Avi - 5/31/2019

Avilene  ate two servings of oatmeal and ate her baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, carrots, tomatoes, and green beans.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and two servings of apricots.  The three table girls were having another "discussion" about signal lights at lunch time.  The big dilemma: Which light means "go backwards?"  "Pink or Blue!?!"  :)  The thing about 3 year olds arguing is they'll frequently switch their positions in the middle of it all!!

We were preparing to go outside yesterday afternoon and Nora was working at getting her own shoes on.  Avi was keeping an eye on Nora (while working on her own shoes) and said, "Other foot Nora!" That was pretty cool!  I knew she'd mastered it for herself, but that's the first time I've heard her help someone else match foot and shoe.  Thanks for helping Avi!!

Atley was waiting for other kids to arrive this morning and she was asking about Avi.  Except she never used Avi's name!  That was funny!!  She said, "Where is Molly and Svea!?!"  Haha!  Oh, do you think Avi might be with them!?!

Avi was laughing because of how Linnea was wearing her tutu.  She had it pulled up very high, almost to her arm pits.  Avi said, "It's almost up to her shoulders!!"  :)

Here are some pictures from Avi's morning; Under the highchair reading books.  Not because that's the only place to sit, but because that's where she wants to sit!  Second picture: She was working hard with the legos and lining them up on the window sill.  Last picture: "Hey Gary! Are you gonna take a picture!?!"  Ok, I did!  :)

Avi - 5/30/2019

Avilene ate French toast and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate GOBS of ground beef with marinara sauce, along with GOBS of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, most of cauliflower, and most of fruit salad.  I've got to mention what Avi's place at the table looked like after eating GOBS of spaghetti!!  One of the times I looked over and she was eating with her fingers, the plate was at least 12 or more inches away from her, and her chair was in the opposite direction; many inches away from the table!!  LOL!  She knew what I was going to ask her to do and as soon as I said, "Avi" she yanked her chair forward and quickly jerked her plate toward herself which knocked all the food on the table onto the floor.  Lauralea is working from home today and she was in the kitchen getting herself some lunch and we just were cracking up!!

Avi told Lauralea and I; "I got a big girl bed!"  Awesome!  Good for you!  "I got a big girl car seat!" Awesome!  Good for you!  "And I got one more thing, but I don't know what it is!!"  Well when you find out let us know and we'll decide if it's "awesome" too!!  :)

This first picture is leftover from outside yesterday afternoon.  The kids had a blast "painting" the sidewalk with water.  Love the dollar store for toys like this that won't last long anyhow!!  I also love group pictures where I can post the same thing in everyone's Blog!  haha!  Next picture: Well look here; another group picture!!  :)  Lauralea was singing, "Spin around in a circle" and the kids were having a blast!!  (The song includes many other motions besides just spinning!!)

Next picture: This was actually a very cool thing!  Avi invited Nora to join her in this activity and then proceeded to help Nora when she needed assistance.  Avi LOVES helping the others when they don't quite get what it is they are supposed to be doing!!  I love that - and good job Avilene!  Last picture: She and Atley were doing some stickers and they also did some play dough.  Which Avi continued to work with long after Nora and Atley were done!

Avi - 5/29/2019

Avilene ate two servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork, whole wheat dinner roll, two servings of peas, and ate strawberries.  Breakfast conversation was hilarious:  Avi said, "Gary, can I have more bread?"  Atley said, "No, it's toast." Avi, "It's bread."  Atley, "It's toast."  Four or five times of this and Atley immediately turned to Nora and said, "It's bread."  LOL!  Nora said, "No it's toast." Atley said, "No, it's bread."  And that went on for five or six more times.  :)

First picture: I fixed Avi's hair and I wanted a picture of her before she put her hat back on for the rest of the morning.  Why do even I bother fixing it!?!  Haha!  No, even with the cap on it still hangs in her eyes and bugs me WAY worse than it bothers her!!  Anyhow, she was frantically looking for her cap and when she turned around it was sitting on my head.   That's a beautiful smile Avilene!

Next two pictures: And like I mentioned above the cap was on the rest of the morning.  Atley asked Avi if she could join in with this preschool activity.  That's a magnetic board and they're finding letters for their names.  Last picture: Avi asked, "Do you want a picture of this?!?" Sure!  Avi always works so hard on her activities!  She's smart, she loves to learn, she's quick to catch on to new things; some teachers will be lucky to have her in their classrooms in the years ahead!!  And I'm thankful for her and Svea right now!!  :)

Avi - 5/28/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bagel and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, a large serving of brown rice, bite of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries.  At the lunch table Nora, Avi, and Atley were talking about all the things "we DON'T eat."  Now that can be a long list and they named several!  Haha!  Example: "We don't eat tissues!"  "We don't eat beetles."  "We don't eat towels."  Ha! Atley said, "That'd be silly!"

Avi had a great morning as did all of the kids.  Everyone was happy to be back and we had lots of fun.  She makes me laugh!  She can always think of another idea, another plan, or another way to do something!!  This morning I said, "Avi, don't forget to flush!"  She said, "I'll do it with my elbows!" Ok, sure, why not!?!  :)

She spent most of her morning in the preschool room doing several activities.  First picture: "Hey Gary!! I found two matches!!"  (She actually found all the matches and completed the activity.)  This is basically a matching activity, but the faces have lots of different expressions and indicate feelings so we identified those and talked about them as well.  There are silly faces, happy faces, angry, sad, frustrated, etc.

Next two pictures; This activity involves finding letters to match the pictures and names.  This was super cute because she was excited when she realized others had the same letters in their name.  When we're reading books we've generally focused on the first letter of everyone's name.  "Nora! I have an 'N' in my name too!" "Nora! You have a 'A' in your name too!!"  "Gary! You have an 'A' too!!"  Then she said, "Gary!  I made your name!"  Loved Avi's excitement about it!

Avi - 5/24/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat bran cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of baked beef kabobs with meat, zucchini, pineapple, and peppers.  She also ate brown rice and ate pineapple on the side.  Here's a note about Atley at lunch:  Atley was rearranging her chair (that's what it looked like to me) at lunch time and she said to herself, "Silly Atley, don't screw around!!"  Haha!

Breakfast conversation this morning:  Atley said, "You forgot to turn the pictures on!!"  (The digital pictures at the table.)  Atley said, "You're a goofball!"  Haha!  Boy did Nora and Avi respond immediately in my defense!!  "No he's not!!  No he's not!!  No he's not!!"  It was pretty funny!

More breakfast conversation: This time they were discussing signal lights.  "Red means stop!"  They all agreed on that one.  "Green means go."  They all agreed.  "Yellow means go slow."  Agreed.  Avi said, "Hey Nora, do you know what blue means?"  Nora, "No."  Avi said, "Go backwards!!"  LOL!! I laughed so hard!  So Atley came up with one of her own too!!  "Purple light means dance!!"  These meal discussions are the absolute best!!  I interject nothing; I just listen!!

Pictures from Avi's morning: Playing with dolls with Atley and Nora.  If you look close at Avi's eyes she's looking sideways at her baby and stuffed animal.  Last two pictures; Doing some preschool activities.  She does so well with all of these.  As she gets older we'll continue to develop activities that are at her ability and also keep her challenged and interested.  Sidenote; She never pulled her hoodie off her head this morning and now she's sleeping that way too.  :)

Avi - 5/23/2019

Avilene ate waffles and bites of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a bite of shepherd's pie with meat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She also ate whole wheat tortillas and ate her cherries.  The three girls at the meal table were arguing about who's a "mess maker" and who isn't!  All of them were claiming innocence of course. They went on and on and finally Avi said, "Let's drop the mess maker!"  I asked, "Where did you hear the 'let's drop it' phrase!?"  Avi said, "Lauralea."  Ha!  Later Atley said, "At lunch let's talk about halloween stuff!!"

Here's a piece of another discussion they were having at breakfast and Nora said something about peanut butter and banana and Avi said, "That would be yucky!!"  Nora said, "NO! We eat it!!"  Haha! Their mealtime chatter is quite fascinating and I learn a lot about each of them!!  :)

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon when Avi asked if she could do some "stamping."  She used just the alphabet stamps and spent a long time at it.  And she was back at it again this morning and Atley joined her.

Here are some pictures from this morning: Avi was getting Monkey all situated so she could read to him.  Or her.  Second picture: She stuck the monkey in the gate and said, "Gary! Look what I did to Monkey!"  So I was taking a picture and she started doing goofy things with her eyes!  Look closely and you can see they were slightly crossed!  I hadn't seen her do that before.  Last picture: All the kids except Svea are in this picture and as you can see Nora has the choice spot!  haha!!  And Avi is checking out some facial features!

Avi - 5/22/2019

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

First picture:  Well this is more about Nora and Atley, but I think you'll like it.  These four were waiting to wave bye to Nora's Momma Emily.  (Did you notice Avi is as tall as Atley?  Haha! Check it out!)  Atley was in the bathroom when Nora arrived and Nora was freaking out that Atley was gonna miss waving good bye.  I said, "Here she comes!"  Except I was referring to Atley!!!  Nora thought I meant her Momma was coming around the corner and she freaked out more because Atley was NOT at the window yet.  Oh man!  By the time I took this picture poor Nora was a wreak!!  Avilene was talking to her and trying to reassure Nora, which was nice, but nothing was working!  (It all ended well, Atley was there before Momma arrived, but the trauma and drama had already taken place!!)

Avi was a very busy girl ALL morning and was so engaged in everything.  I had to remind her 3 times to come and wash for breakfast; she was reading books.  She came in and said, "I read LOTS and LOTS of books!"  Yes you did!  She was wanting me to help her tie an apron on her and she said, "Help me Gary! I want to pretend I'm a cookie maker."  Then she had a doll blanket wrapped around her shoulders and said, "Hey Gary! I am a superhero too!"  (The reference was to me wearing my superhero - never fear grandpa is here - shirt.)

Next picture:  When I told the kids there was a deer outside the window Avi and Atley sprinted to get over to see it!  The deer had been on the lawn when I spotted it, but it stopped to look back when it heard the kids at the window!  And stayed long enough for me to get a picture.  Last picture: Another example of Avi working very hard at one of her projects.  Nice work and you had a great morning Avi!

Avi - 5/21/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork chop, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate beets, and applesauce.  At the breakfast table Atley did two or three really loud burps and Avi said, "Say excuse me!!"  Atley said, "no."  And Avi repeated it again.  Finally Atley said, "Excuse me!"  Avi said, "Now say it again!  You burped two times!!"  Let's just count that one as good for both burps!  Haha!

First picture: Atley was being pretty silly on the mattress; jumping and landing on her tummy and even doing it that way off the igloo.  She said, "I hurt my bum bum."  Ummm, no I don't think so.  Your bum bum is on the other side.  :)  Avilene was laughing at Atley and that's part of what kept her acting goofy!  Encouragement (in the form of laughter) is a strong motivator!!

Next picture: Avi was doing some tracing in this book.  On these pages there are several shapes and then she spotted the "A."  Avi said, "A for Avi, Apple, Andy, and Atley."  That's right sweetie.  That's her go-to answer for the "A" whenever she sees one.

Last picture: Avi did lots of different trays and activities in the preschool room.  It's pretty cool because she is doing most of these without any assistance.  She gets them out, works on them, and puts them away completely on her own.  She has a long string of beads here!!  Whenever we introduce a new activity she'll sometimes try it on her own as well before asking for help.  Love how hard you work Avi and your confidence!!

Avi - 5/20/2019

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

NOTICE: I just want to remind everyone that Little Treasures will be closed Monday the 27th for Memorial Day!  (That's next Monday!)  And I may as well start reminding you now of the following closure dates: Those will be my yearly days off in Summer.  July 4 - July 12 this year.  (July 4 is on a Thursday.)

Avi was in the preschool area and sneezed and Atley was around the corner, couldn't see Avi, but sweetly said, "Bless You!"  Avi got mad, went to the gate, and with a big attitude loudly yelled, "Atley!!  I was gonna say Bless You to myself!!" Oh man that hit my funny bone.  I told Avi it was very sweet and nice of Atley to say "Bless You." Avi grudgingly accepted it then.  Ha!

Avi-ism from this morning!  She blew her nose and said, "Gary! My nose is empty!!"  :)  I bet that feels good, right!?!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and like always everyone was engaged and busy!  The story behind the first picture is very cute!  Notice the "little baby" beside (to the left) of the doll.  Avi (and later Nora) was looking for the little baby and and asked, "Where is the baby!?!"  I was helping her look too.  Linnea immediately went over and picked up this doll and brought it over to us.   I just thought that was so cute.  You asked for a baby, now here's a baby!!  Thank you Linnea.

Next picture; Preschool tray.  Nice work Avilene!  Following picture: Avi is multitasking!  Holding a pacifier in Callahan's mouth and working on her piano lesson with one hand!  Last picture; She and Atley were hanging onto the apron strings and running wildly about the mattress!  They kept running in circles, jumping, and intentionally falling and then saying, "I'm ok!!"

Avi - 5/17/2019

Avilene ate two servings of oatmeal and bites of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of hamburger and sausage pizza with whole wheat pizza crust, meat, olives, pineapple, peppers, and tomato sauce.  She also ate pineapple on the side.

First picture: Avi was talking to Baby Callahan and keeping him happy and occupied while we were waiting for his bottle to warm up.  Thanks Avilene!  One day Nora was doing the same thing in the same spot (hanging over the edge of the couch) and she toppled on over and ended up beside Callahan.  And of course I had to get a picture of it!!  :)

Here are a couple more pictures from Avi's morning.  She spent about 95% of the morning doing activities in the preschool room.  Which was very cool for her to be engaged like that.  She likes having the freedom to choose the activity and work on it for however long she likes!!  First picture; she was threading the pipe cleaners again (like in yesterday's blog) and I love how she'll get so focused on what ever she's working on!!  Last picture: These two pictures were taken 1.5 hours apart! She wore that headlamp all morning and had to take it off for lunch!  She held up her long string of shapes and said, "Hey Gary! I got all the blues!"

Avi - 5/16/2019

Avilene had a nibble of whole wheat bagel and ate a large serving of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate green beans, and two servings of applesauce.  (They like me to smother their noodles with applesauce.)

Avi and I had the cutest conversation and it went like this:  She asked, "Hey Gary! Do you know what 'special' means!?!"  "Yes I do, but I want to hear from you! What does 'special' mean Avi?" She said, "Cute."  I said, "Well that might be part of it, but it's much more than that."  So I asked her; "Are you special?"  Avi said, "Yes."  So I asked, "So are you just cute?"  She said, "No.....both."  I asked, "Both?"  She said, "Yes, special and cute."  Haha!  Isn't that awesome!?!  Totally love it!  Good thinking Avi!!

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and Avilene was having fun driving nails into the block of wood.  I really like how soft this wood is and it's perfect for the kids to practice their hand-eye coordination!!  And Avi is pretty good at it already!  She's only done this once before and there was marked improvement!!  I would do sets of 3 nails and she probably did at least 6 sets.

Here are some pictures of Avi busy at work this morning!  She loves it when I take pictures of her projects!  First one; building on top of the legos that was left over from yesterday!!  Second picture: "Hey Gary! Look what I made!"  (Stringing pipe cleaners through the holes.)  I love the third picture! She's working very hard on her own to match the numbers correctly and she's having LOTS of success!!  Way to go Avi!!  Last picture: Doing a sorting activity with Nora!!  Cheers!!  I knew they'd eventually find something they might work on together!!  (Well at least for a few minutes!!)  Avi likes to be in charge.  Nora likes to be in charge.  (Atley is gone today.)  When Nora got tired of the sorting activity she got up and left.  Avi said, "You cannot leave yet!!"  Haha!  Wrong! She left.

Avi - 5/15/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of everything; pork roast, whole wheat tortilla, carrots, and fruit salad.   Here's a picture from breakfast and if you zoom in you'll see a piece of toast/crust hanging between the cup and her mouth.  What a goof!  She's always experimenting with something.  You're a great kid Avi; plus, you make me laugh!

A random proclamation from Avilene! "Hey Gary!  You know what I'd like to do!?!"  I have no ideas Avi!!  "Fly!"  Fly with what?  She said,"Airplane and a helicopter!"  That sounds like fun.  Where do you want to fly to?  She thought about this for several seconds without answering.  Then she said, "The beach!"  Oooo, that does sound good!!  :)

Next picture: Avi was building with the legos this morning and she called this a "statute."  Then she said it was a "fake horse."  :)  Following picture: Avi and the three youngest ones!  Nora and Atley are gone today and Avi did just fine with that.  (At least for today!!)  Well she got more of my undivided attention and she loves that!!

Last picture: Avilene working on a Birthday Card for sister Sylvie!  She decorated it a LOT and did it all by herself.  I set it up for her and wrote on it, put a picture of Avi on it, and helped her spell Sister's name.

Avi - 5/14/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat English muffin and half of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, several bites of brown rice, no stir fry vegetables, and no oranges.  Yesterday, and again today, the lunch table discussion centered around halloween costumes!  Avi asked, "Do you know what I'm gonna be for halloween!?!"  No one had a clue.  "Cat Boy!!"  Haha!  Well you're planning well in advance Avi!!  Atley decided to stick with last year's theme; "Little Red Riding Hood."

First picture: Avi is able to spin super fast and not fall!!  (Fast enough that it makes her really dizzy!!) This was probably the best picture that showed how she could make her dress flare!  Second picture: Avi joined Atley and Linnea "exercising" at the gate just after breakfast.  (Svea was still eating and watching the show.)

Last picture: Avi did a couple of Preschool trays and several activities as well.  She worked at building with this set (it has a name, but I don't remember) for a long time.  It has a wrench that tightens and loosens the bolts and nuts.

Avi - 5/13/2019

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

First picture: I'm not sure what "game" Avi was playing, but it's not exactly what it looks like.  (If you were thinking it looks like Avi is simply keeping it away from Linnea.)  Avi was saying silly things and swinging it behind her head and Linnea was cracking up!  And of course that just encourages Avi to continue!

Next picture: Avilene asked if she could play with the binoculars and she spotted the mail box across the street!  She said, "I found where you get mail!"  Haha!  Good job Avi.  Following picture: Avi worked hard on her legos project and she was displaying it for me to see!  I love it Avilene.  You worked hard and stayed focused for a long time.  I always remind myself it's the process, not the end product that's important here.  And boy she works hard at her projects and that totally impresses me so much!

Last picture: Atley and Avi reading some books in the preschool room.  Earlier they'd been playing with the dolls in the stroller and I heard Atley say to their babies, "You not listen you not go to Kettlehouse with us!"  Hahaha!  Now that was funny!  And Avi was in total agreement!

Avi - 5/10/2019

Avilene ate oatmeal and bites of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of salmon, ate whole wheat dinner roll, cauliflower, and mangoes.

Avi and Atley were having a discussion about ice cream and where they eat ice cream.  Atley said, "I like ice cream!!"  Avi said, "Well you know Old McDonald doesn't have any chocolate right!?!"  That made me laugh.  Side note: Not that long ago Atley told her Grandpa and Grandma she wanted to eat at "Farmer in the Dell."  LOL!  They had no idea what the heck she was talking about; but when Atley saw the "Golden Arches" she said, "There it is!!  Farmer in the Dell!!"

Nora was at the window watching some neighbors walk their dog.  (We frequently wave at these neighbors.)  Nora said, "It's a puppy."  Avi responded, "Not a puppy! It's a dog!"  And that's how it went for a minute or two; "It's a puppy!!"  "It's a dog!!"  Avi gets a bit overly excited and adds some "in-your-face" finger pointing!  "IT'S A DOG!!"  However, Avi figured out a compromising way to finish the debate.  She said, "I know what it is; it's a puppy dog."  End of discussion.  I really like how you ended that Avi.  You're much smarter than most of our politicians!!

Here are some pictures from Friday morning: Avi was working hard to construct her building and she said, "Gary, I carefully put this one on."  Second picture; she was helping to keep Callahan happy with rides up and down the hallway.  Atley asked Baby Callahan; "Do you want another ride?"  For some reason the Baby didn't answer!  Haha!  Atley said, "Yes or No?!?"  :)  Last picture:  Busted! The stickers go on your paper Avi.  haha!  They did some gluing and stickers.