Avi - 12/31/2019

Avilene had no waffle and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat tortillas, three servings of corn and ate baked cinnamon apples.

This first picture (from yesterday afternoon) and the second picture show a new activity we found.  There are different colored threaded "bolts" that screw into the holes.  Under the piece with the holes are papers with different color arrangements and the kids are to match the bolts to the correct colored hole.  The "drill" Avi is using is battery powered and has a forward and reverse.  Or you can use a screwdriver or wrench!  Lots of choices!  Second picture: This one is finished and she's followed the color pattern from the paper below.  Nice work Avi.

Next picture:  I have some cars powered by batteries and they work so much better on the hardwood floor.  Last picture:  I took this picture when the girls were searching for "Woody" and the "airplane." They are always asking for "hints" so I intentionally took this picture to use as a "hint."  "You were all very close to 'Woody' in this picture!"  He's hiding in the white cabinet and if Nora just moved her head forward a few inches and peeked around the corner she would see it.  :)  I'm not sure what Avi thought she'd find staring at the table top!!  :)

Avi - 12/30/2019

Avilene ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground turkey hash with meat, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potatoes, and spices.  She ate whole wheat hamburger bun, and two servings of cherries.  Nora is here today and tomorrow because Linnea is gone and during breakfast Avilene was giving Nora a lesson (concerning proper teeth care) about "sugar bugs" and getting your "teeth drilled because you get holes in them" and "that would really really hurt."  For Nora the lecture became WAY TOO LONG and she became distracted watching Atley (who was done eating) on the mattress acting goofy and started laughing her head off.  Avi was distressed because Nora was no longer listening.  "NORA NORA, I'm trying to tell you something!!"  "Help me Gary! Help me!!"  Sorry Sweetie, but I think you lost your audience.  She grew tired while listening.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend - well more accurately - Sylvie did it.  Haha!  My involvement is paying for the help, so I feel like I can say "we."  :)  As usual the kids were super busy and engaged all morning.  First picture: These are some rabbit ears that Nora was wearing and then Avi put some on too.  EXCEPT Avi had them turned around with the plaid part facing backwards and Nora was beside herself.  "The ears are backwards!!  The ears are backwards!!"  Avi was adamant too; "Nora has her's on backwards! Nora has her's on backwards!!"  Haha!  Second and third pictures doing puzzles.  Avi was so excited to see the puzzle in the first picture; "This is my favorite puzzle! This is my favorite puzzle!"

Last picture:  These are some new writing tablets I got.  Look how well Avi is doing with her name.  She gets the spelling correct and is making awesome letters as well.  Well done Avilene!!  See the button under her left index finger - that will automatically erase the board to start over.  (as long as the writing table is turned on.)

Avi - 12/27/2019

Avilene ate oatmeal and no apple slices for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger stew with meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.  She ate two servings of whole wheat dinner roll, and three servings of apricots.

Avilene said, "Hey Gary, Santa gave me a Spiderman for my birthday."  She realized what she'd said and got a cute little grin on her face.  "Nooooo, he gave me a Spiderman for Christmas!!"
Avilene asked, "Hey Gary, Do you know someone named Tate?"  Yes I do.  Reid and Bode have a brother named Tate.  He was in our Daycare when he was a baby!"  Avi said, "I know that!  I know it up in my head."  Haha.
Then after Nora arrived she asked Nora; "Hey Nora, Do you know what chitchat means?"  After receiving no answer Avilene continued; "It means spending time with your friend.  And talk a lot!!"

Here are some pictures from this mornings activities:  First one is Avilene sprinting around and around while pushing the chair.  And Svea was loving it.  Second picture; If you look close you'll see she has spelled her name backwards and did pretty good with the letters.  She was SO excited when she did the "n" and said, "Gary! Gary! I did an n, I did an n.  I actually did it!!"  Last picture: Nora arrived about 10:30 and then Atley stopped by to visit so I could say hi to her Nana and Papa.

Avi - 12/26/2019

Avi and Svea arrived shortly before 10:30 so we only have lunch to record in this Blog.  Avilene ate two servings of pulled pork, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate peas, and ate strawberries.

First picture; Avilene saw this Dr Seuss book and it's one we talked about a few weeks ago - I said I wanted to get it, but we haven't mentioned it since then.  I shouldn't be surprised, but she totally remembered the name of the book!!  Avi saw it and said, "Hey you got it!!  The Many Mice of Mr Bryce!"  Good job Avi.  Impressed me.  I assumed she must have it at home, but she said, 'no."

Avi and Svea were the only ones here until 11:45 when Nora and Miles came.  Avi didn't do much except play with Svea and sit on my lap and tell me wild tales.  :) I hid "Woody" and I took a picture when Avi was searching for him.  I thought the picture was cute because Woody is on the art cabinet that Avi has her hand on.  He's standing behind the little blue box behind Avi's head.  :)  Hey Molly, does that little blue box look familiar?  :)

Last picture: Avi had went to the bathroom and washed her hands and said she wasn't gonna touch anything until lunch.  (About 30 minutes.)  I said that was a long time.  I took this picture when she was sitting on the floor looking longingly at the trays with her finger up her nose.  I told her she may as well play more because she was gonna have to wash her hands anyhow after that!!  Haha

Avi - 12/23/2019

Avilene ate half of bran cereal and no raisins for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, whole wheat pita bread, tomatoes, avocados and pears.

Avi, Atley, and Nora (Nora is here today - Linnea is gone) were all using the doll blankets likes capes and they were either "Superman" or "Supergirl."  Then pretty soon Avi started using her's like a blindfold.  (See Second picture.)  So I asked her if she was still "Superman."  Avi said, "No, I'm a superhero with a baseball bat and piñata."  Haha!!  That hit my funny bone.

Next picture:  Then she went out into the preschool room to get a camera and do a "selfie."  Which isn't that easy because this is just a digital camera, but she knows what she has to do.  She's got it facing herself and actually took 5 or 6 and did pretty good.  A couple pictures are wonderful nostril shots; you can see up her nose pretty nicely!!  :)  She was convinced that if anyone else took a picture with this camera she would lose her picture and she wouldn't be able to show Momma.  Do you know that it's not easy helping Avilene become "unconvinced?!?"  Haha!

Last picture:  She also did some preschool activities and in this particular picture she was using different shapes and following the pattern in the little picture to the lower right of the picture.

Avi - 12/20/2019

Avi was only here for breakfast and left around 10:30.  Her Blog may be slightly shorter today.  She ate cheerios and no dried plums.

I was sitting on the floor and Avilene was sitting on the couch directly behind me examining my head and hair.  She said, "Hey Gary, that owie you had on your head from banging your head in the shower fell off!!"  LOL!!  Well that's good to know!  Thanks Avilene!!  :)

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon and I loved how hard Avilene was working to put the shaker into Miles' hand.  He's not really reaching to grab anything yet, but Avi was determined he needed the shaker.  So cute.

Next picture:  Atley and Avi were doing some more Art work using some Christmas decoration and while they were working they were humming (in unison) "Twelve Days of Christmas."  They may argue some times, but the moment Avilene left early today Atley said, "I miss Avi."  :)  Last picture: Avi brought her paper to me and asked me to make a heart.  So I did and she did the I and U.  No help from me and she placed them perfectly.  Nice job Avilene.

Avi - 12/19/2019

Avilene had no waffle and ate two servings of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate Meat loaf, two servings of whole wheat tortillas, ate carrots, and three servings of cherries.

Here's what Avilene asked me: "Hey Gary, can I touch one of your golden teeth?"  Hahaha!  (I have 7 gold crowns) In one word: "No."  She persisted of course, "Just one time!?!"  "No.  Not now.  Not ever.  Never."  For one thing Avilene, your fingers have been up your nose or in your mouth ALL morning!!  And now you're asking to put them in my mouth!!  Ha!  So she moved on and asked, "Hey Gary!  Where did you find your golden teeth!?!"  "Well Avilene, I do go hiking in the mountains a lot!  One day I was out in the woods and lo and behold............"  :)

First picture from yesterday afternoon.  (I posted this same paragraph in Svea's Blog)  I got out the two big bears and the kids had a blast with them the rest of the afternoon and the majority of the morning as well!!  It was almost 10:30 this morning before they played with anything else; and then several times they went back to the bears.

Next picture: Avi did some more art this morning.  But it was pretty brief and back to the mattress and being wild with the bears.  She liked what she did with the candy cane stickers and I like it too.  Very creative Avi!!  She said, "Hey Gary, look what I did with the candy cane!"  :)

Next picture: Back to the bears!!  I'm not sure what Avi was pointing at or who she was even talking to!  It's obvious that Atley is in her own world!!  Haha!!  Last picture:  Ok, this happens to be an instant favorite of mine and especially because no one started howling!!  If you look close Atley seems to be on the short end of this play maneuver!!  Haha!!

Avi - 12/18/2019

Avilene chose not to have any breakfast today.  She said, "I ate in the van!"  Haha!!  For lunch she ate two large servings of "Whole 30" chili with meat, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomato sauce, and lots of yummy spices.  The kids love this meal and Avi has always liked it!!  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit.

First picture: Before Lauralea started testing Svea - Avilene wanted to do the "trot trot" game bouncing on Lauralea's knee.  She's played that game many times during the first 4 years of her life. You can see Svea and Atley are enjoying it too.

At the same time I took this next picture Atley found her airplane that was hidden.  You can see Avilene in the background searching for "Woody."  Woody is sitting on the seat of the chair directly ahead of Avi toward the door.  Following picture: Atley and Avilene have been doing LOTS of Christmas art this week.  Which I'm sure you've noticed by the impressive stacks on their cubbies.  :) Avi's pile is extra large today because yesterday's art is still on her cubby too.

Last picture:  Atley found this tray this morning.  It's been there since the toy exchange, but neither of them bothered to look at it.  There are 2 books and they are "Kellogg's Fruit-loop Fun" books.  With a basket of fruit loops on the side.  One of the books has to do with colors and other with counting.  There are holes in the books to place the fruit loops.  "You mean we get to eat the fruit loops we put in the books?!?"  Yup.  Just once per day. Avilene said, "Oh good!! We can do it every day I come back!!"  LOL!

Avi - 12/17/2019

Avi ate bite of whole wheat English muffin and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop meat, two servings of whole wheat toast, ate a large serving of beets, and three servings of applesauce.

Yesterday afternoon at snack time the kids were eating pears and graham crackers.  After taking a couple bites of cracker Avi commented about her cracker; "this looks like Montana."  Haha!  Atley immediately said something about her cracker; "This looks like an airport train."  LOL!!  Also yesterday afternoon while we were picking up toys Avi and Atley were expending LOTS of energy arguing about who was working the hardest.  Avi said, "I'm working hard."  Atley said, "I'm working hard better."  Haha!

I've mentioned this to Momma Molly, but sometimes Avilene likes to go wash her hands early for a meal and then sit at the table, not touch anything, and just wait so she doesn't have to go wash again. Anyhow, yesterday it was 2:10 and she asked if she could wash and then sit and wait.  Snack is at 3:15.  LOL!!  No, you really don't want to sit and wait for over an hour.  :)

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Avilene was doing some gluing.  She's doing great with it and there's a damp paper towel in front of her to clean up any spills or over-run. (She's responsible for the clean up.)

Next picture: Avi was looking at this book and brought it to me and asked if this person was me.  Haha.  I said, "Sure."  (Back in my pipe smoking days.) She asked, "Where are you at!?"  I said, "Oh we were having a Christmas party."  :)

Next picture; Look how Avilene has her hands on the floor.  She was actually in this position reading for several minutes.  Haha.  Last picture: Doing some more Christmas art.

Avi - 12/16/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat Chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, ate whole wheat hamburger bun, no avocado, ate tomatoes, and ate mandarin oranges.  At lunch Avi was looking at my "Never Fear, Grandpa is here!" t-shirt.  I have two of them and as you know everyone says they look like me.  Haha.  Anyhow, Avi looked at the mustache on the t-shirt and said, "Your mustache looks like a birds nest."  LOL! Oh man, that hit my funny bone.  (Actually it's a pretty accurate observation!)

This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon, but I don't want to waste a good picture!!  When it was just Svea, Avi, and Atley left - everyone else was gone - I got out the new robot vacuum to show the kids and they loved it.  At least Atley liked it from a distance!  In the picture Avi was trying to coax her to get closer, but Atley was perfectly happy keeping her distance!!

We had a good morning for the most part - with some "Monday antics" mixed in!!  Ha!  First picture: Avi played on the mattress especially with sister, stayed busy with reading books, and in the last picture doing some puzzles.  During Story Time one of our books has several different characters giving and receiving presents.  Two of those are named "Peter" and "Andy."  Which Avi always comments about of course.

Avi - 12/13/2019

Avilene ate oatmeal and ONE dried cranberry for breakfast.  For lunch she ate three servings of tilapia (the girl loves her fish), a large serving of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate green beans, and two servings of applesauce.

During Story Time we were reading "Twelve Days of Christmas" and I was pausing so Avi and Atley could finish the sentences and it was pretty impressive!!  They can essentially do all twelve gifts.  Avi cracked me up on one of them; "Eight Maids a milking."  Avi said, "Eight Milkers Milking."  (which makes total sense) So stinking cute.

First picture: I've already shown this to Momma Molly, but this was SO FUNNY!!  From yesterday at Nap Time.  Avi's nap mat is usually in the corner to the left of where she's sitting.  However, after about an hour of sleeping she jolted "awake" (she was NOT awake, but her eyes were open) and started scooting her nap mat forward with a swimming motion and working HARD to scoot herself along.  I'm dying laughing quietly.  She stopped (I took the picture), she started to stand up, and I gently laid her down, scooted the nap mat back, and she didn't wiggle, just continued sleeping.  Hilarious.

Next picture: This is also from yesterday afternoon when Avi and Svea were playing after nap time.  Check out Avi's flying hair - full of static electricity!  Following picture: This morning Atley and Avilene were doing some gluing and stickers with the Christmas themed accessories.  Last picture: And Avilene doing another puzzle.  The puzzle wizard.  I'm gonna continue to stock up on good puzzles for her!!

Avi - 12/12/2019

Avilene had no whole wheat bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hamburger and sausage pizza with the two meats, olives, pineapple, tomato sauce, and peppers.  She ate most of the whole wheat pizza crust (served separately), and ate two servings of pineapple on the side.

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and Avi was holding Callahan while he drank his bottle. You'll notice he holds his own bottle now.  So speaking of Callahan here's a notice for everyone - you might see a slight difference in time of Blog Postings.  Today is Callahan's first birthday so it's Blog Time for Cal.  So now I'm doing 5 Blogs.  I actually love doing them; especially for families out of town.

Next picture; This also is from yesterday afternoon.  Avi drew this picture and then told me, "Hey Gary, here's a picture pouring milk in my cup."  That's really a good representation of it Avi.  I like it a lot.  Following picture; She's doing puzzles again today.  You can't see him in the picture (he's to the left side), but Baby Miles was in his swing (or whatever it's called) and Avi was talking to him while doing her puzzle.  I couldn't hear what she said, but I heard the last part.  "Good job. That's my boy."  Haha.  She was kind of embarrassed when I laughed and wouldn't' tell me what she said.

Last picture:  So this cracked me up!!  Avi and Atley are playing the Sequence" board game again and found this paper/advertisement in the box.  They stretched it out and there are probably 30 different board games on it. Avi said, "Can you buy us every one of these!?!"  Haha!  I could, but I'm not gonna.  :)  Although I just might get 2 or 3 I think you'd like!

Avi - 12/11/2019

Avilene ate whole wheat toast and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork roast, whole wheat tortillas, two servings of sweet potatoes, and two servings of fruit salad.

Atley and Avi are at the age where they occasionally make "competition" out of everything.  "I win! I win!"  This morning Atley was running across the room and told Avi, "Do NOT follow me."  Then Atley made it to the window and said, "You lose."  Geez.  Silly kids.  Well that's one way to ensure you "win" - just eliminate the competition.  Side note: At this age I don't really encourage or discourage competition.  They are learning it somewhere (even though they really don't understand it fully) and I just work on their social/emotional skills; treating each other with fairness and kindness.

This first picture is leftover from yesterday afternoon and Avi mastered this puzzle.  And wanted me to take a picture of course.  :)  Following picture: Avi and Atley playing the "Sequence Game" again.  Notice how Atley is slipping her arm under Avi's arm to select another card off the stack while Avi is still in the middle of her turn.  :)

Lauralea was just finishing up with Avi's testing and it was fun to watch.  First picture;  She had to count the items in each pile and put a corresponding number with each pile.  Nailed it!!  :)  Second picture; Sequencing skills activities.  These four cards are four steps in building a snowman and she has to arrange them in proper order.  Nailed it.  :)  I like the last picture.  She had no clue how to attach a paperclip to the paper.  Lauralea showed her one time and she did every other one.  Nailed it!!  Quick learner!

Avi - 12/10/2019

Avilene ate a bite of whole wheat English muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate the chicken out of the chicken stir fry, ate brown rice, and ate mandarin oranges.

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  We can see this yard of goodies (across the street and down a couple of houses) from our Daycare window as long as the neighbors don't block the view with their motorhome.  :)  So after Baby Miles left yesterday we went for a walk and had a close-up look.  They loved it.  Two or three times I'd point something out and ask if they liked it.  Avi said, "I like all of it!"

Next picture: Lauralea doing some testing with Avilene this morning.  So I'll first mention this here and that will help remind us to talk about it.  I think Lauralea is basically ready with Avi's Developmental evaluation.  As I've mentioned Lauralea is gonna do them once per year around the children's birthday.  However, this is a busy time of year for everyone so this week I'll give you some available dates and see if we can squeeze one in before Christmas or early in January.  And then looking ahead to January it will be time for Svea's too.

Last picture: Atley working on puzzles and Avi keeping an eye on her progress.  Avi did some puzzles of her own, played with the cameras, talked Atley into playing the Sequence Game, and several more Preschool activities.