Avi - 3/29/2019

Avilene ate two servings of cream of wheat cereal and ate half of dried plums for breakfast.  Everyone was too distracted with the new fella and eating was secondary, but Avi did better than the others!!  For lunch she didn't try the Shepard's pie with potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She ate whole wheat tortillas and ate cherries.

So speaking of the new fella here is a picture of Callahan's first day at Little Treasures!  (Posted with permission from Momma Maddy!)  Whenever a new baby starts it always changes the dynamics of the group! So a new adventure begins as we learn about him and he learns about us.  In the meantime today's Blog will probably be shorter than normal and that may be the case for a few days.  I take pictures and notes for the Blogs everyday and we'll just see how it goes.  Here's what I do know: I now have maximum enrollment and I will be very busy!  Which is fine with me!

Avilene was again asking for clarification about Callahans' sleeping arrangement.  She's so intrigued by that!  Just about every day since I moved Linnea to a nap mat Avi has been asking if and when Svea will be moving to a nap mat.  She asked, "Is Callahan sleeping in Svea's room?"  Nope, he's moved to Linnea's room.  When Nora's little brother comes he'll sleep in Svea's room and Svea will sleep on a nap mat.  Does this all sound familiar!?!  Haha!  Avi has been so interested in it!!

Nora was talking about her upcoming birthday and turning 3!  Avi asked, "So how old is Svea?"  I said, "She is one,"  Avi said, "NO! How old is she!?!?"  "One."  Avi said, "Mom says 14!!"  Haha!  That made me laugh!  I said, "Ok."  So it's up to you Momma to explain months and years!  Ha!

Avilene read books, did puzzles, played chase, played on mattress, and asked 57 questions about Callahan!  :)

Avi - 3/27/2019

Avilene ate French toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of "Whole 30" chili with meat, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and tropical fruit.

First picture: I'm just posting this picture of my shirt for kicks - for the Grandparents and others who've never seen it.  I've had it for years and it's about worn out, but I'm looking for another one with the same picture of me!!  Ha!  I ask the kids; "Who's this?"  And they always answer; "GARY!"  First thing this morning I was snuggling Linnea and with no prompting she pointed at my shirt and said, "Gary." Several years ago it was Reid's Dad who said, "Hey that looks like you!"  And we've had fun with it since that time.

Next picture:  I think it would be difficult to look at the picture and try to guess what they are doing!!  This is Toddler version of "Hide-n-Seek!"  They say the funniest things too.  Avi is counting in the chair and she said to Atley and Nora; "You guys hide together!!"  And she pointed to their "hiding" spot.  I've heard them say things like; "I'll hide here and you come find me."

Last picture: The kids were playing with the flashlights and headlamps again.  I don't know what Avi was searching for between the wall and the mattress, but she looked there for several minutes.  You can see another light shining on the left side of the picture and that's from Atley's headlamp.  Earlier, Nora had lost her flashlight down there and then was losing her mind screaming because she thought Svea was going to get it.  Geez!!  :)

Avi - 3/26/2019

Avilene ate a bite of toasted and buttered whole wheat bagel and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chops, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate sweet potatoes, and applesauce.

Ok, brace yourself folks because we have some poop to talk about!!  It's kind of a popular subject around here lately so I have to share the poop humor from today!!  Atley went poop first thing this morning and Linnea was the only other child here at that time.  Atley said, "I want Linnea to see my poop!!"  Haha!  No, she hasn't reached the legal poop viewing age yet!!  Then Atley looked at her poop and said, "Corn!!"  Haha!!  So later in the morning Atley pooped again with the same results, but this time Nora and Avi were here to inspect and appreciate the results!  Avi looked in the water, saw the corn and said, "Who dropped it in there!?!"  LOL. That hit my funny bone!!

First picture: Not too much to say about this except I just like how intently Avi looks at the books. Totally studying them and it's adorable!!

More pictures: Doing some painting at Art Time.  Nora spent a fair amount of time pointing at excess paint that Atley may have missed!!  Middle picture: I was putting more paint on the cardboard and Avi kept wanting to stick her hand under the paint as it dripped down.  So I intentionally squirted some on her hand.  Ha!!  Last picture: Everyone enjoying playing on the "sidewalks" we all built.  Atley kept saying (to Avi), "Hold my hand to cross the street!"  And Avi was cooperating with her.

Avi - 3/25/2019

Avilene ate whole grain Chex cereal and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, half of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, ate avocado, and ate fruit salad.

I have a couple of notes left over from last week that I thought were very cute.  We were outside and the sun was shining warm off the garage.  The flies were hatching like crazy and the side was covered with flies along the bottom.  The kids sometimes use balls to harass them and this skill is passed from Daycare generation to generation!  Haha!  Avi had one of the big balls and was kind of tossing it in the general direction, but she wasn't about to get too close.  She said, "I'm fighting the flies!!"  :)  Well done soldier!

Avi was saying, "My Mom told me to drink lots of water!  My Mom told me to drink lots of water!" "Your water bottle is right there and you can have a drink whenever you want of need it!"  Nora picked up on the "Mom told me" phrase and here's how that went:  Nora asked, "Are we going outside after we clean up!?"  I was kind of distracted, actually heard what she said, but still answered, "What!?!  She changed up the approach somewhat; "My Mom asked me to go outside with you!?  Haha!

First picture: Christina started reading a book out-loud in her usual unassuming manner and immediately Atley and Avi were there to listen.  Super cute and well done Christina.  Gideon's family will be flying out for Louisiana tomorrow morning so the kids have a few more moments with him.

Last picture: Probably 4 times this morning Atley asked, "Can I look at the flowers Gary!?!" and of course the others needed to look as well.  (Flowers left over from Mom's Memorial this weekend. Avi and Atley wanted to get on top of the table of course, but I let them stand on their chairs to get close to the flowers.

Avi - 3/21/2019

Avilene ate two servings of toasted and buttered whole wheat bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of hamburger & sausage pizza with peppers, pineapple, olives, and tomato sauce.  She ate bites of whole wheat crust, and ate all of her pineapple on the side. Just a reminder: There is will be no Blogs tomorrow and back on Monday!!

This first note is mostly about Nora, but I think you'll like it because it does involve Svea and Avi too!  Nora was a bit beside herself for the first several minutes this morning!  Here's the setting; Nora, Avi, and Svea arrived at the same time.  Daddy Andy left first and all the kids were waving bye at the window.  As soon as he drove off Svea got off the window step and moved away.  Nora became frantic and was literally screaming; "SVEA! SVEA!!"  I asked, "What's the matter Nora?"  "MY DADDY!!"  She's freaking out because Svea needs to stay at the window and wave to Daddy Ryan too!  About the same time Avi sprinted to the mattress to get a stuffed animal and now Nora's borderline total hysterical!!  In the mean time Ryan has not yet come around the corner!  Ha!  Whew!  Thank goodness we've still got some precious moments to bring this all together and that's what we did!!  Everyone was waving at Ryan.  Well almost everyone; Nora's eyes were so full of tears and she's still so upset (about what almost happened, but didn't happen) that she really couldn't wave! Ha!

First two pictures:  Atley and Avi have been spending more and more time in the preschool area; constantly doing actives, art, and preschool trays.  So of course Nora has been joining them more as well.  It's fun to watch it develop and move forward as time goes by!!  Avi and Atley also played "red light - green light" in the chair and burned off energy!  Well at least Avilene was burning energy; she was sprinting and pushing the chair around and around while Atley rode and yelled the "stop and go" code!! Ha!!

This last picture is not about Avilene, but just for kicks I thought I'd include a picture for Daddy Andy to see what Sylvie did at Little Treasures last night.  We needed some extra help this week - we have company coming and we were a bit behind - so Sylvie came over last night and washed and sanitized the toy exchange from last week.  And then put them on the table to dry over night.  Good work Sylvie and thank you!!  She doing a good job for us Daddy Andy.

Avi - 3/20/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and two serving of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pork roast, most of whole wheat tortillas, ate "one carrot" (her words)  from her vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots), and ate most of her fruit salad.

First picture: This is our Birthday poster and the kids love talking about their birthday and also each other's birthday.  I'd thought I'd put this in the Blog so if you ever hear Avi making some kind of reference to "a turkey" in regards to her birthday you'd know what she was talking about. Avi knows all the Daycare kids and even remembers Riley's; "RiRi is a star."  That's right Avi.  And Atley remembers Kenzie's; "Kenzie is a heart."

Next picture: Yes I know she has a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth!!  But I'm still posting this because it's cute!!  And I want to show off the very nice ponytail Momma did!!  Well done Momma!! Lauralea and I always call these a "whale spout."  Adorable.  And I LOVE seeing her occasionally without hair hanging in her eyes!  (Just let it go Gary and breathe!)  Haha!

Last two pictures; Doing some "cooperative play" and working on activities separately.  It's cool to see them starting to work together a few minutes without fighting and moving on to separate work and I like the contrast of these two pictures.  This is the age when they can start having success with what we call "cooperative play" which is similar to sharing; at least a good step toward sharing!!

Avi - 3/19/2019

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat English muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of chicken with stir fry vegetables, ate half of brown rice, and ate oranges.

I want to give everyone a heads-up about what's coming at the end of this week.  This Saturday is the Memorial in Plains for my Mom and we have both of my kids and their families coming on Thursday and Friday.  I'm going to have the Daycare open as usual and the only change will be NO BLOGS on Friday!  That will help free up more time during Daycare as it might be slightly busy around here!!  Ha!  Can't wait!!

I won't repeat what I wrote in Svea's Blog about having a visitor yesterday, but these first two pictures are from then.  In the second picture Reid was being silly and the girls laughed at him wearing one of their hats!  Also, Reid's brother Bode showed up to walk home with Reid and they ended up wrestling on the mattress for 30 minutes.  They wrestled until they were sweaty and exhausted and then just abruptly got on their shoes and left!  Haha!  Avi was INTENTLY watching the wrestling the entire time and I knew what she was thinking.  So I whispered to her; "Boys are crazy!"  She said, "Can I go wrestle with them?"  HaHa!  Yup, that's what I suspected!!

 

Last picture: Avi had a good morning and did several preschool activities again.  Atley is also getting more and more interested in the preschool activities and that will increase as time goes by and it's all pretty exciting and interesting to observe.  One additional note about this morning: Yesterday Nora's Momma told me she'd send a "picture" of her unborn baby!  When Daddy Ryan dropped off Nora, Avi was reminded of that and asked; "Did Emily send you picture of Gideon in her tummy!?"  (my Grandson - haha)  Oh man that was funny and cute.

Avi - 3/18/2019

Avilene ate a large serving of cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of ground beef, whole wheat pita bread, olives, no tomato, ate avocado, and ate strawberries.

Atley yelled to let me know she was done in the bathroom and wanted me to wipe her.  Avi went running in ahead of me very excited, but was soon disappointed!  "Why did you NOT poop!?!" She asked Atley!  Ha!  Silly kids.

We were at the window looking at a crow outside and we spotted a jet flying way up high.  Avi asked, "Is that water spray out of it?"  Wow!  It really did have an extra large vapor trail.  Great question Avi.  Love your questions.  "Actually it is a vapor trail and I think it's mostly water, but you can google it for yourself Avi for more detail!!"  :)

Ok, I have to share a story leftover from last Thursday snack time.  This is "Classic Avi."  We had our homemade trail mix for snack and Avi had left a substantial mess on the table, on the seat of her chair, and on the floor around her chair.  I NEVER (this time) said a word about it.  All the kids were done and were in the play room and I was cleaning up snack.  Avi was apparently watching and obviously thinking about it because she looked in at me and declared; "Gary, when you got me out of my chair YOU made a mess!"  LOL!  Oh man I roared!  "Well first off Avi let me explain something to you!  I wasn't within 10 feet of you when YOU got out of your chair all by yourself!!  You said you were done and I excused you from the table!"  Man that was funny!  What a kid!  Love you Avilene!  You're a piece of work!

Here are some pictures from this morning.  The girls spent lots of time doing several activities in the preschool room.  And at various times over the morning.  Notice Avi wore that hat All morning; including meal times.  I told her to take it off when she was heading in for nap time.  Ha!

Avi - 3/14/2019

Avilene ate toasted whole wheat English muffin and no oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate some ground beef, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, some peas, and two servings of applesauce.

The first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  Avi was playing with the ice cream and said, "Gary, I LOVE Dairy Queen!"  Haha!!  Second picture:  I always get a kick out of it when the "older" ones get the "younger" ones to do all the work!  Nora and Linnea were working hard to spin the chair going around and around.  Avi and Atley were chanting; "Red light, Green light" when they wanted Linnea and Nora to "go" and "stop."  Linnea and Nora didn't have a clue, but did know "Stop" and "Go" when Atley changed it to that.  Ha!  "Red Light" and "Green Light" is very fresh in Atley's brain from "ski school!"

Today was a "I need Privacy" all morning when going to the bathroom.  Avi started it first thing and then when Atley had to go she said the same thing.  Which didn't make Avi very happy, but she realized she'd done it earlier and so she didn't moan too much!  They LOVE to yank someone's chains and be in control!!  Then we had Story Time and I let Avilene finish the paragraphs of "Bear went over the Mountain" book again.  Pretty cool and amazing.  She was finishing each one perfectly.  I've mentioned this before, but dang it's impressive.  Her part is in parenthesis!
Tasted "tangy shrubs"
Delicious "juicy grubs"
A beechnut "tough and chewy"
Some berries "tart and dewy"
and on and on it goes.  She did pretty much the entire book.  We could "show off" for you anytime you want!!  :)  This totally impresses me.  Especially because the words are not just easy or common words she uses every day.

Last picture; Atley and Avi were working on doing some building together.  I don't know what was going on, but Avi said, "You need to NOT be crazy!"  Ha!  (Ok Avi, now don't forget that applies to you too!  Haha!)  They were also playing on the mattress and sitting in front of the blue balance beam.  "What are you guys doing?"  Avi said, "Driving."  What are you driving?  Avi said, "A car."  Where are you going?  Avi said, "Mexico."  Haha!

Avi - 3/13/2019

Avilene ate French toast and strawberries for breakfast.  That was after telling me she didn't want to eat breakfast.  I said, "Ok, but you can just sit and check out what we're having and if you don't want it you don't have to eat it!"  For lunch: she didn't try the hearty paleo stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and tomatoes.  She did eat crackers and tropical fruit.

Like I've mentioned several times the kids like watching the digital frame with pictures at every meal. There is a picture of Gideon and I and the kids yell for me to "LOOK Gary LOOK" EVERY TIME it comes on.  And I look every time and make a comment and usually cheer!  I was feeding Linnea some stew at Lunch time and I didn't look in time.  Oh no, I missed it once!  Reminder: I had NOT missed it the previous 672 times!!  Avi Yelled, "GARY! YOU MISSED BABY GIDEON!!"  Then she somberly added; "That makes me sad!"  :)

During Story Time we were reading one of our Alphabet books; and we have LOTS of them!!  We got to "M" and talked about everyone who's name starts with "M" and mentioned some Mommies including Hudson's Mommy.  "Molly, Megan, Maddy."  Avi said, "Becca starts with B."  Yes it does and good job Avi!  I asked, "What does Emily start with?"  Avi said, "M."  Wow, that is actually very good!  It says the letter M perfectly so we'll just leave it at that!  (Man our English language is nuts when it comes to spelling!!)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning.  You know, Avi actually wore her hat most of the morning, but she only has it on for the first picture!!  Ha!  Linnea picked up Avi's hat once this morning and walked over and handed it to Avi.  Now that impressed Avi and earned Linnea a few points right there!!:)

Avi - 3/12/2019

Avilene ate breakfast at home.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken, some whole wheat tortillas, ate corn, and baked cinnamon apples.

Avi was apparently thinking about Linnea moving to a nap mat because this morning she asked, "Ok, now when Callahan comes is Svea gonna sleep in a big girl bed?" (on nap mat)  A great question.  "No, Callahan gets Linnea's crib, BUT when Nora's little brother starts then he'll get Svea's crib."  And she totally got the explanation and basically repeated it back to me.

First picture: Avi had her best look going and she was waiting for Atley to give her a ride in the chair. I like the hat on top of a hat.  And the boots.  She wore those boots ALL morning and asked if she could have them again as soon as she wakes up from her nap!

Avi worked on several activities in the preschool room including a couple of trays.  I took this next picture when she first went out there and she started with the crayons.  She was really getting into her drawing though and said, "I'm making a truck.  It's on a busy street!"  And it looked very busy!!  Ha!

Last picture; This was pretty funny.  Everyone was busy when Nora saw two people walking by;  Nora yelled:  "Neighbors, neighbors!!"  Haha!  ALL the kids raced for the window!  (Yes, even Svea.)  These particular neighbors walk their dogs every morning and they (the people, not the dogs. Ha!) watch for the kids and wave at them.

Avi - 3/11/2019

Avilene ate bites of kix cereal and bites of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomato, ate avocado, and ate cherries.  For probably two or three weeks Atley has been talking about "gumbo" at meal times at least once a day.  Today they (Nora, Avi, and Atley) decided they did NOT like "gumbo milk."  Haha!

(Just an FYI - There is a reminder about the free Carousel rides tomorrow in Svea's Blog!)

This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon; Lauralea was able to watch Svea while I took the three older kids outside.  (Linnea was gone on Friday.)  They had lots of fun outside, but nothing really beats sucking and chewing on an icicle!!  That's a BIG icicle Avilene!!

Today is Linnea's first day on a nap mat and all the "big kids" took Linnea out to the sleeping area so she could see her new spot.  We probably went out there three times this morning and we told her several times that she was going to sleep with the "big kids."  And we showed her everyone's sleeping spot!  That helps her know what to expect.  (And in case anyone is interested she did awesome - she was the first one asleep!)

We did a toy, book, puzzle, and preschool exchange this weekend so Avi was busy along with everyone else.  Here are some pictures from Avi's morning.  First one - she's looking at pictures in the little camera thing and it really helps to hold it up to the light, so she found the perfect spot for viewing!!  Second picture - Avi is reading the "Ooops" book.  The kids always get a big kick out of it. In the last two pictures she's doing some activities in the preschool room.  I like how she and Nora decide to set up their game under the high chair!!

Avi - 3/7/2019

Avilene ate half of French toast and two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat toast, peas, and strawberries.

Well Nora is getting some serious potty training education from her peers at Little Treasures!!  Ha!  Avi has been doing great for a long time, Atley now has it nailed down too, and they want company every time they have a potty run!  Avi gets mad if someone doesn't hang around and watch her too!  This morning she said, "You wanna watch me pee!?!"  Nora and Atley had already went potty and they were ready to leave.  Avi said, "Please!!??  It's gonna be a big poop!!"  LOL  Wow, Bonus! Like a double feature!!  :)  Then later Atley did poop and she said, "I want Nora to see my poop!"  And of course Nora sprinted for the bathroom for a viewing session.  Geez!  And that's life at Little Treasures.  (Relax everyone. It's normal behavior at this age.  No need to Google it!!)

First picture: Avilene reading the same book again and spending some serious time studying it as well!  "1001 things to Find!"

This next picture is a bit out of sequence!!  It is leftover from yesterday afternoon when Avi was wearing her cape and mask and doing some serious maneuvers!!  I like how she's watching herself in the mirror.  I took a video shortly after this and sent to Mommy!

Last picture: Avi and Nora were playing with a tray and stringing some beads again.  Hey, I did finally get a pony in Avi's hair!!  Also, notice one of her socks on the table - partly on her tray.  (What you can't see are her mittens laying on the table to the upper left side.)  The girl needs all her accessories!!

Avi - 3/6/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with pasta sauce, whole wheat spaghetti noodles, no riced cauliflower, and bites of fruit salad.

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon and the kids were playing with some head lamps I got for them to play with.  I also got some flashlights and they played with those as well.  You can see Avi's lamp lighting up the alphabet poster and a sliver on the wall as well.

Next picture: Svea had stopped by and was giving me some loves and then we were doing some selfies.  Avi noticed what we were doing and had to get in on the action as well.  I love how Svea is looking up at big sister.  "What are you doing Avi!?!"  Following picture: Avi and Ately were stringing some beads and they actually put lots on their strings.  They've played the beads several times this week.

Last picture: Four or five times Avi has showed me this page in the book and said, "Gary! You have one of these!!"  I just think that is super cute.  The picture is obviously a "pocket" with a bandana inserted in it.  I always carry a bandana in my back pocket like that.  I think it's so cute when they make associations like this.

Avi - 3/5/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of shrimp, most of brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.  At lunch time Avi had just taken a big bite of rice and she sneezed!  Yup, rice literally flew everywhere!!  Haha!  It reminded me of an incident many years ago when a little boy sneezed and a good amount of food flew across the table; everywhere it seemed!!  The boy across the table could not have cared less!  Or maybe he didn't even notice!!  Or maybe he was thankful for the additional food!!  He just kept on eating.  :)

First picture from this morning; This is a pretty typical scene at Daycare!  Atley pushing the chair and one or two kids riding!  There's a little bar Nora is standing on and it works perfect for a free ride. Second picture: Avi studied this book for the longest time!  It is kind of a fascinating and challenging book!  The title pretty much says it all; "1001 Thing to Spot on the Farm."

Last picture:  The kids were doing art (stickers here) at the preschool table.  Then they wanted to do some drawing too.  I asked the kids; "What are you making?"  Avi said, "Truck."  Atley said, "Starfish."  Nora said, "My picture."  I kind of liked that!  She didn't want the added stress of having to name it!!  Ha!  (That's my interpretation!!)