Sophie - 3/30/2016

Sophie ate half of her blueberry bagel serving and ate two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her ham, ate a large serving of elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, ate a large serving of corn, and bites of apple pieces.  My daughter Christina was here and Sophie quickly warmed up to her and was soon chanting "Nee-na, Nee-na, Nee-na."  And NOT just a little chanting either!  I started timing her!  Ha!  Chanting 10 "Nee-na's" every 15 seconds!  Really!  :)

I took this picture yesterday afternoon when Sophie and Hudson were studying the alphabet posters together!  :)  Sophie loves all the animal pictures and especially the monkey for the "M."  She frequently makes the "monkey sounds" and points to the poster.

Christina read books with Cooper and Sophie and they especially liked the "Animalia Alphabet" book donated to Little Treasures by the Cline Family.  I took this picture when Christina was showing the kids pictures of Jax, her puppy at home in Louisiana.

I was feeding Baby Avi and told Sophie it was ok to get in the baby seat.  She loved that and later I wanted to take a picture of her reading in there.  She immediately covered her face when I got the camera out!  Haha!  She was peeking at me through where the book is folded.

Sophie - 3/29/2016

Just a quick note about the Blog glitch.  It all stemmed from the fact that we set up this account almost 10 years ago and it was under one of Lauralea's two email accounts and her password, etc.  So, finally got that solved and here we go!  I simply could not get access to it!  (And it's not just blogger.com - the account is through Google and that further complicated it.)  Also, I'm going to post a couple things from yesterday.

Sophie ate half of waffle and two servings of pears for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tuna and crackers, sweet potatoes, and three servings of mandarin oranges.

Here's a picture of the little monkey getting on the couch!  I love it when they start using props to help them accomplish things.  She'd slid the blocks into place and was playing on the couch.  I asked her if she'd do it again for a picture.  She totally understood and cooperated!  :)  Thanks Sophie!

This picture is also from yesterday.  Sophie found a place to read some books, but the story behind the picture is slightly more complex.  :)  She'd piled up the little stuffed animals you see and then a few legos pieces mixed in as well.  She yelled at Cooper to "Back Off!!"  So actually, she' guarding her stash and looking sweet, innocent, and scholarly in the process.  Ha!

Sophie played with the legos a LOT this morning!  She was making several towers and when I took this picture she wanted to look at it.  When I showed her the picture she said (excitedly), "ELMO!!" What?!  Oh, you have on an Elmo shirt!  :)

Sophie - 3/25/2016

Sophie ate chex cereal and two servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hash brown casserole, bites of biscuit, and a large serving of mandarin oranges.  I'm sitting on the couch writing this Blog and she went and got a little block to stand on so she could get up here.  Good problem solving skills Sophie!  :)

This picture was taken yesterday afternoon when Kenzie was making Sophie laugh hard!  Kenzie was filling a blanket full of stuffed animals and then dumping them on the mattress.  Over and over again! As you can tell by the picture Sophie was loving every minute of it!!

Like Momma Molly and I were talking about; Sophie's language is exploding!  It's amazing how much she understands and now she's starting to say lots of things.  I asked her if she was a baby - a BIG "no" head-shake!  So are you a big girl?  A BIG "yes" head-shake!  She wanted Lauralea to do one of their chants while bouncing on Lauralea's knee; "walk walk."  That was easy to understand.  I told her to do the monkey sound for Lauralea and she did, but at the same time she pointed to the monkey on the alphabet poster.

Cooper alerted me to the fact that Sophie had pooped.  I told him "thank you" for giving me a heads-up!  He said, "That's because I have a pretty good nose!"  Ha!  In the picture below, Sophie and Cooper were putting his Star Wars cars all over the block structure Coop had built.  He said they were "hiding eggs....so bunny rabbit has to jump!"  :)  They worked and played there for at least 30 minutes.

Sophie - 3/24/2016

Thursday - KinderMusic
Sophie ate turkey, bites of dinner roll, ate two servings of green beans, and two servings of mangoes for Lunch.

This picture was taken shortly after Sophie arrived - the love and goodwill you see in the picture lasted about as long as it took me to take the picture!  :)  Control became an issue so Sophie got her own book!

Sophie - 3/23/2016

Sophie ate whole wheat toast and three servings of mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, most of crackers, ate bean & bacon soup, and two servings of strawberries.

Lauralea has been working long hours (6 more days after today!! - but who's counting!!) and hasn't been able to see the kids for several days.  Sophie headed right for Lauralea first thing this morning and even bypassed Bubba!!  AND Sophie even said, "Laur-lea, Laur-lea"  So dang cute!!  As you can see in the picture she was playing Doodle Buddy on Lauralea's iPad.  She wanted me to see what she was making; Pointing at the iPad and then pointing at herself.  I do this!!  :)

She was playing with her dolls and wrapping them and kept calling her baby "Avi."  :)  What's your baby's name?  "Avi."  During reading time, and ANY time she sees a picture of a monkey, she always starts making her monkey sounds; "Ooooo, ah ah.  Oooooo, ah ah!"  :)

Cooper initiated "pick up the garbage everyone!"  The yellow tub you see in the picture was the garbage truck and the big pockets on both sides of the swivel/rocker served as a place to dump the garbage.  Even Sophie got in on the garbage pick-up!  She's hard at work cleaning up!

Sophie - 3/22/2016

Sophie ate most of blueberry bagel and three servings of apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything: chicken, elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, peas, and applesauce.

Oh yes, while I'm thinking about it - Sophie needs diapers and wipes.  Sophie has been saying lots of words and I have no idea what she's saying.  She said, "nop nop" and Reid said, "Who's there?!?"  Ha!  That made me laugh.

I took these pictures to show that Sophie made it (with help from Reid and Gary) into the "ship-house" even though Cooper said it was for "Boys Only!!"  Although for their sleeping time I see in the second picture that she is relegated to the stern of the ship!!  :)  When I asked Reid to invite Sophie into their ship I had to take the first picture because he had the sweetest look on his face.

Sophie loves baby Avi and tries to help whenever she hears the baby make a sound!  She primarily just points at the baby and tells me to go fix it!!  Here's a picture of her just hanging out with Avi.  We also did some dot painting, reading books, and singing songs.

Sophie - 3/21/2016

Sophie ate raisin bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate homemade (well - sort of - bought the crust and all the ingredients!  Ha ha!) cheese and canadian bacon pizza, most of corn, and ate tropical fruit.  At breakfast, and several more times throughout the morning, she was saying "Laur-lea, Laur-lea,..."  Oh my, that is SO CUTE!!  Lauralea is going to LOVE it!!  Sophie's little tongue kind of "darts" out on the 2nd "L" and that was just too adorable!!  I almost called Lauralea on the phone!!  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and finding the babies was Sophie's number one task.  She got a baby and blanket and headed to the igloo.  Notice in the picture how she also scored Cooper's blanket which was in the igloo as well.  Ha!

I love this picture of Sophie showing her shirt to Reid.  She's been doing this a lot lately - putting on some piece of dress-up clothes and then racing over to show the boys; especially Reid.  She asked for help with this piece and just as soon as I got it on her, she took off.  I noticed she gave the mirror a sideways glance on the way by, but showing Reid was way more important.

We did reading, singing, some sign language, and colors.  I use the two color posters I have and Sophie is getting the concepts and I think she might have yellow and blue.  Then she was trying to point out the color posters to Hudson!  Ha!  And she was trying to show him the zebra poster as well.

Sophie - 3/17/2016

Thursday - Kinder Music.  For lunch Sophie ate bites of chicken, half of crackers, ate sweet potatoes, and two servings of canned cherries.

This is the cutest note from Yesterday!!  Sophie was saying "Reido" over and over and every single time he'd say, "What?"  I finally started counting and she said it between 25 and 30 times.  "Reido!" "What?"  "Reido!"  "What?".............

This first picture is also from yesterday afternoon.  Sophie's eyes are closed, but I like how Baby Avi is totally focused on her.  :)  I think Baby Avi looks so much like Baby Layla at this age!

This morning Sophie played with the car slides (because Reid and Cooper were there), then she went and got the zebra you see in the picture below.  Or as she calls it; "Ze-ba, ze-ba."

Sophie - 3/16/2016

Sophie ate half of biscuit and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of baked beans, bites of dinner roll, most of peas, and a large serving of pineapple.

This first note is a clarification of yesterday's Blog about "spaghetti penguins."  (That's what Cooper told Sophie when he was identifying animals for her.)  They are actually called "macaroni penguins," but it was so cute when Cooper called them "spaghetti penguins."  Actually, what is on top of their heads does look more like spaghetti than macaroni.

Reid did not arrive until 10:30 and Cooper was playing with Sophie and Hudson and bringing all the legos animals to them.  Right after I took this picture Cooper said, "When is Sophie coming?"  Uhhh, she's sitting right there.  Then he started giggling when he realized what he'd said.  He meant to ask about Reid.  :)

From the picture below - that's Cooper's "negotiating face."  And Sophie - that's her "negotiating stance!"  (Both feet and legs guarding the container with the Star Wars goodies!)  The container was still about half full and Cooper wanted access.  However, I eventually had to intervene when they seemed to be at an impasse and the plastic container spent the rest of the morning on Cooper's cubby!

Cooper was building "block walls" around the toy shelf and Sophie got in there with a pillow.  Cooper kept building until she was enclosed, but she was apparently liking it; at least she never came out.  Cooper said, "I'm gonna get in there with her so she's not scared.  Thank you Cooper; I think that's a good idea.

Sophie - 3/15/2016

Sophie ate waffle and hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of chicken & cheese quesadilla, bites of carrots, and ate a large serving of mandarin oranges.  When Bubba arrived this morning Sophie went right by him and greeted Uncle Colin.  And gave him a hug.  So sweet.

Reid arrived at breakfast time which gave Cooper and Sophie lots of time for interaction and it was HILARIOUS!!  (at least to me!)  It was the "Momma, Da-da, and Bubba" conversation again and it kind of went like this:
Sophie; "Momma!"  Cooper; "I'm not your Momma!"  Sophie; "Momma!"  Cooper; "Your Momma's at work!"  Sophie; "Momma!"
Sophie; "Da-da!"  Cooper; "I'm not your Daddy!"  Sophie; "Da-da!"  Cooper; "Your Daddy's at work!"  Sophie; "Da-da!"
Sophie; "Bubba!"  Cooper; "I'm not Bubba!"  Sophie; "Bubba!"  Cooper; "Bubba's right there!" (pointing) Sophie; "Bubba!"  Cooper; "I'm not Bubba!  Look behind you!"  Then later Cooper said, "Bubba's in bed!  I'm not in bed!!"  Sophie; Bubba!"  LOL

Then Sophie was holding out a book to Cooper and pointing at the animals.  Cooper was doing such a good job identifying them for her and he KNOWS his animals!!  For example; Not just penguin, but "spaghetti penguin."  Not just monkey, but "spider monkey."  Not just panther, but "black panther." Good job Cooper!  Sophie likes the animals - yesterday and today the first toy she got was the same little zebra and she said, "ze-ba, ze-ba."

Sophie was wearing the "frog suit" and Hudson was super curious about that!  In the first picture Sophie is studying the "frog hands."  There is a way to stick your hands out, but she wanted her hands inside the suit.  We didn't put her legs in, but she was happy just the way it was!

Sophie showed Lauralea where I put Baby Avi so she is protected.  She kept pointing at it and saying, "Avi Avi Avi."  I turned around and she was in "Avi's room!"  :)   (Avi was sleeping in her bed.)

Sophie - 3/14/2016

Sophie ate cheerios and most of banana piece for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of cheese sandwich, several drinks (with straw) of tomato soup, half of crackers, and a bite of pickled beets.

My Sister had called (about our Mother) and I had her on speaker phone.  She said, "Hi" to Sophie and it was so cute.  When I hung up Sophie said my sister's name so CUTE!!  Her name is Teena. And Sophie said, "Tee-na!"  Slowly with two very deliberate syllables.

She wanted this bear mask you see in the picture and as soon as I got it on she took off.  I assumed she was heading for the mirror, but she was heading right for Reid to show him!  :)   He pretended like it scared him and they were off and running.  She was loving it.  Cooper is actually in the 2nd picture too - over by the far gate.  Cooper said, "Now do a bunny rabbit!"  (We have that mask too.)  "Now you chase us again!!"

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the kids were watching the snowflakes and they were HUGE! (Cooper, on the other hand, is not really that small!  :)  He's on his knees.)  We also read lots of books, played with the legos, and looked at Cooper's Star War books.  I was pretending to sit on Reid in the chair and Sophie wasn't too impressed!  Ha!  She said, "No!"  and ran to the couch and started patting it.  Here's a place for you to sit!!  :)

Sophie - 3/8/2016

Sophie ate half of cinnamon roll and two servings of dried prunes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage combo; bites of waffle and ate melon mix.  She is funny in the Lunch room; frequently, when I'm near her highchair she'll reach out and grab my shirt.

I'll start by introducing you all to the newest member of our Little Treasures Family.  This is Avilene Nelson and we call her Avi.  Her Daddy and Mommy are Andy and Molly Nelson.  Avi was already in her bed when Sophie arrived and when Sophie heard a Baby fuss she started saying, "Bubba, Bubba, Bubba" so I took her out to have a look at the new Baby.  Sophie's expression showed total delight!  So precious!

Sophie was chanting "Lila Lila Lila...."  Cooper said, "Layla doesn't come here anymore!"  So I explained to him that "Lila" is Sophie's cousin and she just happens to be visiting in Missoula right now.  And Sophie apparently likes to chant her name!  Cooper said, "Yes, and she doesn't come here anymore!"  LOL!!

Sophie was excited to see the toy, book, and puzzle exchange and check out the new stuff.  She wanted to put on this rabbit mask and she left it on for probably 5 minutes.  She thumped on the drums and kept looking at me and chuckling.  Also this toy set has LOTS of books in it and Sophie loves her books.  Sophie was playing with the "number pillows" and Cooper said, "I don't want those scattered around!"  Ha!  Oh really?  We'll keep that in mind.  :)

Sophie - 3/4/2016

Sophie ate several bites of brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her meat loaf, ate pita bread, bites of carrots, and ate apricots.  During Lunch Time today (and previous days, especially yesterday) Sophie was chanting "Momma, Da-da, Bubba."  Cooper seems to think she's talking to him and she does pick up the tempo when she realizes it's bugging him!!  Today at Lunch Cooper was yelling, "I'm not your Momma!!"  "I'm not your Da-da!"  "My name is NOT Bubba!!"  And then for clarification he has been adding, "Bubba is on the Airplane!!"  (And she'd just look at him with a grin and say, "Bubba.")  After saying that several times he changed it today to say, "Bubba is with his Grandma."  I guess Bubba has finally landed!  :)

How's this for a "throw-back" picture?  I was looking for a picture of Nora (I was actually wanting to read some of Nora's Blogs and look at Developmental stages) when she was approximately the same age as Sophie and I found this picture of her with Baby Cooper.  Love.  I believe Cooper was a couple months younger than Hudson in this picture, but this could be Sophie and Bubba!!

This picture is pretty self-explanatory!  These two really enjoy each other.  (And they have similar temperaments.)  I took this picture right after their naps and (as you all probably know) that's a time of day when the kids are more prone to loving expressions and a good time for pictures!!  Ha!!

Sophie has been going for the same books this week - first thing in the morning after hair fixing ritual and singing with Lauralea - she finds the books, "London Bridge" and "Today is Monday."  Also this morning, Lauralea was trying to coax a Goodbye Hug out of Sophie.  Cooper heard that and he came running for his love...Sophie started yelling, "Mine mine mine!!!!"  That's one way to get your hug!

Sophie - 3/3/2016

Thursday is Kinder-Music and Sophie arrived just before Lunch.  We were outside playing so she got in on about another 10 minutes of that.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, most of dinner roll, ate hash browns, and a large serving of canned cherries.  

Here's a picture from yesterday afternoon.  Bode was playing a game and Cooper, Reid, and Kenzie were interested and Sophie was also trying to see what they were doing.  :)

Sophie - 3/2/2016

Sophie ate half of her blueberry bagel serving and had two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything; ham, a large serving of elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, corn, and apple bites.

Cooper was trying to teach Sophie some of the colors using one of our color posters.  (He has seen me using the posters with Sophie.)  It actually started with him showing her the colors of the big blocks and she ran to the poster and started pointing at the colors there.  Sometimes she gets them totally right - sometimes not so much!  :)

All three of these pictures were taken yesterday afternoon, but they are too cute not to post!!  Sophie and Reid had got up from their nap mats at the same time.  (Actually I was just returning from the bathroom and he was helping her up from her nap mat.  CUTE!!)  Then they went to the Play room and he helped her into the chair and started reading to her.  CUTE!!  :)  I love how she's leaning in to see the pictures.

The story behind the next two pictures:  Kenzie had asked Sophie, "Do you want to play with me?"  Sophie's response was soooo cute!  Big affirmative head nod!  Then Sophie pointed to the cubby hole where she and Kenzie have played several times before.  Kenzie stuffed pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals all around Sophie and then the other kids gathered around and were tickling her and being silly.  I think she was enjoying all the attention!!

Sophie - 3/1/2016

Sophie ate most of waffle and two servings of pears for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tuna & crackers, sweet potatoes, and mandarin oranges.  She's so cute when I announce meal time, or open the gate to head out there - she gets excited and scurries for her bib and highchair!

She's been experimenting with the yellow benches this week; pushing them around and using them for steps and tables, etc..  She pushed one up to the changing table and was totally keeping an eye on me to see if it was ok!  She was watching me while she was pushing it over there and kept watching me while she climbed up.  So stinking cute.  I said, "You can just look, but that's all Gary's stuff up there!"  And she totally listened.  Thank you Sophie.

She's probably had one of these hats on this morning at least four or five times.  And it's totally a picture worthy moment!  She happens to be looking at herself in the mirror.  :)

It's always so cute when she waves out the window at various people.  She waves at the mailman truck when she sees it, our neighbor Big Willy, anyone walking their dog, and the afternoon neighbor lady walking her kids home from school.  Lately, Sophie pounds on the window to get their attention and it frequently works.

She did some painting at art time with a foam brush.  She still had lots of paint on her paper so Reid helped her finish it and also did some finger painting on her paper.  She seemed quite amused (by the grin on her face) while watching him.  Speaking of Reid, Sophie always packs his blanket to him and he verbalized it today; "Her always bring my blanket to me!"  Yup, she kind of looks out for you!