occurance!!  Ha!  Every book Nora would pick up she'd ask Atley; "What's this one?"  And Atley would give the exact same answer every time; "Way up in the Arctic."  And they'd both start singing loudly again.  (I have ones about the Arctic, Desert, Garden, Ocean, and more.  Probably 6 in all and they use the same tune.)

More pictures of the kids busy at their play/work!!  Last picture: These are little plastic "chain links" that she's hooking together.  There is actually several patterns to follow, but Avi chose to just work on getting them linked together.

Avi - 1/24/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel (toasted and buttered) and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of hamburger & sausage pizza, ate most of her whole wheat pizza crust (cut into little pieces), with peppers, pineapples, olives, and tomato sauce.  She also ate a large serving of pineapple on the side.

Avi, Atley and Nora were all in the preschool area reading books.  They (Nora first) found a book that reminded them of halloween and Nora said, "I go trick-or-treating like a monkey!"  Haha!  I loved how she worded that.  So Atley said, "I go trick-or-treating like a rabbit!"  Avi said, "I go trick-or-treating like a skunk!"

Next picture: In the foreground Avi is playing with sister Svea on the pop-up toy.  In the background Nora is seeking some solitude from the crowd!  :)  And giving everyone the skunk-eye if they're having thoughts of invading her space!  Ha!  We were listening to kids songs on the iPod and in the middle of one song Avi said, "Nora, your song is coming next!"  Sure enough, next song "Nora Blue!"  That was impressive!  I only have 250 songs on there, but when it's playing in the background I guess it gets burned into our brains.  :)

Last picture;  Now here's a picture of some very typical 3 year old silliness!  These two were kicking the wall, with their bare feet of course, and yelling, "OW! OW! OW!"  And continuing to do it for several minutes.  :)  So, if their feet look bruised.....there you go.  :)

Avi - 1/23/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork chops (they were very soft - and delicious - from being marinated), ate whole wheat tortillas, bites of carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and bites of fruit salad.  At lunch time: The kids were eating and making comments about the pictures on the digital frame.  There is a picture of Avi standing on one foot.  (When she did that I remember her saying; "I doing it like  Sylvie!")  When I saw that I said, "Look at Avi on one foot."  Nora immediately looked under the table at Avi's feet.  Haha!

I debated (with myself - ha) to include a story about this morning, but I decided it wasn't appropriate for the Blog!!  If that makes you curious you can ask me about it and I'll be happy to share!!  Here's a teaser;  It's hilarious!!  :)

Atley and Avi were in the preschool room for a couple of activities this morning.  Atley just wanted to read books and Avi was playing with the little camera.  It looks like she making some technical adjustments with the settings and I'm sure she was.  Sounds good to me!  Haha!!  Last picture: The kids did some sticker and decorative duct tape on their papers.  Atley (and Nora) were basically done when I decided to take a picture and if you zoom in you can see those clowns laughing.  This has nothing to do with Avi, but I frequently have to remind Atley at meal times we're at the table to eat; not to try making Nora laugh!  :)

Avi - 1/22/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate no chicken, ate brown rice, no stir fry vegetables, and most of oranges.  As the kids were waiting for breakfast I was whistling loud and they were guessing the tunes.  Nora and Atley were nailing them in just a few seconds every time.  (Avi was asking me to stop!  Haha!)  It reminded me of a game show on TV called "Name that Tune" from MANY years ago!  haha!

Avi looked out the window at the icicles hanging and said, "Popsicles!!"  As soon as she said it, she knew that wasn't quite right.  Lauralea was headed out the front door to catch the bus to work and I said, "Go wave at Lauralea." And I pointed at the window.  Avi thought I'd lost my mind.  She said, "NOOO; the car is in the garage!!  She goes that way!!"  Ha!  She was animated and talking with great authority!!  :)  Different plan this morning Sweetie!!

Nora occasionally gets into a "Don't Look At Me" mode and screams those words at others.  Which kind of works against Nora because the other kids have a tendency to jump on that.  For example; one of the times when she was saying that this morning, Avi started chasing her back-n-forth across the room yelling, "I can look at you Nora, I can look at you Nora!"  So we quickly moved on to an activity.  :)

Most of the pictures today are from yesterday afternoon.  We have several different size snow suits and Lauralea put this hat (whatever it's called) and mittens on Avi.  It was all so cute.  Third picture - you can see the sand tables: They were pestering me to play in the "sand."  They kept saying, "Why not?!?"  So I kept saying, "Well if I have to explain that to you, there's a good chance you won't understand anyhow!"  Haha!  (I was humoring myself!)

 

Last picture: I took this just before Nap time.  Avi and Atley were reading the "I Spy" book and I like watching and especially listening to the kids when they read this book together.  There are objects on one page and you have to find the same objects on the opposite page.  They were working hard at it for a long time.  They were using the same words I use when I read it; "Can you show me the.....?"

Avi - 1/21/2019

Avilene ate two servings of Cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, bites of whole wheat pita bread, bites of tomato, ate olives, half of avocado, and two servings of strawberries.

Atley and Linnea are not here today and Nora was here for 45 minutes by herself.  She had a captive audience (me- haha) and she was a talking machine.  This was kind of cute:  Around 9:00 Nora said, "I wanna go potty."  Ok, I checked and she was dry, so I took her in there and she sat on the potty.  Nothing happened, but she immediately said, "I'm just like Avi."  :)  (Yes, kinda, except potty comes out when Avi is here.  Haha!)  First picture: I thought it was cute when Avi was snuggled in among the pillows.

You probably already saw Svea's Blog and the pictures of her with the purse around her neck.  Avi saw me taking pictures of Svea so she decided to put the purse ON her head.  Ha!  Then Nora saw Avi with the purse over her head and said, "She's hiding! I wanna hide."

Last picture:  These two had the yellow bench beside the box so they decided to crawl through the window of the box.  (I call this "Life Skills" class 101!  Ha!)  THEN these two decided to fight and it sounded like this;  Avi said, "Nora we need to share!"  Nora yelled, "NO!  I don't like to!!"  Avi screeching loudly; "At Gary's house we don't scream!!"  Nora said, "Why?"  (LOL)  Avi said, "Because you have to be good when your Mom comes!"  Ok, so I admit, Life Skills class wasn't exactly a screaming success today!  Except for the screaming part and it was exceptional!!  :)

Avi - 1/17/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and no oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  Plus an extra big serving of more noodles smothered with applesauce.

First picture: Several times this morning the kids were at the window watching it snow.  One of them would say; "It's snowing!!" and they'd run to the window!  So I grabbed the camera one of the times and got a picture.  They also watched our neighbor (who's house is in the picture), Big Willy, out shoveling snow.  I yelled across the street and told him to go slow because he was providing some morning entertainment!  :)  He's loves waving at the kids!

Avi has been freely giving Nora lots of "advice" this week and I've mentioned several of them.  I think it was Monday I told about Avi telling Nora not to be a "turkey when your Mom comes."  (That was about 10:00 in the morning.)  This morning at 8:30 Avi again felt the need to offer some reminders!  She said, "Be a good listener when your Mom comes Nora!!"  :)  (Cracks me up.)

During Story Time today one of the songs we sang was "Old MacDonald" and it was illustrated with "Ernie" from Bert and Ernie.  Atley looks at that and asked, "Who's that?!?"  I said, "Old MacDonald" which is what it was in the picture with his animals.  Avi said, "NO! That's Ernie!!"  Haha!  Yes you're right!  It's all so confusing!!  :)

Pictures of Avi from this morning: I was sitting on the toy shelf/kitchen watching the kids.  She shoved in behind me so I took a selfie of her.  Second picture:  Then a picture after I fixed her pony!  Cute little mischievous face!!  Last picture:  What are you doing?  (Obviously restricting Svea's progress!!)  "Oh, just helping Svea."  Haha!  Right.

Avi - 1/16/2019

Avilene ate two servings of french toast and a large serving of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate "hearty paleo stew" with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She ate crackers and tropical fruit too.

Nora kind of had a hard start to her morning; not that unusual and here's an example within minutes of arrival.  She yelled "NOOO!!"  What are you yelling about Nora?  "Atley looked at me!!"  Ok everyone, you gotta put on your blindfolds!!  :)  Then Avi got in Nora's face, with her very active pointer finger, and said, "Nora! People can look at you!  Listen to me!!"  I was having a hard time not just roaring!!

I was asking Avi what she did last night; and not getting much response so I was making silly "guesses."  Did you chase squirrels?  "No."  Did you go running down the sidewalk?  "no."  Did you play with Grandpa's dog?  That brought a more animated response!!  "NO!!  It's a Dog!!"  Haha!

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon.  Avi was transferring water from one bowl to the other using a syringe (not visible in the picture) and a sponge.  She likes doing that and did it again this morning.  She said, "Gary, Look!!  This bowl is empty!!"  And it was!  She'd worked hard until she'd moved all the water.  Second picture: It never seems to bother Avi when Atley and Nora are both singing loudly and Avi just gets absorbed in her books.  Last picture:  Doing some gluing!

Avi - 1/15/2019

Avilene ate waffle and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, most of whole wheat tortilla, most of corn, and ate baked cinnamon apples.  I took this first picture of Avi at the breakfast table.  Everyone else is finished and she was working on her third serving of grapes.  Can you see how she slumps way down in her chair; usually with her legs crossed over under the table.  Just in a super-relaxed position!  (She's watching the pictures in the digital photo frame.)  This is typical Avi at meal times.  :)  It kind of adds to her overall messiness at the table and I've asked her to sit up, but I'm not going to nag her about this.  The girl loves to chill-out!!

This next picture is one that's left over from yesterday afternoon, but it was so cute watching Avi be the little teacher!!  Notice Avi's right hand - index finger in the air for extra emphasis!!  Avi was saying, "Nora, I'll be right here to help you if you need help!"  (Obviously by "right here" she means I'll be in your bubble space!!  Ha!)  No response from Nora.  "OK NORA!!"  Nora says, "ok."  Ha!!

More instructions for Nora:  Nora is still making announcements about having a brother; "gonna have a little brother" and about her upcoming birthday bash!!  "I'm having a birthday and Gary gonna come!!"  Avilene said, "Don't forget Lauralea, Nora."  No response from Nora.  "NORA!" Don't forget Lauralea!"  Nora says, "ok."  Haha!

Another story about Avi's amazing memory!!  I was reading a story this morning and the page was about a "barn cat."  As I finished that page and started turning to the next page Avi asked, "Why did it shriek!?!"  What!?!  The first line of the next page said, "The cat let out a shriek so loud......"  The girl's memory totally impresses and frequently amazes me.  Well played Avilene!!  Last picture: Here she is hard at work!!

Avi - 1/14/2019

Avilene ate three servings of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of ground turkey, bites of whole wheat hamburger bun, no avocados, several bites of tomato, and ate cherries.  Note from Lunch: Avi had NOT taken a bite of tomatoes and she said she was done.  Nora ate three huge servings of tomatoes and I said she could eat Avi's because Avi was done.  Ha!  Well Avi didn't like that at all and said she was gonna eat her own tomatoes!  So she ate several bites!  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so it was a super busy morning like it always is on these Mondays!  Or as Atley called it; "New toy Monday!!"  I like that phrase too!!  I took this first picture when Avi was sitting on my lap playing with the iPod - haha - my usual joke!  A very cheap imitation, but it still plays music!!  Second picture: Playing with the xylophone.  Avi did several activities in the preschool room too!

Last picture: What are you guys doing on the mattress?  "Watching a movie!"  :)  Avi said, "We're watching Frozen!"  Then I also heard "No, basketball."  "Football"  "Chipmunk."  So I guess you can take your pick.  Avi makes me laugh - they all do - when they try to boss each other, but just can't yet make the correlation to themselves in the same situation!!  First example: I frequently try to "prep" them for parent arrival late in the day and to be good listeners for Mom or Dad!  So this morning ( at 10:15 Haha) Avi said, "Don't be a turkey when your Mom comes Nor Nor!!  Nora said, "ok."  :)  Second example: Avi said to Atley; "You gotta share!!"  Of course they only say that when the other person has the desired item!!  Never to remind themselves!!

Avi - 1/11/2019

Avilene ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with green beans, tomatoes, and carrots.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and ate her apricots.

Avi had a fun morning playing on the mattress chasing everyone with the stuffed raccoon again saying, "tickle tickle tickle."  She also read books, pestered me to read books, did puzzles, then rode horses with Nora and Atley.  (See first picture.)

So a couple days ago I mentioned that I've been putting ponytails in Avi's hair by letting her climb onto the changing table by herself and then I let her get down by herself as well.  I grabbed the camera this morning and took a picture of Avi exiting the "hair fixing station!"  This is how she exits, but she climbs up from the other side.  (Zoom in on her eyes in this picture!  So cute!)

So here are the Nelson girls having some reading time together!  Speaking of reading, Avilene was in a tight cozy place between the box and the wall this morning reading a book.  I assumed she was pretty oblivious to everything else at this time UNTIL Atley said, "No Svea, no!"  (Svea had gotten in Atley's space between Atley and the toy she was playing with.)  Well Avi was just like a mama bear, she came sprinting out of her cozy den yelling, "She's just a baby Atley, she's just a baby!!"  And that was pretty much the end of it.  Atley just stood there looking at Avi as if to say, "Well I know that."  :)

Avi - 1/10/2019

Avilene ate bites of french toast and two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, bites of peas, and ate her strawberries.  I asked Avi at breakfast if Mommy had to wake her up this morning.  She said, "No, it's a new clock and it turns green!"  Ok!

First picture: We all worked on building a wall with the big blocks and Atley and Avi were having fun when we were done.  I like how Linnea is intently watching what they're doing.  Watching and learning!  Second picture: The three oldest ones are reading in the preschool room. And when you see pictures of them reading you can always assume someone (Atley or Nora; rarely Avi) is singing with maximum volume!!

Next picture:  Avi practicing some running!  Haha!  Like she needs practice.  I love her outfit today and I thought this picture was cute how she's looking up at a poster or picture on the wall.  She had the hood over her head a few times this morning.  I was surprised she wanted the jacket off for nap time.  :)

I had my camera set in "selfie mode" and this was their preferred method of posing!!  Haha!  I like the last picture and how Nora is taking her posing cues from Avi!