Sophie - 5/31/2016

Sophie ate jelly toast and canned prunes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham sandwich, peas-n-corn, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  

Lauralea fixed Sophie's hair and sang several songs to her.  After the last song she asked Sophie, "Now what?"  Sophie said, "Cooper's turn." She is saying so many words it's adorable!  I asked her, "Where's Lauralea at?"  She said, "Wok."  (work)  :)

In the first picture Cooper was trying to convince Sophie to let him put more blocks in front of the igloo.  He said, "I'm gonna make more light for her!!"  He actually meant "less" light.  That was supposed to be her bedroom and she ready to sleep, so he was going to make it darker.  The second picture illustrates what he had in mind!  :)  Except Sophie was "long gone" by that time, so he just got in there himself and used it for a sleeping room!  (See him peeking out.)

In the next picture Sophie was playing with the blocks and the school buses when Hudson came by to see what she was doing.  I'm going to try to describe something that happened this morning: Sophie was sitting on the window step reading a book.  Hudson was on the step looking out the window working his way along the step.  When he got to where Sophie was sitting and reading he squeezed between her and the wall. Then he just turned loose of the window sill and basically sat on her back/shoulders!  It was SO funny.  She wasn't impressed of course and immediately stood up which resulted in him toppling off the step.  He whimpered slightly, but that was all.  I was laughing so hard!!

Sophie - 5/26/2016

Sophie ate cinnamon toast and three servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, bun, two servings of hash browns, and three servings of canned cherries.  When I gave her the second serving of hash browns she asked, "Hot?"  Then at the same time she touched it and answered her own question; "Nope."  Ha!  So she repeated that a few times!  "Hot? No.  Hot? No."

Lauralea asked Sophie if she wanted to walk back to the bathroom with her and as they were going down the hall past Hudson's sleeping room she pointed in there and said, "Bubba sleep."  Then when they got to Avi's room Sophie said, "Avi sleep."  She has not been to Avi's room with me, but she obviously has watched!!  Good job Sophie!

I took this picture before breakfast when Sophie had retrieved her own bib and Bubba's bib as well.  Getting the bib around Hudson's neck was a MUCH bigger challenge as she chased him across the room!!  Haha!  Also, I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not, but after I showed her that she was putting her own bib on backwards she's done it correctly every time!!  :)

By the way, Reid is not here today, but Cooper is quite used to occasionally being the Big Dog around here and I think he kind of likes it!  I took these two pictures when he was reading to Sophie and it was so cute to listen to them.  They were laughing at some pictures in the first book and when they were done Cooper told Sophie, "Go get us another funny book."  :)  In the next book they were talking about colors and she agreed that "Green" was her favorite color too!!  Ha!  Obviously Cooper was instrumental in helping make that decision!

This next book is all about feelings and facial expressions.  Cooper was showing her that Elmo was sad because his ice cream had melted.  Then he had to expand on that a bit and when I took this picture he was asking her a question; "Is this something that melts or doesn't melt?"  I thought it was a great question!!  After reading they played in the igloo with Bubba and Cooper had Bubba laughing his head off!  Primarily by being Rowdy!!  :)

Sophie - 5/25/2016

Sophie ate blueberry bagel and three servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything; ham, whole wheat elbow noodles, corn, and apple pieces.  We took a break from the breakfast table to watch the water truck spray the street, followed closely by the street sweeper.  Cooper was on the patio waving his arm like crazy!  Sophie has been getting her own bib, putting it on (although usually backwards), and climbing up to wash.

She also likes to be a helper and put various things on the changing table for me, i.e., Bubba's bottle when he's done drinking, socks left behind by someone, or anything that we want out of the reach of the babies.  She's also being helpful if I need something when I'm feeding one of the babies.  You're being a great helper Sophie!

I took this first picture when the boys were playing a game they created.  They were getting "points" for tossing things into the different racks on the book rack.  They were doing their thing and Sophie just kept on reading her books and doing her thing.  The boy's game was pretty funny - Reid was doing most of the tossing and shooting and Cooper was rattling off rules and rule changes as fast as his tongue and brain would allow!  :)

Here's a picture of Sophie doing one of her favorite games; covering her head and face and strolling around until she runs into something!!  (I'm not really a Trail Blazer fan; I'll just use any team jersey that is donated!  Haha!)

I took this picture right after Story Time.  We were sitting on the couch reading and as soon as we were done Sophie was hugging Reid and kissing the back of his head!!  It was so cute!  By the time I got the camera she was sitting down, but still loving on him.  She loves her Templeton Boys and they are so sweet to her!!  :)  Yesterday after nap Cooper asked, "When will Kenzie be here?"  I told him it would be a few minutes and Sophie asked, "Bode?  Bode?"  So cute.

Sophie - 5/24/2016

Sophie ate two servings of waffle and ate pears for breakfast.  (I think she liked that syrup on her waffles!)  For lunch she ate tuna & crackers, sweet potatoes, and three servings of mandarin oranges. When she was done with her plate at Lunch she held it up and said, "plate, plate, plate."

Reid is not here today, but Cooper and Sophie actually played pretty well together again.  Cooper brought his "Caterpillar" equipment with him and he was sharing those with her.  He'd set one down and couldn't find it and he asked Sophie, "Do you know where my skid steer is at?"  She didn't have a clue, but she looked around and said, "Yes."  He asked, "Where?"  She kind of strolled around with her arms behind her back saying, "Uhhhmmm, Uhhhmmm..." and eventually points in the general direction of the mattress.  They looked and looked for a long time and she was actually the one who finally found it.  (It's a Female thing!)  Cooper said, "You hid it good!!"  Hahahaha!!  I guess he still thought she knew where it'd been!!

Here's a picture of her and Hudson playing in the igloo this morning.  They had lots of fun together and they were doing their "chase" game again.  She runs at him and he crawls at her - stop and go in opposite directions, laughing and squealing.  And then in the next picture Sophie is hanging out with Avi as well as Hudson.  I took the third picture when we were doing some "golf ball art."

Yesterday Sophie and Reid were the first two awake and Reid was trying to teach her the fine art of crafting weapons from legos and then how to shoot one!  (Sorry, but BOYS make weapons from ANYTHING!)  I heard him say, "Hold it like this Hofie!!"  Then I heard, "Uhh, can you not break it Hofie!?"  Haha!  She did master the part of saying, "BOOM!"  She would just randomly hold it anywhere and say, "BOOM!!"  :)

Sophie - 5/23/2016

Sophie ate rice chex cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate beef sandwich, drank tomato soup, ate bites of crackers, and two bites of pickled beets.  I licked a beet and she did the same and then took a couple bites.  Well done!  You were very brave Sophie!!

Reid was having love surges when Sophie arrived.  He kept following along behind her with his arms extended wanting some hugs.  It was so cute!!  I took this picture when Reid took a break from from jumping onto the mattress to talk to Sophie.  They were jabbering at each other about something!

Sophie knew I was going to lay Baby Avi on the floor in front of the mirror so she got it set up for Avi.  We always hang something off the railing for the baby to look up at.  Sophie is showing me that she has that part of the job already taken care of.  A great example of her anticipating what needs to be done and doing it!  Thanks Sophie.  She usually calls the baby "Avi," but when she told her night night today, she shortened it to "nigh nigh Av."  :)

Sophie is doing so well with her colors.  She had the plates today and I was asking her which plate belonged to "Cooper?"  She pointed to the green plate and said, "Green."  Which plate is Reid's favorite?  "Blue" and points to the blue plate.  Which plate is Gary's favorite?  "Yellow" and points to the yellow plate.  Later she was at the color poster and we were doing a similar game.  Except that time I was asking her who likes Green?  "Cooper."  Who likes blue?  "Reid."  etc....

Sophie - 5/19/2016

Sophie ate sandwich thin and two servings of melon mix for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey slice, biscuit, two servings of green beans, and two servings of mangoes.

Reid and Hudson are gone today so besides Avi, it was just Cooper and Sophie.  Those two played together just fine although neither one quite followed along like the other one wanted them too!!  Cooper was trying to teach her all about his Star Wars people, but I don't know how many times I heard him say, "I'm on your side!!  Remember!?!"  Haha!!  In this first picture they were running cars off the ramp and he was already concerned about her knowing who was on who's side!  :)

This picture represents some of the more technical instructions of the morning - building various weaponry!!  He said, "Sophie!  You messed up your gun!!"  Ha!  She said, "Boom!!"  He said, "Remember!  I'm on your side!!"  LOL  It was all quite entertaining for me!!

We read lots of books, played with Baby Avi, did some drawing at Art Time, and sang songs.  Sophie came over to me and said, "Water?"  Sure, I'll have some water.  So she went to the sink, found a cup, filled it with water at the faucet, and brought me a drink.  "More?"  Sure, I'll have more water.  Repeat over and over.    Then Cooper got involved and that turned into a "water fight!"  (I probably should admit I instigated that!!)  In the picture below Cooper said, "I'm building a cage for Sophie.  Isn't it cute, snuggly, warm, and super soft, Sophie?  Now Avi can't get you!!"  So apparently it was a "cage" for her own protection.  :)

Sophie - 5/18/2017

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

This first picture I took yesterday afternoon after Reid and Sophie woke up from their naps.  Reid said, "She was standing down there and I pulled her up here!"  :)  Reid always brings his special blanket with him and today he brought his extra special "puppy blanket."  As soon as Sophie arrived he went over and gave it to her.  Later in the morning I saw Bubba about to grab the puppy blanket and Sophie sprinted to rescue it!

We sang songs, did some sign language, and dot painting at art.  She was having fun with the "Hickity Pickity" song.  We do everyone's name and she wanted us to sing to "Sula" too!  Ha!

I had to take this picture of Sophie eating her mixed berries for breakfast this morning.  Loving those mixed berries!!  And she frequently has to touch her head as well!!  :)  Too Cute!!

Cooper was laying on the toy shelf and said, "This is my bed!"  Sophie immediately went and fetched some (doll) blankets for him.  And she was singing, "nigh nigh, nigh nigh..."  As soon as Cooper left she crawled up there and she's still singing, "Nigh nigh Baby, nigh nigh Baby."  (And singing quite enthusiastically!  Look at her mouth!)

Sophie - 5/17/2016

Sophie ate blueberry bagel and three servings of apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything: Chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.

Well I've kind of loaded Sophie's Blog with pictures today!  Two from yesterday and three from this morning.  I thought it was cute how Sophie and Hudson were playing close beside each other; first with toys on the yellow bench and then books at the book rack.  Hudson had found some shapes to twirl on one of the books.

Sophie is saying SO MANY words!!  She's trying just about any word - if she's in the mood!!  Lauralea was reading to her and she was saying lots of Disney characters.  "Minnie, Cookie (Cookie Monster), Elmo, Nonald (Donald)," and my favorite - "Doofy!"  (Goofy)  Ha!  I tried hard to get a picture of her awesome frown!  Lauralea was asking, "Do you know who this is?"  If she knew, she'd answer, but if she didn't know she'd ask, "What?"  (For Lauralea to tell her who it was.)

Then Lauralea was singing to her and bouncing Sophie on her knees.  Sophie didn't even wait for Lauralea to ask her which song, she just said, "Walk walk."  Then Lauralea asked, "Which one now?" And Sophie said, "Boston."  When they were done with that song she crawled off Lauralea's lap and said, "Coop" for him to have a turn and then "Reid" for him to have a turn.  Her face reflects how much enjoyment she's getting from watching others have fun as well.  Love that!

I turned around and Sophie was standing on the top of the couch looking out the window.  I was getting ready to help her down - Hey, Picture time first!!  :)

Sophie - 5/16/2016

Sophie ate raisin bran cereal and half of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of canadian bacon pizza, ate corn, and two servings of tropical fruit.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Sophie had fun looking at all the new stuff.  As usual, she went to the book rack first.  I like her priorities.  :)  And then she played with the dolls, doll blankets, pop-up toys, and dress-up clothes.  Now that I gave it more thought I must admit that sometimes the dress-up clothes rank just as high or higher than the books!

I'm not able to put the pictures on the blog today, but I'll save them and put them on soon.  (Picture issue: I'm upgrading to the latest operating system and then I think we'll be good.  I hope!)  I took a couple pictures of Sophie and Hudson playing side-by-side today; first at the book rack and then they each had their own toys on one of the yellow benches.  It was pretty cute; Reid and Cooper were playing in one part of the room and Sophie and Hudson in another part of the room.

Lauralea asked Sophie if she wanted her hair fixed and Sophie said, "Clip" and immediately pulled out her hair clip.  Lauralea sang several songs to her and enjoyed some more "Sophie time."  Sophie totally gets the routine - when it's time for Lauralea to leave for work Soph just wanders off to the toy area, finds something to do, and doesn't look back.  :)

Sophie - 5/12/2016

Sophie arrived right before lunch - she ate chicken, nibble of cracker, ate sweet potatoes, and canned cherries.

Here's a picture what Sophie was doing when Momma Molly left.  I labeled her picture "wild stamping by Sophie!"  Yup, that pretty much sums it up!!  :)  After lunch she was playing with Bubba and pretending to run from him and he was scampering after her.  He moves quickly!!  Both of them were laughing and getting a big kick out of their game.

Sophie - 5/5/2016

Kindermusik Day!  For lunch Sophie ate turkey, bites of whole wheat bun, two servings of green beans, and two servings of strawberries.

Sophie arrived just before Lunch, but she immediately noticed a different poster that Reid, Cooper, and I put up this morning.  Nothing gets by Sophie!!  Also, I wanted to mention a couple of things from yesterday afternoon.  She was watching Kenzie do cartwheels and she kept getting down on the floor to do her version of a cartwheel.  Super cute.  Then here's a picture I took outside yesterday afternoon when we were outside playing.  It's been so nice to play outside and the kids have been loving it.

Sophie - 5/4/2016

Sophie ate english muffin and two servings of canned prunes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate beef & bean burrito, sweet potatoes, and tropical fruit.

I was getting Sophie ready for her nap a few minutes ago and she wanted to tell Hudson "night night."  She went over to where he was at, but he wasn't responding correctly to what she wanted and she looked back at me frowning as if to say, "What's the deal here?!?"  I don't know Sophie - you'll just have to be satisfied with what you get.  :)  Then Hudson started following her across the room and that wasn't what he was supposed to be doing either!!  "No Bubba!"

Sophie and Cooper were doing their "Mama" - "I'm not your Mama" routine again.  She knows it bugs him and he'll always say, "I'm NOT your Mama!!"  She just looks at him; "Mama."  "I'm NOT your Mama!!"  "Mama."  :)

Sophie was working hard to get this apron on and then I asked her if she wanted the Chef's hat on too. I love how she always looks in the mirror to see how it all looks!  And in the second picture she's being a little Mommy again.  No surprise there!!

The other kids were asleep when I took this picture of Sophie and Hudson playing close together.  She's playing with some bracelets that are heart-shaped and she was putting them on Hudson's arm too.  Well, at least she was trying to get them on his arm!!  :)

Sophie - 5/3/2016

Sophie ate half of her jelly toast and two servings of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything as well; scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage combo.  And she ate waffle, and melon mix.

Lauralea had fun fixing Sophie's hair, singing to her, and asking her lots of questions to watch her responses.  Sophie was doing great answering questions.  (The accuracy of the answers is pretty much irrelevant - she was giving thoughtful answers.)  How's Nora?  "Good."  Is Nora at school or home?  "Home"  Did Daddy or Mommy take Nora to school?  "DaDa."  So cute.

Everyone was watching the workers across the street again today.  The boys were probably more interested (especially after I told Cooper this crane had "forks" on it like a forklift) in watching than Sophie was, but she still watched several times.

Sophie was done with her breakfast and I took this picture when she was talking to Hudson for a few minutes.  I asked her if she played with "Cousin Lila" and as soon as I said, "Cousin" she started saying, "Bubba, Bubba, Bubba."

And another picture with Hudson!!  Sophie was going up the green slide (easily with her bare feet) and Bubba was trying to figure out how that was done!!  I guess she was patting him on the head for some consolation!  We read books, sang songs, and she helped watch the babies!!  :)

Sophie - 5/2/2016

Sophie ate rice crispy cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham sandwich, peas, and mandarin oranges.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange and I took a picture of Sophie, Reid and Cooper playing with the pop-up toys.  I think the name of the toy has changed; instead of a pop-up toy, it's now simply a "launcher!"  The boys were launching Cooper's stuffed Star Wars toys while Sophie kept a watchful eye on everything.  At least those toys are soft!!

Here's an adorable picture of Sophie listening to music on one of the little players in this toy set.

Also in this toy set is the little houses, little furniture, little pets, and little people.  So I'm thinking it's possibly helping domesticate these boys a little bit.  Or not!  :)  I do know that Sophie played at the spot in the picture below long after the boys had left to find something more exciting to do!!  Ha!  There is also a baby that goes with the play house and Sophie was calling her baby, "Avi, Avi, Avi."

There was also quite a bit of activity to watch out the window this morning.  The workers are putting a new roof on the house across the street and then these two young boys had their 4-wheeler almost up to the window in our driveway!  (They'd moved by the time I saw them and got the camera.) Ha!  I soon realized that the motor is missing and it's probably a good thing considering how they were "pulling" it to get it started!  :)  A picture of how not to do it!