Avi - 2/28/2019

Avi ate waffle and no fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a couple bites of shepherd's pie with meat, carrots, potatoes, and green beans.  She also ate whole wheat tortillas and ate her cherries.

Just in case anyone is interested:  Child Care Resources is celebrating 50 years in the Missoula community with free rides and free Ice Cream at the Carousel on March 12th, 5:30 - 7:00.  Bring friends and family.  All ages of kids are welcome.

First picture; Avi and Nora were playing with the mirrors while Atley pushed the chair in circles.  Second picture: Avi started this routine and now she's got everyone doing it!  Which is fine with me!! Ha!  Avi said, "Hey guys! You wanna clean the floor for Gary!?!"  (The more kids scooting along the floor the better!!)  Also, while the three of them were in the bathroom taking turns going potty they were making observations about the small toilet seat that folds down too.  Right now Nora is the only one who wants to use it.  Avi said, "Nora has little buns.  Not me!  I have big buns!!"  Haha!!  Atley said, "I have big buns too!!"  Me: I never said a word, just listened!  :)

Next picture: Avi played with this tray while Atley watched and then Avi was showing Atley how to do it.  They were using the syringe to put drops of water in the small pockets.  Molly, this is an example of the teaching thing I mentioned to you in a text.  As time goes by Avi will be a great "teacher" to the younger ones as they move into the preschool room. Up to a point she already does that very naturally.  Last picture; we just moved the igloo out of the "runway" so the kids could burn off energy running from the window to the mattress.

Avi - 2/27/2019

Avilene ate French toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop, two servings of whole wheat toast, two servings of sweet potatoes, and ate applesauce.

When Atley first arrived and then when Avi first arrived they both noticed the snow hanging off the eves over the top of some icicles...Atley said, "That is crazy!"  Then when Avi was done waving bye to Daddy at the window she looked up and said, "Snow is on the icicles!"

Avi was watching me feed Svea with her new cup and she asked, "What's in there?"  I told her it was milk.  Avi said, "Well at her house Mom puts for-mee'-la in her bottle and feeds her."  Haha!  That's awesome Avi!  Does sister like the for-mee'-la!?!  :)

She said something else that was cute this morning.  We were reading a book about "Construction Site."  And the kids know the names of all the equipment.  I asked, "What's this one?"  It was an excavator.  Avi said, "An elevator!"  :)

Here are some pictures of the kids busy with activities in the preschool room.  Third picture: The kids use a "wet pencil" that has water in it and then after about 15 minutes it dries clear.  If you look close you'll see that Avi highlighted the alphabet and numbers.

Last picture:  This is the face of someone pestering Gary!  Haha!  So cute!  I love you Avilene and I'm so glad you and sister are in my program!!

Avi - 2/26/2019

Avilene ate half of whole wheat English muffin and half of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of whole 30 chili with meat, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes.  She also ate whole wheat dinner roll and two servings of tropical fruit.  At lunch time Avi looked at Nora's plate (before Avi even washed or sat down) and said, "I don't like that stuff!!"  I answered, "You don't even know what it is."  She said, "What is it?"  Haha!  Nora loved it and snarfed it down immediately and asked for more.  I told her she needed to eat her tropical fruit before she got another serving of chili.  Then I added, "If Avi doesn't want her's then you can have it."  (....knowing how Avi would respond....)  Avi immediately said, "I'm gonna eat it all!"  And she did.  :)

Yesterday afternoon Avi randomly asked, "When's Bubba coming back?"  That is so typical of this age group; he's been gone for 6 months and that's the FIRST time anyone here has asked that question!  Ironically, Maddy and the boys stopped by for Callahan's paperwork before his Doctor appointment about 9:30 this morning.  There wasn't time for Bubba to hang out and play which disappointed everyone a bit!

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning.  She and Atley were working on sorting some objects in one of the preschool trays.  Second picture; Nora was sneaking around behind Avi and taking photos of the back of Avi's head!  And Avi wasn't impressed!  Avi was trying to "block" Nora with her arms! She also worked on some tracing and puzzles in the preschool trays.

Avi - 2/25/2019

Avilene ate half of whole grain Chex cereal and no peaches for breakfast.  Our breakfast was a bit interrupted by the lady who is the Program Monitor for the Food Program and she came as we were just starting breakfast.  Which is actually good because she's supposed to observe me offering the kids a meal at least twice a year.  So Avi was distracted by her and asking the woman lots of questions.  Which was pretty cool because they were good questions.  For lunch Avi ate ground beef, whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomato, ate avocado, and no oranges.

As I mentioned in Svea's Journal we did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were busy all morning.  First picture:  The drummers with Svea observing.  Shortly after I took the picture Nora and Atley moved away to their "own" spot.  They said Avi was being "too loud."  Haha! Boy, that's "the pot calling the kettle" black!!

Next three pictures:  It was during Story Time I told Avilene if she didn't quit sticking her feet in her mouth I was going to take a picture and post it on her Blog.  As if she'd care!?!  Haha!  So here it is!! Next picture - reading books and lookin very studious!!  Last picture:  Nora and Avi were intently watching Atley work on a preschool project.  Waiting for it to be their turn!!

Avi - 2/22/2019

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

Avi had a good morning and she read books, played with her sister, jumped on the mattress and did several different preschool activities.  She wore her hat most of the morning except for the short time it was on Svea's head.  That's a tall hat!  And it looks good with her boots!!

Middle picture: I was busy at the changing table (cleaning up after Svea - 3 times - but who's counting) and Avi was almost ready to resort to more desperate pleas!!  ("Pretty please, pretty please!!")  This is Avi's "read books please" look!!  Haha!

Here is a picture of Avilene doing some activities in the preschool room.  Nora and Avilene were doing this first one together.  They were dumping the pieces into the two containers and it's basically a balancing activity.  And then the girls were sorting them by color.

Avi - 2/21/2019

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

When Avi was waving bye to Daddy Andy at the window this morning she was pointing at the icicles and showing them to him!  (Which I'm sure he didn't realize from the pickup!)  After Andy drove away she was talking about the icicles and I told Avi they were "frozen water."  She said, "Well I have Frozen at my house."  Haha!  Yes you've told me that a few dozen times.

Then she was telling me about her "heart hurting" and I never did really figure out what she was talking about, but here's what she said.  "I wasn't feeling very good."  Oh, that's too bad.  "My heart wasn't feeling good."  Well that's not good either.  ""My heart was under water at my house."  What?!?  Haha!

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avi was playing with these food toys and several other food toys.  I laugh because she calls this thing her "chopsticks."  If chopsticks worked like that tool I could definitely use chopsticks!!

Here are some pictures from this morning and as you can see she wore her hat for much of the morning.  It's just Avi, Nora, and Svea here today.  Tomorrow Atley will be here, but we don't know if Linnea will feel good enough to be back or not.  First picture: I just think this is an adorable picture of Avi with a very nice smile.  Second picture; Arms straight out on the igloo and watching herself in the mirror.  Last picture; doing a preschool activity beside Nora.

Avi - 2/20/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork roast, ate whole wheat tortillas, bite of potatoes, ate sweet potatoes, and ate fruit salad.  At breakfast they were talking about Atley being gone yesterday.  So Atley told them she was with "Nana and Papa."  I asked Nora; "What do you call your Grandpa and Grandma?"  She said, "Grandma Pam and Grandpa Gary."  Huh?  She got a huge grin on her face when she realized her mistake and she said, "Nooooo, Papa Greg."  And then Avi said, "My Grandpa and Grandma are Mark and Mary."  Is there anything more cool for children than Grandparents!?!?  No.  :)

Frequently (and she did this morning just before nap time) after she goes potty Avi will ask, "Can I clean your floor!?"  Translation:  "Can I scoot along the floor on my belly back down the hallway to the play room!?!"  Haha!  I call it "cleaning my floor!"  Please do!!

First picture: When Atley came she wanted to leave her hat on; "To keep my head warm!")  So of course Avi arrived and saw Atley's hat so she had to leave her's on as well.  They were looking in the mirror and making some adjustments to their caps.  And you'll see those hats in the following pictures.  They kept them on all morning; Avi took her's off once or twice for a very short time and then back on.

More pictures; Doing some puzzles in the preschool room.  I just about missed this one; she's working on the last piece!!  Then Avi was using the binoculars when the mailman arrived.  :)  Last picture; Jumping right before lunch and the hats are still in place!!  If you zoom in you can see Nora is just staring and sucking her thumb!  Is it nap time yet!?!

Avi - 2/19/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of chicken, most of brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and no oranges.  At breakfast Avi said, "I went to Old MacDonald's and I got food."  At his farm?!?  "No; it was just at Old MacDonald's."  Ha! Then at lunch time she said to me; "We don't sing in the kitchen!"  Haha!  Ok, that sounds fair to me! We have a rule of "no singing" at the table because it will take on a "life of it's own" and eating become a secondary priority!  So I won't sing while you're eating either.  :)

After breakfast Avilene asked me; "Hey Gary! Did your voice heal up!?"  Yes it's starting to do much better!  She continued; "Can you read us some books?"  You bet!  Let's read books.  I continued to read books the last three weeks, but I frequently had to cut reading time short!!  And they can now once again listen to my lovely singing too and sing along!!  Ha!  In reality, children this age usually love music and will sing along even if you can't carry a tune very well.  Lauralea had a childcare partner one time that was pretty much tone-deaf and the kids just sang along and didn't care.  (I do think it was almost torture for Lauralea's well-tuned ear!!)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning;  Avi was spinning the chair and then jumping on to get a little ride herself.  Nora just continued to work with her baby.  Avi said, "Now it's your turn to give me a ride!"  Nora said, "No thank you Avi, no thank you!!"  Well that was the end of that fun time!!  :)  Second picture; Avi played with my binoculars several times this morning and this time she was saying, "A ceiling!"  "A light!"  :)  Last picture:  Avi asked to do some preschool activities while Nora sat across the table and read some books.  I only have three kids today as Atley is hanging out with her Grandpa and Grandma today and at least one more day this week.  Linnea is home hopefully recovering from not feeling well.

Avi - 2/15/2019

Avilene ate brown rice and a few raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of salmon, whole wheat dinner roll, bites of riced cauliflower, and ate mangoes.

Nora was trying to do somersaults and imploring me to watch her!  (Which is my job anyhow, but they still always insist on saying that!!  Haha!)  Nora said, "Gary, watch me do a somersault!"  Avi said, "I'm too big to do that!!"  Haha!  That cracked me up!  Yes Avilene that was SO yesterday!!  You're on to way bigger and better things!!

Nora was playing with Svea on the mattress and making Svea laugh hard.  It was super cute and they were having lots of fun.  Nora kept saying, "Svea, you want me to do it again?"  Avi was observing all of this and maybe feeling a wee bit jealous, but she wasn't being a turkey when she reminded Nora of a fact: "She belongs to our house."  Haha!  That was actually a very sweet thing to say Avilene and yes Svea is your sister, but she's Nora's friend too.

Here's a couple pictures from Avi's morning;  she was reading books behind the swivel/rocker chair in a nice secluded spot.  Speaking of reading, Nora was complaining about Atley's volume when reading and singing with the books.  "I can't hear Atley, I can't hear!!"  Avi said, "Just read your books Nora."  Haha!  Well let's continue with the Nora theme for Avi's Blog today;  In the last picture Avi is using some binoculars I've been showing her how to use.  I had to ask Avi to move on (After I took the picture of course!!) because Avi looking at Nora though the binoculars was apparently making Nora uncomfortable!  Ha!  She was saying, "No thank you Avi, No thank you!!"

Avi - 2/14/2019

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat English muffin and a bite or two of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, bites of peas, and ate applesauce.

Shortly after breakfast Atley and Nora were doing their usual antics of laughter and goofiness!  Things went swell for a few minutes and then got momentarily sidetracked!  Ha!  Nora was furious about something and I said, "Nora, I don't want you to lay on the mattress and scream at Gary's house."  Avi, always instantly more than ready to offer additions and corrections to what I have to say, chimed in with this jewel;  "You can do that with your Mom and Dad."  LOL!  Well I don't really think they appreciate it either!  :)

Next two pictures: Most of the morning Avi wore the bumblebee jacket and cowboy boots.  (She said she's a cowboy, not a cowgirl!)  She'd take off one or the other, but always had one of them on!  Second picture; Even with the Piggy mask.  Which she said was a "mad piggy" and chasing Nora and Atley.  Nora yelling, "no thank you" and Atley laughing her head off!!

Last picture: Avi wanted Nora to join her in wearing a mask and "try to scare Atley!"  So Avi stuck the mask on Nora - except, if you look closely, as you can see it's upside down and obviously backwards!  Haha!  The string is around Nora's eyes.  Svea's watching and learning!!  I like how Avi has her finger on her lips; "Hmmm...this just doesn't look quite right!"

Avi - 2/13/2019

Avilene ate most of French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of "hearty paleo stew" with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes.  She also ate crackers and tropical fruit.

All the kids were waiting to wave bye to Daddy Andy and I guess Atley spotted a school bus somewhere.  (Although I didn't see it!  Ha!)  Atley said, "School Bus!!"  (At the same time Andy was driving around the corner.)  Avi said, "That's not a school bus.  That's Andy."  Haha!

Avi: "Hey Gary, I just moved out of Two."
Gary: "What does that mean?"
Avi: I'm Three now."  Love how she worded that!

Avi: "Hey Gary!  Is a scarecrow scary?"
Gary: I answer without giving it a thought!  "No."
Avi: "They why'd they name it scarecrow?"
Whoa.  I'm impressed Avi.  That's very good logic for a someone who just moved out of Two.  So I've passed this tidbit onto the person doing your Spring evaluations Avilene.  :)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning: Reading with Atley.  Second picture: Practicing some circus tricks.  Following picture: Doing some tracing and making fancy marks.  Last picture: the kids are doing some "heart" stickers and coloring.

Avi - 2/12/2019

Avilene ate two servings of waffles and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  As she was sitting down for breakfast she said, "I don't like grapes."  Really?  You've ate them here many times.  And then she ended up eating two servings for breakfast.  After breakfast she said, "I don't like the green grapes at my Mom and Dad's house."  Ha!  Now that I can understand!  For lunch she ate chicken, no whole wheat tortillas, ate most of corn, and ate baked cinnamon apple.

It looked like she had some kind of bruise or sore on her lip when she arrived this morning.  I asked how that happened.  She said, "Momma got it."  Ha!  What does that mean?  Then she said something about "Dad's smoothie!"  I've done this for too many years to try to fill in those blanks!  And I rarely get it right anyhow.  Linnea was listening to that and said, "I got lip."  And she pointed to her lips.  Little cutie!  Avi was telling me something else that I was having a hard time understanding her words, but we kept trying and I got it!!  She grinned all over at me when I finally figured out what she was saying; "I got a 'troll' and a baby at my house."  Huh?  "I got a 'scroll' and a baby at my house."  Scroll!??  "No."  Two or three more times; "Stroller!!"  Got it!  Cheers!!

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning; Zoom in close and check out her eyes in the first picture. Avi was playing on the mattress with sister and she asked; "Can I push her with my head?"  I said, "As long as she likes it. You can listen to her and figure out if she likes it or not!"  I liked the fact that Avi at least asked me first.  Judging from Svea's face I think it's safe to say she was liking it and having fun too!!  Last picture: The three oldest kids were working with the same preschool activity.  Sometimes that works, sometimes not so much.  This one has lots of pieces so they can each build their own project.  This activity is kind of advanced as well, but they like to mess with it.  There are several picture examples of different things they can build to give them some ideas.  Many of the holes are threaded and there are bolts and wrenches to work with too.

Avi - 2/11/2019

Avilene ate two servings of kix cereal and ate mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground turkey, bites of whole wheat hamburger bun, ate avocado, no tomatoes, and ate her cherries.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Avi had these two "salt and pepper" shakers from the food toys.  She played with them for quite awhile and then said, "I gotta hide these somewhere!"  She put them behind the legos drawer; then, as you can see in the picture, she has the drawer pushed all the way back.  So, if she can't find toys at home this could be one of the reasons.  And it was a good hiding place too.

Avi had a good morning and was very cooperative just like she usually is.  Like I mentioned above she explored lots of Daycare toys and then moved on to the preschool room to check out a few of those activities.  This next picture is one she frequently does; she's moving the water from one bowl to the other bowl with a syringe.  Sometimes she'll also use the sponge you see in the picture as well.  And the towel is for her to clean up any mess she might make.  Following picture; she was threading the pipe cleaners through holes in the plates.

 

Last picture: The big box is gone and the swivel/rocker chair is back!  Atley was pushing the chair around and around and she asked, "Is that fun!?!"  Meanwhile, Avi and Linnea were just looking at each other not saying anything!  And I caught it at the right time.  I'll answer for them Atley; "It's lots of fun and thank you!"  :)

Avi - 2/8/2019

Avilene ate a large serving of oatmeal and bites of cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a bite of hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and apricots.  I've mentioned before how the kids like watching the digital pictures especially during meal times.  At breakfast this morning Avi said, "I just saw Nora's nostrils Gary!!"  Haha!  Yup, some of the selfies you guys did are pretty hilarious!  :)  Atley also took a picture that's looking straight up her nose!

Atley LOVES to be silly and wants Nora to join her and they'll just laugh at the goofiest things.  (Kids just being kids.  I love it!)  She frequently says, "Hey Nora, you wanna be silly!?"  Today, Atley said, "Hey Nora!!  We're gonna exercise (on the mattress) so we can be really...(pause) really....funny!"  Avi, who was in the background, said, "NO...Heatlthy!"  LOL!!  That's correct too Avi!

First picture; Here's Avilene coming back down the hall from the bathroom.  What's taking her so long?  Haha!  She's been doing this pretty much all week; next week it'll be something else.  I told her I actually like her doing this because it helps keep the floor shining!  :)

Last picture: Avi was doing some preschool trays and she likes this "sorting" one.  She's sorting by shapes.  There are 4 different examples of shapes glued to the clear plate.  She likes doing the "bears" first and you can see she has lots of those already in the plate.  She dumped the rest on the table and said, "I need more bears!"  I said, "Well I'm pretty sure if there's more bears there you will find em!!

Avi - 2/7/2019

Avilene ate most of French toast and most of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two large servings of chicken meatballs (Substitute for pulled pork today.  Costco had these meatballs - organic chicken - no sugar added - cheers! And Avi loved them!), ate whole wheat toast, peas, and strawberries.

First picture - breakfast time!!  I always get the highchair kids ready for the meals first and Avi and Nora decided the best place to work on their legos was under Linnea's highchair.  Ha!  Speaking of breakfast/meals, Avi has been doing a pretty good job keeping her bib clean.  So we've been starting to negotiate a bit.  :)  Keep it clean and you can go without your bib.  The ongoing problem is this: she wants to move and dink around, food ends up on the table (or floor) and that's how most of her messes happen.  So this morning I told her (again) she needed to try to sit still.  She said, "OK!!"  And at that exact same time she swung her arm around and her cup went flying!! LOL.  However, she did keep her bib clean, no syrup from the french toast, so that was great.  Lunch Time: Avi, you kept your bib clean at breakfast, do you want to go without your bib?  "No."  Haha!  And that's how we roll here!!

Pictures from the morning: Avi did lots of reading, markers and stickers at Art Time, and several different preschool activities.  During Story Time one of the books was about a little girl named Madeline.  At the end of the story I asked, "Who had to go to the Doctor?"  (The answer; Madeline.) Avi said, "Svea!!"  Haha!