Sophie - 9/23/2016

Sophie ate half of brown rice and two servings of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of meat (turkey) loaf, ate flat bread, carrots, and two servings of apricots.  This first picture is from breakfast time and their conversation was SO cute.  It kind of started earlier when they were playing on the blocks (bottom picture) and Sophie had her baby and Lauralea asked if Reid was "Daddy."  So at breakfast Sophie looked at Reid, scooted over close to him, put her arm around him, and said, "Hi Dad."  LOL!  Cracked me up!  In the picture you can see Reid pointing and he was saying, "Scoot back.  Your spot is over there."  And apparently he used his other hand to start sliding her back.  She said, "Do NOT push me!"  Ha!  Look at her determined little face!

I saved this first picture from Wednesday afternoon.  I liked how she was laying on her baby's blanket beside her baby reading the book.  So cute.  I think she was actually reading to her baby.

This picture was earlier than the first picture above.  Happier times in the relationship!  Ha!  Sophie was going back-n-forth to the other side of the room getting more supplies for going to the "lake." Reid asked again; "Lake Como?"  This time Sophie said, "no."  But she didn't offer any other information so I guess it was to be a surprise.  Ha!  She said, "Oh no! I forgot diapers and wipes!!"  So she went and got those.  "Ok, I got them."  Then, "Get my purse."  Then, "Get me car. The black one."  "Where's my key? I'll go get it."  Reid was totally content to just sit there watching her trek back-n-forth and listen to her jabber.  So cute.

She did some coloring at art, we read books, and did some sign language.  I'm impressed with how much she is remembering with the signs.  Good job Sophie.

Sophie - 9/21/2016

Sophie had bites of bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a couple bites of ham, ate elbow (and rotini) noodles, ate half of corn, and half of apple bites.  Sophie was already looking kind of tired after breakfast.  She said, "We're gonna take a nap after this."  Ha!  It was almost 11:00 before she mentioned it again; "I wanna go night night Gary!"

At breakfast Sophie was pointing past Hudson (kind of over his head a little) and talking about the pictures on the wall.  So Hudson pointed back at her.  Ha!  That was NOT right!  "NO!!  UP THERE!!" As she continued to point past him!  :)

Sophie was going to the "lake" again this morning.  She had her purse jammed full of necessities.  She was also making a list of the animals that were there.  It reminded me of a book we read about the children going to the zoo.  She said, "Zebras, lions, monkeys, mingoes (flamingoes) are there!"  Then she sat down by the blocks and said, "I'm driving!"

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  The Cline girls were playing with the little ones so nicely.  Riley was also playing dolls with Sophie and I heard her ask Soph;  "Does your Baby need a bottle?"  :)

Reid and Sophie did some gluing and stickers this morning.

I love this picture of Sophie putting a "Chef Hat" on Hudson.  He really cooperates with her and the other kids.  He just sat there until Sophie had the hat fixed just the way she wanted!

Sophie - 9/20/2016

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

Sophie has heard a lot of talk about "Birthdays" lately and of course her Birthday was not that long ago!  Well today is Reid's Birthday and I said "let's tell Reid Happy Birthday."  She wasn't in favor of that; "No, my Birthday!"  Well let's sing Happy Birthday to Reid!  She wasn't in favor of that either! "No, I sing MY Birthday."  Hahaha!  That hit my funny bone!!  So like a 2 Year old!!  Egocentrism at it's best!

I took this picture after Sophie found a nice cozy spot to read some books.  Of course Avi and Bubba were soon there!  Sophie is very patient and tolerant with Avi - and rarely yells at Avi.  With Hudson? Well, let's just say he's a bit more grabby than Avilene and Sophie responds quickly!  :)

Sophie said, "Hey Gary!"  What?  She'd crawled up on the play "stove top/sink" and was sitting with her little butt in the sink bowl.  "I go potty in here!"

Hudson was playing with the blocks and then Sophie and Avi joined in the fun.  I took the picture below when they were all busy and working hard.  Avi likes being right in the middle of the activity and she got bonked (accidentally from Hudson) several times, but she is so tough she rarely yells!

Sophie - 9/19/2016

Sophie ate chex cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of beef sandwich, two big servings of tomato soup, and ate pickled beets.  As soon as Sophie got here this morning she started "running" back and forth across the room.  "Watch me Gary, watch me."  I have no idea how many "laps" she made, but it was a lot.

I love how much Sophie can express herself and also how much she likes to sing.  This morning she sang several songs - and some of them, like "Baa Baa Black Sheep," she sang the complete song! And she carries a tune very well.
Here's an example of her talking this morning;
"Baby Nora Tooting, Gary."  Tooting?  "Yes."  (giggle giggle)
I had her sitting on the changing table fixing her hair and she was moving her head all around.  So I asked her to look at the yellow fish on the calendar.  "If that was your fish, what would you name it?" She said, "Pat..Pat Boyle."  LOL  So Cute.  "That's my Daddy's name; Pat Boyle."  :)
Sophie, are you poopy?  "No...not yet."  (Except she was; just didn't want to be changed yet.)
"I burp Gary....Uhhmm..Hiccup - loud hiccup!!"

This picture is from last Friday afternoon, but I thought it was so cute.  Avi was messing with Sophie's feet and Sophie kept trying to get her to do it some more.  And then in the 2nd picture from this morning Sophie was saying, "get me Avi, get me!!"  Which is essentially what Avilene was already doing.  :)

Sophie did lots of playing with her babies this morning.  Reid was only here for an hour and then another hour tomorrow on his birthday!  (But he'll be here Wednesday - Friday.)  I took these pictures of her feeding her baby and then using the stroller as well.

Sophie - 9/16/2016

Sophie ate several bites of oatmeal and ate canned prunes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of hash brown casserole, half of a large biscuit, and ate mandarin oranges.  This isn't about Sophie, but I thought you'd like it; I was feeding Baby Nora and Lauralea asked if I'd like her to start the oatmeal for us.  Reid yelled, "YES!"  She asked me how many servings and he said, "18!!"  :)  And that pretty much sums up his appetite!!

Today's Blog will not have any pictures due to some issues with the computer recognizing the camera.  I hope to have this resolved over the weekend because, like I've mentioned before, the Blogs are so much easier and informative with the pictures.

Sophie sang several different songs this morning; "ABC Song," "Twinkle Twinkle," "Three Blind Mice," and more.  We'd read a "Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme" book and "Three Blind Mice" was in that one.  Some of the lines in those rhymes are a bit "sketchy" in my opinion.  "She cut off their tails with a carving knife..."  Geez!!!  I think I'll skip those!  :)

Sophie went and picked up a purse and said, "Lake."  Haha!  She's been going to the "Lake" everyday this week.  I guess going to the Lake left a big impression with her.  She was stuffing lots of cookies in her purse and I asked, "What's in your purse?"  Reid yells, "Goodies!!"  That made me laugh and he said, "Wasn't that a good guess?!?"  He had one of the cookies and was keeping it from her and teasing her a little bit.  Then she tried to "buy" it from him!!  She held out her hand and said, "my money."  She's already learning you have to exchange something to get something.  Love it.

One of the pictures I took this morning was Sophie and Reid bouncing on some bubble wrap in the lunch room.  Sophie quickly got the hang of it and was able to pop several of them.  She was stomping on them and also doing some jumping.  Of course after Reid popped all of his, he was more than willing to help her pop some!

Sophie - 9/14/2016

Sophie ate whole wheat toast and cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, crackers, two servings of bean & bacon soup, and ate strawberries.  At breakfast (before Sophie arrived) I said, "Where you at Sophie?"  Reid said, "Just call her Dad!"  (In a tone that said, "Duhhhh.")  Reid looked at her elbow at lunch time and while pointing at it said, "Her have a red spot on her ankle."  Ha!  (She apparently laid her elbow in one of the ink pads at Art Time while we were stamping.)

Lauralea went into work later this morning so she had time to fix Sophie's hair and read to her before leaving. She asked, "Sophie what did you do last night?"  I LOVE how Sophie will think before answering! (That totally reminds me of Nora!)  She said, "Grandma come over."  And Grandpa Steve?  "Yes...go walk...I leader."  Haha!  I'm sure you and Nora were the leaders!!

Also while reading books she was identifying lots of objects and pointing at yellow saying, "Gary's color...your's (Lauralea) green."

She and Reid were playing with the Big Bears on the mattress and she jumped on a bear while Reid was under it.  He said, "Whoa! How much do you weigh Hofie!?!"  Ha!  She also played with the tutus and carrying her purse again.  She was yelling, "Bye everyone, bye everyone!"  Where are you going Sophie?  Same as yesterday she said, "Uhhhmmm...lake."  Reid yelled, "Ya mean Lake Como!?" Sophie said, "Yah, lake Como."  Ha!  I roared.  Reid remembers lots of names of places he went this summer.

Sophie - 9/13/2016

Sophie ate half of bagel serving and ate two servings of apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and two servings of applesauce.  At breakfast Sophie got her bib and took it to Reid so he could put it on her.  She's done that several times, but this morning he got her hair caught in the "bib tightener" (whatever it's called).  She didn't cry, but stood there saying, "ouch ouch" and I quickly fixed it for her.  (I noticed at Lunch she didn't ask for his assistance!  Ha!)  But he loves helping her.

Lauralea was eating at the table when Sophie arrived and she asked Lauralea, "Eggs?"  Haha!  That's what Lauralea had the last week when Sophie saw her last.  Lauralea said, "No, today is sausage and mangoes."  Sophie asked, "Blueberries?"  That's also what Lauralea was eating that day!  Great memory Sophie!

Reid brought a couple of 'transformers' from home.  He said, "One for me and one for Hofie!"  Later, Reid was building a "sidewalk" with the big blocks and asked, "Hofie, can you help me build this sidewalk?"  Sophie was reading a book on the couch and said, "In minute.  Read book."  Cute!

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon when Sophie sat beside Baby Nora on the couch.  How cute is this!?!

Sophie was doing these antics on the couch and said, "Watch Gary! watch Gary!"  Then as I was taking this picture she said, "Hi everyone!"  Ha!  Sophie had a purse on her arm and I asked her if she was going somewhere.  First she said, "no."  Then she said, "Uhhmmm...lake."  Oh that will be fun.  "My pool....my pool party."  So I asked, "What was the funnest thing about your pool party?"  Her answer was precious; "Katie go.  Lila go."  :)

Sophie - 9/12/2016

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

I thought Sophie looked so cute dragging the Big Bear down the hall.  Reid had the big Panda Bear and he drug it out of the back room.  It surprised me when I turned around and Sophie was doing the same thing with this Bear in the picture.  She finally said, "I need help."  But she'd worked real hard and was also to the Play room.  :)

I was feeding Baby Nora her bottle this morning when Sophie bonked her forehead on the climber and I asked Reid if he'd kiss her owie for her.  He headed her way and she got the most adorable grin on her face and pointed to where her owie needed kissed.  "Right here."  :)

I took a picture while Sophie was taking her turn painting with the golf balls.  I like how Reid is keeping a watchful eye on what she's doing.  He kept telling her how to hold the pan, when to turn it around, etc.  And she was trying to follow his directions.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend.  In the picture below Sophie's wearing a tutu and she has a purse on her arm.  She said, "I'm leaving."  Haha!

Sophie - 9/8/2016

Sophie ate two servings of breakfast: raisin english muffin and blueberries.  For lunch she ate chicken, no crackers, ate sweet potatoes, and two servings of canned cherries.

This first picture is Baby Nora taken yesterday afternoon.  She needed a fresh set of clothes and I'd laid her in a safe place in front of the mirror with a stuffed animal to look at.  While I was fetching her clothes Sophie proceeded to put every stuffed animal in there with her.  Full disclosure here: I had to uncover the Baby to take the picture!  Ha!  She was totally fine with it and not fussing at all.

This next picture was also taken yesterday.  Sophie was yelling, "Night night Gary!  Night night Gary!"  She continued to yell until I went around the corner to see what she was yelling about and she was totally covered. But I got a picture before she was completely out of there!

Sophie is so much fun and I love having her in the Daycare.  As her language progresses it's fun to observe her personality and sense of humor.  She was doing puzzles and when she was coming back into the Daycare room she said, "Coming thru Gary!"  Ha!  When Lauralea was leaving for work today she said, "I miss Hudson not being here and saying, "Bye LorLor, bye LorLor."  Sophie looked  up at her and said, "Bye LorLor!" Ha!  She totally knew she was being silly.  Thank you Sophie.  When Molly called this morning I had her on speaker phone and Sophie looked at Lauralea and said, "That was my Mom, not your Mom."  (with a big grin on her face)  I took the next picture when Sophie was jumping on the mattress and then landing on her butt.  (You can see her hair flying.)  Reid said, "That's a butt bomb."  (Phrase from brother Bode - so you know who to thank if Sophie says it.)

Sophie - 9/7/2016

Sophie ate a biscuit and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of baked beans, nibble of dinner roll, ate her peas, and two servings of crushed pineapple.

I took this picture yesterday afternoon when Sophie was doing some acrobatics on the couch.  She was actually pretty close to standing on her head!!  Then she was actually pretty close to going off the end of the couch!!  Good grief!!  So I had her move her antics to the mattress - which is exactly why I have a mattress!!  :)  This was all accompanied by "watch Gary, watch Gary, watch Gary!!"  Ha!  Yup, that's my job Sophie!  :)

This picture is also from yesterday afternoon when Kenzie and Riley came here from school.  They already knew Hudson had the "hand foot mouth" thing and so it turned into a big game of running from Bubba!  When I took this picture Riley (on left) was saying, "Oh No!  He's looking at me!"  Ha!  It was funny and Bubba was enjoying the "game" as much as the rest of them.

Reid asked to do some more painting at Art Time and then Sophie wanted to paint too.  We also read lots of books and she read lots on her own.  In this book exchange she loves the "Spots and Dots" book.  She's got it memorized (and knows her colors as well) and I heard her reading "yellow dots, yellow spots, look-ee here..."  Then she was playing with the dress-up clothes and was quite sure the little people needed to each wear a vest.  She said, "Wear it! wear it! wear it!!"  First to Hudson, then to Avilene!  Haha!

Sophie - 9/6/2016

Sophie ate half of waffle serving and ate two servings of hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken & cheese quesadilla, bites of carrots, and ate mandarin oranges.  She was chewing bites at lunch and telling me it was her "gum."  (With a big grin on her face.)

Sophie was excited to see everyone this morning and she was greeting each one.  "Bubba Bubba!  Avi!! Avi!!  Reido Reido!!"  She and Reid played with the building blocks and she was stacking them high with Reid's help!  Hudson tried to help. but that didn't go so well!  Reid was only here for a couple of hours, but Sophie enjoyed that time with him.

She does lots of counting here as I'm sure she does at home as well.  And she's now counting in the "teens."  My favorite is "eleven-teen."  :)  She was also bringing me lots of books to read and I love asking questions about the books.  For example; we were reading "Jack and Jill" and I asked this question; "What did Jack stub his toe on?"  She immediately said, "rock" and pointed to it in the picture.  Wow!  I'm impressed!  First, "stub" is not a commonly used word and she totally got it from the context or knew what it meant.  She does understand language very well and her comprehension is impressive.

Here are a couple of pictures from Art Time this morning.  Reid was gone and I sat Hudson at the table with Sophie.  I like the 2nd picture how she's showing him her hands and she seemed to be saying, "Here's how it's done!"  But he was content to just watch.

I took this picture when Sophie was helping Baby Nora play with some jingle bells.  Sophie also played with her dolls a LOT and called them "Baby Nora."

Sophie - 9/1/2016

Sophie ate raisin english muffin and three servings of blueberries for breakfast.  I took the picture below after she and Reid were done with blueberries.  These two characters devoured a heaping bowl full of berries!!  For lunch she ate most of turkey slice, bites of sandwich thin, ate two servings of green beans, and two servings of strawberries.  Reid looked at Sophie at breakfast and said, "If you eat too many blueberries you turn into a blueberry."  She said, "Yup."  :)  He said, "I'm never gonna get full."  (At 10:00 he said, "Gary, feed me!!"  Hahaha!)

Reid said, "Hofie (Sophie) is gonna be my new best friend."  (Now that Cooper's gone.)  Then he added, "I love Hofie."  So sweet.  We've been working with him saying his "S" sounds and he's trying hard.  (Momma Lesley is fine with sharing that info.)  Anyhow, I was trying to get him to say my name; "Gary Sanks."  Of course it was "Gary Hanks."  Then he said, "Hofie Hanks."  LOL  I roared!! One more Reid story - I guess it was the first time Reid noticed Sophie's teeth.  :)  He said, "Hey Gary! Hofie just got her top teeth done!!"  What do you mean?  "They are all there!"  :)

I brought the stellar into the house and Sophie was pushing around Baby Nora and then when Nora went to bed she continued to have fun with it.  She had to work hard because it wasn't that easy pushing the stroller on the carpet.  She also had fun doing stickers and tape at Art Time and playing with the phones and using them for her "camera."  She said, "Reid! Reido! say cheese!  Get ready Avi; cheese!  Cheese Baby Nora! Cheese!"  :)