Sophie - 2/28/2017

Sophie ate scrambled eggs and sausage, and ate hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate some of hamburger meat pizza with olives and pineapple, ate crust with tomato sauce, and ate additional pineapple.  I asked Hudson what he did last night; "Play with Sula."  I asked him what is your dog's name; "Hudson."  Sophie giggled and kept asking him that question over and over.  And she laughed every time he said, "Hudson."  And of course her laughter was fueling Hudson too!!

Sophie says some of the cutest things!!  There were at least 40 crows outside in the road today.  Sophie looked at them and said, "Oh my goodness!!  That's a lot!!  Then we were reading books and she said, "Is that a fox!?  I don't like foxes or bears!"  Why not?  "They'll bite you!!"  So I told her we'd protect her from those stinking foxes and bears!  She relaxed a bit, but still had one more question!  "Is that door shut!?!"  LOL!!  Oh man, I couldn't help but roar!  That was so cute!!

Kids thrive with routine and many of our days are essentially the same!  Today was kind of whacky! Reid went to sleep in the chair (again - it's happened 2 or 3 times now) and this first picture shows Sophie doing the "Shhhh" sign with her finger and letting Hudson know Reid is sleeping.  (He slept right there with noisy kids and music from 8:45 - 10:45.)  Then Avi arrived from swim lesson at 10:00 and she needed breakfast.  So I had the highchair in the Play Room.  Right after I took the 2nd picture Hudson was on the couch chanting, "read read read read read.......!"  His inner clock told him it was Story Time right now!!  Ha!

Sophie was using the cook pans for "skates."  "Look Gary!   I'm skating!!"  She kept going wider and wider and eventually did the splits.  She said, "WHOA!!  I'm Ok!!"  Ha!  Notice how Hudson and Avi are closely watching and then they found their own skates.  (It's much easier if you only use 1 skate!  Haha!)  Avilene was pretty funny.  She thought she was a big-shot and was doing these loud fake laughs!!  :)

Sophie - 2/27/2017

Sophie ate cheerios and bites of banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of chicken bake with cabbage, ate tortilla, and apple bites.  I put this next bit in Hudson's Blog, but I thought you all might enjoy it!  Especially if you've heard Sophie asking (over and over) "what's for lunch, etc."  Hudson has obviously been listening to Reid and Sophie at meal times because at breakfast today he was asking; "What having, what having?"  The older two kids ask that question numerous times every day!  And they frequently ask it when they're standing or sitting there staring at their food!  What the heck is it!?!  Ha!

This first picture is from Friday afternoon, but I thought it would be fun to show everyone what it looks like sometimes when the "after school kids" arrive!  ( They don't usually go to the window first!)  Reid's brother Bode always walks with Kenzie and Riley.  It was hard to get a picture of everyone because there was lots of movement!  This is the only picture that had everyone except Baby Nora in it and Avilene is mostly missing!!  Just the top of her head in the bottom of the picture. She was headed for the window and Reid was headed away from the window!  Sophie is at the far right of the window greeting Riley.  :)

Sophie was reading books to Hudson on the couch and Avilene wanted to join them.  I like how she positioned herself.  "Ok Sophie, now I'm comfortable so continue with your reading!!"  Ha!  Sophie and Hudson had been playing together doing several different things; spinning (Hudson was saying, "Spin Sophie, spin Sophie"), jumping on the mattress with both of them saying, "my turn, my turn, my turn!" Hudson was saying that when Sophie was on the blue balance beam.  He doesn't get on the balance beam yet, but he still let her know it was his turn!  Ha!  Then he was sitting on the floor taking his boots off.  He was successful with one boot, struggled for a minute with the next boot, and then called for Sophie to help him.  "Sophie, Sophie, Sophie."  And Sophie came to his rescue.  I love it when they help each other!!

 Sophie said, "Hey, Baby Nora's grabbing my hand!!"  :)

Sophie - 2/24/2017

Sophie ate bites of malt-o-meal cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, applesauce, and mixed fruit.

Sophie and Hudson had so much fun playing on the mattress together for the longest time!  Sophie kept saying they were doing "butt bombs" and Hudson was chanting that along with her.  They were both laughing so hard!  Then Sophie decided to do "snow angels" as well.  Hmm...butt bombs and snow angels...the perfect combination!!  :)  In the 2nd picture Sophie was wearing a "cow" mask and then just folded it up to see better!

This next picture shows the block structure that Kenzie and Riley built yesterday.  They made a nice opening in the front where Avi is crawling through.  Shortly after I took this picture Reid decided to create mayhem and chaos by destroying it all (Hudson and Avi had been itching to do it earlier!) and make a big mess.  When the destruction was complete they all packed blocks over to the block shelf while I put them away.  They were listening to my instructions and being good helpers.

Hudson had been saying, "read books, read books" before Lauralea left, but she had to leave early today.  So Sophie read some books to Bubba and that satisfied him until it was Story Time.  We always have Story Time as soon as I get the breakfast table cleared off and food put away.  Thank you for reading to him Sophie.  Later, Hudson was upset while I was changing his poopy diaper and as soon as I was done Sophie had to come over and comfort him.  What a sweetie.  And Bubba was very appreciative.

Sophie - 2/23/2017

Sophie ate whole wheat english muffing and two servings of blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, no crackers, two servings of sweet potatoes, and two servings of canned cherries.  At the breakfast table Sophie was quizzing Hudson; "What your Dad's name?"  "Dad."  "What your Mom's name?"  "Mom."  What your dog's name?"  "Dog."  :)

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  Sophie is in the igloo and asked me cover the entrance. Then she was calling out to Avi; "Come here Avi, come here Avi...."  Avi was getting so excited, but not sure what to do!  It was so cute.  (You can see her anticipation in the picture!)  They both played in the igloo and then Sophie was asking Avi to jump on the mattress with her.  "Do you want to jump with me Avi?  Do you want to jump with me Avi?!?  Huh, huh....yes or no!?!?"  Ha!

Sophie has been EAGERLY anticipating the return of Bubba!!  (Reminder from yesterday's Blog.) Yesterday when I told her Bubba will be here tomorrow she said, "Then I can GUIDE him around!"  Ha ha!  (literally translated as "bossing him around!")  And she was true to her word!!  "Bubba get your coat on so we can go!!  Come here Bubba so I can read to you!  Get your socks off Bubba!  Put boot on Bubba!!"  And on and on it goes!  :)  They had lots of fun playing together.  About 11:00 or shortly before when both of them (and everyone) are starting to get tired and hungry it can quickly escalate into something not fun! Hudson starts getting tired of being bossed and Sophie gets irritated with his lack of cooperation!

Sophie - 2/22/2017

Sophie ate biscuit and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked beans, bites of dinner roll, most of peas, and a large serving of crushed pineapple.  At breakfast Sophie was talking about Hudson and I said he would be at Daycare tomorrow and she said, "And then I can "guide" him around."  A very nice way of saying she'll be "bossing" him tomorrow!!  :)  Then at the Lunch table Sophie asked Reid if he'd seen the movie "Mo-wanna."  LOL!  (That's what I heard!!)  He said, "I never heard of it since I was born!"  Ha!  She wanted to talk about different Disney movies and Reid talked about Star Wars movies and playing X-Box. It all sounded like a foreign language to me!!  Ha!

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and Kenzie was putting some "cowgirl" clothes on Sophie.  Kenzie said, "This is for the Cowgirl Dance!!"  Then she was twirling with Sophie around and around.  It was very cute.  I love how Avilene has her hands clasped behind her back and is watching so intently - soaking it all in!!  Kenzie and Sophie tried several different cowgirl outfits before finding the right one for their dance!!

Sophie and Reid had fun with some play dough this morning.  Reid asked, "Did you just buy this?"  I told him no and that it actually came from the Cline Family a long time ago and he finished by saying, "In a land far far away!"  Ha!  After art time I said it smelled like someone was poopy.  Reid pointed at Sophie and said, "I sniffed her butt and her definitely poopy!!"  Thank you Reid.   :)

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.  Sophie was explaining some colors to Avi.  :)  "This is the blue one Avi."   Thank you Sophie.  In the last picture she put on this puppy jacket and said she was a "bear."  :)  (She's looking at one of her paws!)

Sophie - 2/21/2017

Sophie had bites of waffle and ate two servings of hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of chicken & cheese quesadilla, ate carrots, and mandarin oranges.

It was nice to see Daddy Pat this morning!!  I don't see him too often during this busy time of year!! He was trying to get Avilene to peek around the corner at him before he left.  But she was too busy to do that!  However, here's what happened after you left Pat!  In typical Toddler fashion Avi came around the corner waving as soon as you went out the door!  (She probably heard the door closing!)  So I asked if she wanted to go the window to wave with Sophie and she took off for the window.  Again, as soon as You drove off she started waving!  Ha!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend.  Sophie was so excited when she saw the little dress-up jackets.  She kind of gasped!  It was very cute!  In the first picture she was wearing the bumblebee jacket and you can see her baby on the floor beside her.  Sophie was getting her baby some food and said, "Baby, we're going to Gary's today."  Awwww!  Love that.  Then in the 2nd picture she has her Baby with her as she's about to jump on the mattress and she said, "My Baby laughs when I jump off here with her!"  :)

Sophie asked Avi; "Bring me some toys."  (I guess it was a command, not asking!  Ha!)  Avi didn't listen and Sophie mistakenly said, "Bring me some toys!  Ok, Bubba!?!"  LOL!  He'll be back on Thursday Sophie!  Avi likes to do her own thing!  :)  That made me laugh!  Then she asked, "Can we do art?"  Sure, what would you like to do?  She said, "Football art."  I knew she meant golfball art, but I asked for more info!  She said, "You got new lid so ball not roll out."  And I did get a pan with a lid so they can roll the ball around in the paint without it falling out.  However, that's been several weeks since she's used it!  She has a great memory and I love how she can tell me what she wants!

Sophie - 2/15/2017

Sophie ate most of jelly toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate burrito (rice, bean, and chicken), sweet potatoes, and two servings of tropical fruit.

First I want to remind everyone that Little Treasures is closed on Monday, February 20th for President's Day.  We are SO looking forward to being in Billings to hang out with our beautiful Granddaughters!  :)  I'm also going to send out an email notice in case anyone misses the notice here.

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon when Sophie and Hudson were playing hide-n-seek.  It was the usual Toddler version, but it's always so stinking cute.  Sophie told him to "hide in here," while she went to count.  (She counts really well - made it to 14, then skipped into the 20's for awhile!  Ha!)  Then she came around the corner and informed Bubba, "I found you!"  Hudson, meanwhile, was "hiding" under the dress-up clothes.  Ha!

All the kids (especially Kenzie, Riley, and Sophie) like to "feed" Baby Nora with a teether that's connected to her saucer.  Now Avilene is getting in on it too and I posted a picture of her ""feeding" Nora in her Blog today.  When I took this picture at breakfast Sophie said, "I"m feeding Nora."

After breakfast Avi and Sophie were "hiding" from me in the igloo.  So I just lifted the igloo up and looked in and Sophie squealed with delight!  What a couple of cuties!!  Hudson is in Denver for a few days and Reid arrived at 11:00 this morning so these two played together!!

Sophie - 2/14/2017

Sophie ate most of cinnamon roll and bites of canned plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate scrambled eggs and hash browns, half of waffles, and two servings of cantaloupe.

I have a note left over from yesterday afternoon.  Kenzie was teaching the kids to do "Ring around the Rosy" and it was very cute when they were all holding hands and going around and around.  When they were done Sophie easily coaxed Hudson into continuing the game; just the two of them.  When they'd get to the "All fall down" part they'd fall onto the mattress.  And of course that was Hudson's favorite part!  He started "falling down" sooner and sooner as they continued to play.  Ha!  Sophie finally yelled at him; "NO BUBBA!!  Wait till I done singing!!"  LOL!  So cute.

The first picture from this morning is Sophie reading books to Bubba again!  She has memorized SO many of these books!!  Amazing!  In the picture she is trying to show Hudson how to do the "Pat-a-Cake" motions.  He was passively cooperating, but primarily just amused and watching what she was doing!  Ha!

While we were reading Stories Avilene found Sophie's head band and knew just what to do with it as well!!  She's obviously observant.  (Sophie came in wearing her Valentine's headband.)  The surprising part was that Sophie didn't care!  Ha!!  Actually, that's not too surprising because Sophie is super tolerant with Avilene!  However, if that was Hudson with the headband, the reaction may be different!  :)

Last Friday Reid was telling me a "long-winded story" and I jokingly asked him; "What is the point of your story?"  He said, "I don't know that part."  Haha!  Well today, Sophie was telling a story and Reid interrupted her.  She said, "Reido!  Let me finish my story!"  He looked at her and said, "But what is the point?"  LOL!!

Sophie - 2/13/2017

Sophie ate half of her breakfast; kix cereal and mixed fruit.  For lunch she ate two servings of ham sandwich, ate peas, and mandarin oranges.

When I fix Sophie's hair I always sit her on the changing table and it's just the right height to work on her hair.  Sometimes (usually) she's swiveling her head around like an owl so I'll ask her to look at whatever picture is on the calendar.  This month it's an elephant with her two babies.  I asked her what the elephant babies are called.  Not sure.  So I asked her if they were called a "joey."  Reid said, "No, that kangaroo."  I'll put that in your Blog Reid!  Then Sophie said, "Calves!!"  Good job Sophie! Yes, they are called calves.  She said, "Put flamingo in my Blog!!"  Haha!  Ok, here it is!!  Flamingo!

She was having the most long-winded story/conversation ever!  With herself.  It went on and on and on.  So stinking cute.  "...and my Dad said.....my Sister said I want Ariel......Mom said.....we watch Beauty and the Beast...eat dinner....get on jammies......watch Beauty and the Beast...."  I bet it was 5 minutes steady story before she wandered off to do something else.

This first picture cracks me up!  Hudson was wanting Sophie to hurry up and read the book to him.  Sophie, on the other hand, was in the middle of another long-winded story and "I'm not done with the Story Bubba!!"  Ha!!  In the 2nd picture I couldn't understand what she was saying when she had the blanket wrapped around her, but I did hear Reid say, "Her getting weird!"  Haha!  No she's not!!  :)  I think it had something to do with a princess!  And in the last picture she is trying to jam her head through the arm hole and that's always good for a laugh and a picture.  She was cooperating and waiting for me to take a picture.  Thank you Sophie!  She was being silly and saying, "Where are we, where are we?!?"

Sophie - 2/10/2017

Sophie ate several bites of brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate meat balls, most of flat bread, ate carrots, and two servings of apricots.

Sophie was being silly and sitting in the sink AGAIN!  Ha!  She said, "Gary, I'm in potty."  Oh I see. Well you can certainly use the real potty anytime you want!  :)  At the same time Hudson was playing with the legos and saying, "shoot shoot shoot."  Then he pointed it toward Sophie and said, "shoot shoot shoot."  (Sophie, of course, was in "Mommy Mode" prior to this.)  She giggled and said, "shooting Mommy."  :)

I thought this next picture was cute because Reid was keeping a close eye on Sophie's progress and he did help her a little because this particular puzzle is a bit difficult.  (He has a stool upside-down that he's sitting in.)  Reid came back out to the Play Room and was telling me a long convoluted story that had something to do with helping Sophie do puzzles.  In silliness, I asked him, "What's the primary point of this story?"  He replied, "I don't know that part."  LOL!

We did some play dough this morning and Sophie, Reid, and Hudson had lots of fun with it.  I told Hudson he was doing a good job (primarily NOT eating it) and Reid said, ""Bubba getting good cause he's watching me!!"  :)  There certainly is a LOT of truth in that Reid!  You are a good example to the little ones!!  Hey Momma Molly: you can tell I have these pictures in "proper sequence" by looking at Sophie's hair.  First 2 pictures; the hair clip she came to Daycare with.  Third picture; she has removed the hair clip and her hair is hanging loose.  Fourth picture; she has a new ponytail.  :)

Sophie - 2/8/2017

Sophie ate most of her breakfast; whole wheat bagel and peaches.  For lunch she ate ham, two servings of elbow noodles, ate corn, and two servings of applesauce.

Apparently I'd gotten distracted in the middle of one of Sophie's stories!  "Gary!! Listen to my story!" Oops sorry Sophie!  :)  Ok, I'm back and I'm focused!  "Soooo, when I jumped I landed on my butt and I ....."  :)  She really does say some cute things!  Yesterday afternoon I was working with Riley on some "shapes" that she's learning.  (parallelogram, hexagon, octagon)  Sophie was watching and offered Riley this advice, "Now think hard!"  LOL!!

Here are a couple more Sophie quotes from this morning.  She said, "Gary, I bumped my hip."  I don't know if I've ever heard a child say that!  Then she asked, "Will you snuggle me?"  Now I have heard that a few times!  :)  I would love to snuggle you Sweetie!!  Later I said, "Oh for the love of Momma!"  Sophie said, "For Pete!!"  Good memory Sophie!!

The kids played on the "sidewalk" we created, read books, sang songs, looked at pictures, did some sign language, and built "castles" with legos.

I'd just gotten Baby Nora up from her morning nap when I took this picture.  I sat her on the couch and Sophie came over with the sweetest look on her face.  She was totally ready to take care of the Baby!

Sophie - 2/7/2017

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

Here's what happens when Lauralea teaches at night and goes to work later in the day!!  Ponytails and Story Time and I get to take pictures.  Sweet!  I LOVE this picture of Lauralea fixing Sophie's hair! Why do I love this one so much?  I'm glad you asked!!  Because Lauralea is also singing to her and I was able to capture that as well!!  :)

Sophie was in heaven; songs and stories!  Life is good.  In one of the books she saw "muppets" and that surprised Lauralea when she said it.  Sophie added, "We have them in a movie."  Oh.  :)  When Hudson was crawling up on the couch for Story Time, he was struggling slightly and Sophie asked, "You got it Bubba?"  That was very sweet Sophie.  She was watching out for her sweet Bubba cousin!!  After Lauralea read a few books Sophie said, "More books!!"  Reid does this big exaggerated sigh: "How many are there!?!"  LOL!  One of the books had a butterfly in it and Reid said, "You gotta be a caterpillar to get one of those!!"  :)

I use some essential oil occasionally on my thumb joint when it's hurting and this morning I put some on.  Sophie said, "It smell like lipstick in here!"  LOL!  So cute.

Sophie - 2/6/2017

Sophie ate most of chex cereal and half of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pulled pork sandwich, drank tomato soup, and ate three servings of pickled beets.  At breakfast every morning I ask the same question; "What did you do last night?"  or "this past weekend?"  It's hilarious to hear some of the answers; Cooper and Reid both got tired of the question and started doing a standard answer and would repeat it everyday for weeks.  Sophie quickly learned that as well and now has said the same thing every day for at least 6 weeks;  Standard Answer; "Play with Sula."  This morning after Sophie answered, Hudson said, "my Sula."  A little disagreement ensued!!  Haha!  Later I was changing Hudson's diaper and I asked him the same question.  He said, "play Sula."  Sophie yelled from inside the igloo; "Sula my dog."

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were super busy all morning checking out everything.  We rarely do anything besides explore toys on the Monday after Toy Exchange.  I had the books for Story Time ready to go (Sophie had requested stories), but I was momentarily interrupted and the kids didn't even notice or want to continue.  And that is really unusual for Story Book Sophie!!  It's a rare day that she lets Story Time slip by!

Several times this morning Sophie tried to talk Hudson into putting on some dress-up clothes and she was using every angle she could think of.  (First two pictures.)  But Bubba stayed strong and never did put on clothes or shoes!  Ha!  She was saying things like; "Well I ask you ONE time Bubba!"..."I save them here!" and "Momma will help you soon Bubba!"....  :)  And in the third picture you can see Sophie is sitting on a huge pile of books.  "Look where I'm sitting Gary."

In the last picture Sophie is playing a game that she has learned from Kenzie and Riley.  They frequently build a door for the igloo entrance and then fill the inside of the igloo with stuffed animals.  Sophie had most of the door build from blocks, but asked for help.  Then she got inside and asked, "Gary, can you shut my door?"  Yup.  :)

Sophie - 2/1/2017

Sophie ate most of breakfast: whole wheat toast and blueberries.  For lunch she ate chicken, half of whole wheat elbow noodles, half of applesauce, and ate strawberries.

In this first picture Sophie and Hudson were playing with the slide - yelling, "my turn! my turn!" regardless of who's "turn" it was!  Ha!  Sophie knows that Bubba likes the slide so she flipped the green piece over (steps on the other side) and immediately laid on the blue part yelling, "my turn, my turn!"  (By the way, Bubba's hand is NOT raised because he wanted to ask a question!!  Ha!)  They know how to push each other's buttons big time!!  :)  (Cousins, but more like Daycare Siblings! Ha!)

Sophie was wanting to read "Goldilocks & Three Bears" to Bubba.  He wasn't too interested in just sitting - he'd just arrived from dental appointment - but Sophie continued to try to coax him back.  The things she was saying were SO cute!!  "Goldilocks Bubba!?!"  So he sat down momentarily and left.  She said, "I not read without you...are you done?"  He said, "I done" and briefly returned.  She shoved the book in his face and said, "Look at this!!"  He left.  "You HAVE to come back!  I'm gonna get frustrated!!"  (I think that had already happened!)  "Goldilocks Bubba..I'm gonna find your favorite part!!"  She was actually doing a good job of retelling him the story.

We did some dot painting and Sophie worked at it for quite awhile.  It's one of her favorite ways to paint or color.  Then we read lots of stories and she played with her babies.  When I took this picture she was saying, "My baby go to Gary's."  Ohhh...melted my heart!!  Good choice Sophie!  :)