Sophie - 6/23/2016

Sophie ate cinnamon toast and two servings of melon mix for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of baked chicken, bites of bun, two servings of hash browns, and ate half of fresh pitted cherries.

Sophie noticed Avilene had spit-up again and some was on the floor.  She'd apparently been listening when I'd found some more spit-up about 15 minutes earlier!  She said, "Oh oh!  That's gross!!"  Ha!! Thank you Sophie!  You're an awesome helper and you keep me alerted to anything I need to deal with!! Then she was trying to get Lauralea's attention and was changing the way she Loudly pronounced Lauralea's name; "Lora-lee!  Lor-a-Lee!!"  "Lor-Lee!!"  Ha!

Cooper was hiding from the little ones AGAIN - a favorite game of his!!  He's between the two yellow benches.  You can see a tiny piece of his hair under the yellow bench on the right hand side.  That's a pretty small area he's hiding out in!!  Once Cooper is out of sight and being quiet Hudson usually just moves on to another place to play.  Out of sight, out of mind!  Cooper and Sophie also buried each other with pillows and stuffed animals again.

Cooper went to sleep first and I was still cleaning up lunch table when I saw Sophie playing with the stuff Coop brought from home; which made me laugh.  She was pretty sure she was getting away with something very cool!!

Sophie - 6/22/2016

Sophie ate half of her blueberry bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, whole wheat elbow noodles, two servings of corn ("want more corn, want more corn"), and ate most of apple bites.  I've started experimenting with Sophie sitting at the table at Snack time and after a couple successful days of that I'll transition her to the table for all meals.

I feel like Sophie's "learning curve" has been on a steep rising incline lately!  Momma Molly and I were discussing this yesterday and Sophie has been learning so much - language is a big one, but in many other areas as well!!  Speaking of Sophie, she just came out to the Play room where I'm writing this Blog.  She's sitting beside me now saying, "Duck, duck, duck....."  Haha!  She wants "The Duck Song" we've watched on Youtube.  Cooper said, "That's an annoying duck!!"  But he loves it too regardless of the negative review!!

Cooper and Sophie were playing their "house" game again this morning and I took this picture when he had her covered with pillows.  They have played this game every day this week and today they did for at least 30 minutes.  Cooper kept asking her, "Do you like your house, do you like your house?" I think I'd get a little claustrophobic in this house!!  :)

We played outside this morning and Sophie and Cooper spent lots of time playing in the sand.  Right before this we'd been over at the fence watching the garbage workers pick up our recyclables.  Sophie was interested in that too, but from a distance of course!!

Sophie - 6/21/2016

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

As you well know Sophie's vocabulary has been exploding for several weeks now!  And her comprehension is outstanding as well!  I'm impressed!  We were playing with words this morning and I asked,  What's Mommy's name?  "Hmm..Molly."  What's Daddy's name?  "Pat."  So who is Molly? "Mmmmm...me...Mommy!"  Who is Pat?  "Daddy!"  Very good!  (And she grinned all the way through her vocabulary test!  Ha!)

In this picture Cooper is building a side to his house - which is under the blue balance beam.  Sophie joined him under there and then Cooper said it was time for them to go on a trip.  "Hey Sophers!!"  (It's either Sophie, Soph, or Sophers.")  "Do you want to go on a trip with me - like Reid is?"  Then to sweeten the pot a little, he said she could drive!  "Ok it's driving time!!  You get to drive Sophers!!"

Hudson did not seem to notice or care that Sophie was trying to help him look presentable!  Nice job Sophie!  Right before Sophie started hair-combing she was sitting there chanting something.  When I moved closer I could hear her saying, "Three bags full, three bags full, three bags full....."  (From baa baa black sheep.)  So cute.

Sophie - 6/20/2016

Sophie ate corn chex cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of beef sandwich, couple bites of pickled beets, two servings of tomato soup, and ate her crackers.  Cooper looked at his sandwich and said,  "I don't like that; give it to Sophie."  I guess he thinks Sophie is taking Reid's place for the summer as the mealtime disposal agent!  (This isn't the first time he's said, "give it to Sophie" when he doesn't want it!!)

At the lunch table Sophie started singing, "Baby Beluga.....water..."  We'd read/sang that book this morning and she totally shocked me when she started singing it!  So cute.  Then she got mad and started yelling at Cooper because he was telling her it was "Beluga"  NOT "Luga!"  Haha!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and I took this picture when Sophie was playing with the toaster.  Actually I took the picture to demonstrate how well she follows directions.  She was not having success pushing the button (spring) down and I told her to use two fingers.  Nice job of following directions Sophie!  :)  The 2nd picture is Sophie and Hudson playing with some animal toys that make animal sounds and the 3rd picture is Sophie looking a bit like a cute hippie from the 1960's.  :)  I remember some cute ones and some not so cute!

Sophie was watching me upload pictures onto the Blogs this morning.  She started saying, "Duck, duck, duck."  Ahhhh, I know!  Last week Cooper wanted to listen to the "Platypus Song" (recommended from Bode - Ha!) and then we listened to the "Duck Song 1, 2, & 3."  That surprised me when she said, "Duck, duck, duck."  They are actually kind of funny so if you're interested check out Youtube.com.

Sophie - 6/16/2016

Sophie ate english muffin and three servings of cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of turkey slice, bite of bun, ate green beans, and two servings of canned mangoes.

Sophie was her usual sweet cute self this morning.  (I might be slightly biased!!  Ha!!)  I really do like watching her when she's watching other children have fun.  She just watches with a big smile and enjoys the moment.  I've always considered that a positive quality.

She was also enjoying showing off and bouncing on her bottom because Cooper and I were laughing each time.  "You think I'm funny!  What about this?!"  She was plopping straight down on her butt and I could tell it was not real comfortable.  So I suggested she do it on the mattress that was softer! And she did!  :)

Sophie is putting a horse in her barn under the watchful eye of Cooper the experienced barn manager!  Ha!  It's not really apparent in the picture, but this half of the barn is hanging out in space.  If that horse steps out of it's stall it will get seriously hurt!!  :)

I got out the sit-n-spins for the kids to have something different this morning.  Sophie is playing with them the more traditional way.  Hudson, not so much!!  He quickly realized that standing on them was not the best approach!!

Sophie - 6/15/2016

Sophie ate whole wheat toast and three servings of mixed berries.  Cooper said, "I don't like those berries!  Sophie can have all of them!"  Ha!  (She would have been happy with that arrangement!  But he ended up trying some and liking them!!)  For lunch she ate everything; Ham, crackers, bean & bacon soup, and three servings of strawberries.

I took this picture yesterday afternoon and I was actually taking the picture of Sophie because she wanted to be buried under the pillows that Cooper was piling on her.  It was only after I'd taken the picture that I noticed Hudson was sneaking in there to see what she was doing.  :)

Here's a picture of Sophie doing one of her favorite activities!  Covering her face; this time with a cow mask!  We read lots of books, sang songs, and did some sign language.  Sophie was really getting into it all and she was the one asking to sing songs.  She kept saying, "bee bee bee" and pointing up to where I keep the list of songs, etc.  Do you want to sing "Hickity Pickity Bumble Bee?"  "Yea!  She said, "Friend" when we did the sign for friend.  Who's your friend?  "Mom."..."Dad."  :)  Later she said, "Friend" when I showed her the sign and also "Love you" when I showed her the sign for "I love you" and asked her what it was.

We had a visitor today.  This is a picture (I got permission to post this!) of Baby Nora.  She was born April 1st and will start the last week of August.  Many thanks to Daddy Colin Boyle for the referral to this nice family!!  Little Treasures Children were enthralled with meeting a new baby and she looks like she was enjoying herself too!!  She was so alert and smiling the entire time she was here!!

Sophie - 6/14/2016

Sophie ate half of her blueberry bagel and three servings of apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything; Chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  While the kids were eating lunch my hearing aid battery went dead so I was putting in a new one.  Once I had it installed I checked it and it squealed - which is a good sign.  Sophie looked toward the window and said, "Birdy, birdy"  LOL  Oh man I roared!  That hit my funny bone and then she just kept saying it of course.   "Birdy, birdy" and grinning all over.  Also at meal time Sophie has been getting Bubba's bib for him and occasionally putting it on him.  She's also putting on her own bib and then checking to make sure she has it on correctly.

Sophie says, "Me me me..." whenever she's doing something that she wants me to notice or watch her.  I took this first picture when she was pretending to sleep.  She was singing, "night night Nora, night night Nora."  Then grinning at me because she knows I think she's the cutest thing ever!!  Ha!

Then I helped the kids build a house with the blocks and as soon as we were done Cooper said, "We're going to hide in here and you can come find us!"  Hudson joined Coop and Sophie in their hiding game.  Cooper has been so sweet to the little ones and I love it.  I really think he likes being the top dog here when Reid is gone; and Reid will be gone a lot this summer!!

Sophie had the yellow bench tipped over and was standing on the middle part on one foot and had the other foot in the air.  And of course she was saying, "Me me me"  Ha!  Yup, you're being pretty tricky Sophie!  Now please be careful!!  :)

Sophie - 6/13/2016

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

Sophie was sitting on my lap (facing me) looking at the picture of the bee on my t-shirt.  So we started singing "Hickity Pickity bumble bee...." and doing the motions.  She was saying everyone's name.  I like how she says my name; "Grrreee."  :)

Here's a picture of Sophie and Avilene talking about things that Girls talk about!!  The first thing Sophie said this morning; "Avi, Avi."  :)

The big boys were trying to show-off for the little ones again.  Reid started it by saying, "Hey Bubba! Watch this!!  I'm gonna land on my face!"  So then Cooper started saying it as well and to Sophie too. (You can see Cooper's orange shorts in the picture.)  As you can also tell by the picture, Bubba and Sophie were super impressed, right!?  :)

Right before nap time I was changing Sophie's poopy diaper and she started telling me about her family.  "Nora poop."  Hahaha!  I basically learned that all her Family members "poop" including "Sula" and some cat; which I think she said was "Steve's and Grandma."  Thanks for the inside info Sophie!!  :)

Sophie - 6/9/2016

Sophie ate half of english muffin and three servings of blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, crackers, sweet potatoes, and two servings of cherries.

Sophie was the first one at Daycare this morning and she immediately started asking about the other kids;  "Avi, Avi?"  Yes, Avi's coming.  "Cooper, Cooper?"  Yes, Cooper's coming.  "Bubba, Bubba.?"  Yes, Bubba's coming.  Then she was bringing all the farm animals over and identifying them by the sounds they make.  She also brought a puppy and said, "Ruff."  :)

Sophie and Hudson were watching Baby Avilene in the picture below.  They were looking at the Baby Toys, but not grabbing them.  Just watching her play.

In the picture below you can see part of Cooper behind the igloo and he's entertaining Hudson and Sophie.  There are some little holes around the bottom of the igloo and Cooper is poking his finger through the holes.

Sophie had the steering wheel and was the driver on the big climber this morning.  Earlier while we were still inside Sophie had joined Cooper behind the barbecue and he was giving her all the instructions on how to fly their machine.  "Push this button."  "Now we're going super fast!  100 fast!"  "I'll land this thing!"

Sophie - 6/7/2016

Sophie ate waffle and two servings of hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of chicken & cheese quesadilla, bites of carrots, and ate mandarin oranges.  She had a great morning, but I could tell she was getting tired close to lunch time.  Shortly after lunch when Cooper and Reid were getting ready for a nap Sophie said, "Nap mat Gary, nap mat."  She was ready to lay down.  I said, "Ok, you can go get your binky."  And she went right over, got the binky and laid on her nap mat.  :)

Reid's Dad, TJ, told me the cutest story this morning and I'll share it with you.  TJ and Lesley (Reid's Mom) were doing some painting inside their house and Lesley's hair was getting in her way.  So she got a rubber band and put a ponytail on top of her head.  Reid came into the room and saw what she'd done to her hair and his eyes got big and he said, "HOFIE!!"  :)

I decided to go outside this morning in case it gets too hot to go out this afternoon.  Sophie had fun and she was being silly when I took these first two pictures.

Here's a picture of HOFIE hanging out with her Reid and Bubba.  I took this picture when Reid was going through a whole series of antics trying to help Hudson be happy.  (And he was doing that because he's a Sweetie, not because I asked him too!)  First Reid was bonking himself in the forehead and of course Bubba thought that was quite humorous!  (And so did Sophie.)  Reid said, "Hey Gary!  I made him laugh!!"  Then Reid was bouncing up and down in my chair (in picture) and saying, "Ow! My butt!  Ow!  My butt!"  (over & over)  And a couple more antics, but you get the idea.  Thank you Reid!  I love your sweet heart and how you like to help others!  Sophie was intently watching it all!

Sophie - 6/2/2016

Sophie ate jelly toast and three servings of blueberries for breakfast.  Cooper was more than happy to donate his blueberries to Sophie at breakfast if she wanted them.  He said, "She can have MY blueberries when she's done with HER blueberries!"  Ha!  For lunch she ate turkey slice, most of sandwich thin, ate three servings of green beans, and two servings of strawberries.  She said, "want more."  I asked, "Strawberries?"  She said, "Beans."  Well done Sophie!  She says SO MANY words now; basically whatever she feels like trying to say!  When Grandpa Steve left this morning I was telling her to say bye to him.  She just sat in her highchair grinning.  He'd no sooner closed the door and she said, "Grandpa."  :)  At lunch when I gave her some more green beans I said, "Thank you Gary."  And she mimicked that perfectly!  "Thank you Gary."  :)     (Notice I didn't "tell" her to say it; I just said it and she mimicked me.)

Sophie was playing with the dress-up clothes and stumbling around with this one over her head. She lifted it up to see where she was at and Bubba was right in front of her so she gave him a hug. Then when she took it off he picked it up and put it on his head.  :)

In the picture below Cooper had built this legos toy, handed it to Sophie and said, "Look Soph!  It has 2 triggers!!"  She looked at it and then pointed it and said, "BOOM!"  Ha!  He's taught her well!  Please don't panic!  This is normal play for this age group!!  :)

Sophie - 6/1/2016

Sophie ate english muffin (french toast flavored - I guess that means with maple and cinnamon) and watermelon for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bean & beef burrito, sweet potatoes, and three servings of tropical fruit.  Sophie was doing LOTS of singing in her highchair at breakfast.  The only thing I could understand was "night night."  But there were other songs.  Also before breakfast she'd been reading an Elmo book about "Bubbles."  When she was washing at breakfast she spotted bubbles in the sink from the soap and looked at me with eyes wide and said, "Bubbles!"

Cooper and Sophie were bouncing on the mattress then flopping over backwards while laughing their heads off.  Cooper kept saying, "Do you want to do it again?"  He was also sharing one of his little rubber "bug-eyed" toys with her and I'd told her not to chew on it.  So Cooper was keeping a VERY close eye on her!  "I'm watching her!" he said.  She almost put it in her mouth and then pulled her hand back.  Now Cooper's eyes were about to bug-out of his head and he said, "She almost put it in her mouth!!"  Ha!

I posted this picture because it's too cute not to post!!  We were reading at Story Time and I love this one alphabet book that does some playful things with each letter.  When we got to "S" I asked (just like I always do), "Whose name starts with S?"  Sophie pointed to herself and said, "ME!"  And she responded before Cooper did, so it was totally on her own!  Good job Sophie!!