Sophie - 4/28/2017

Sophie ate oatmeal - no dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of tilapia, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, a few green beans, and two servings of applesauce.  Sophie made an announcement at breakfast: "We have gummy bears at home!"  What for?  She said, "So we can eat them a LOT!!"  Haha!

Then she was talking about me bringing "Special Bunny" to her house.  She asked, "Why you ...... your back?!?"  What about my back?  I couldn't figure it out - sounded like "mange."  (skin disease in animals - Hahahaha!!)  I GOT IT!!  "Massage!"  Cracked me up!  I always feel so successful when I can figure it out!  She knew I'd got a massage that evening and wondered about it!

We all enjoyed having Lauralea hang around this morning and read books to the kids and fix Sophie's hair!!  (Lauralea taught a class until 8:30 last night so didn't have to go into work early.)  In this first picture Sophie and Avi are both focused on something (probably Bubba) across the room.  Sophie was pointing at the book and saying, "This is Gary, this is Lauralea, this is me, this is another Lauralea."  :)  In the 2nd picture Lauralea was preparing to leave and Sophie found a stalling technique - stick her foot up Lauralea's pant leg!  :)

We read books, sang songs, did some sign language (Sophie does awesome), and also some "shapes" that Reid wanted to do.  I took this last picture when Sophie was pushing Reid around and around in "his" chair.

Sophie - 4/25/2017

Sophie had bites of breakfast: whole wheat english muffin and dried plums.  For lunch she had bites of chicken with stir fry vegetables, brown rice, and mandarin oranges.  Right after Sophie arrived I was being silly and asked Sophie if Hudson was her uncle.  Sophie said, "No, Peter is my uncle."  So I asked; "What about Colin?"  She replied; "I love CoCo."  Isn't that the most precious!?  Awww.

Daddy Pat and Gary allowed Sophie to bring her "special bunny" into the play room only if she'd share it with the other kids.  And she certainly did; immediately.  I took this first picture after she handed it to Hudson and asked, "You wanna play with my special bunny?"  Then she took it to Nora (second picture) and asked her the same thing.  "You wanna play with my special bunny?"  Nora played with it this morning for 3.5 seconds.  Ha!

The Missoula Fire Equipment man was here today recharging the fire extinguishers.  Hudson and Sophie were watching him pack the extinguishers back into the house when I took this picture.  (I'll include this next line from Hudson's Blog:)  SO, if you hear Hudson chanting "fire fire fire" now you'll know why!!  He kept saying it this morning!  :)

We were reading books this morning and one book was "The Bear Went Over the Mountain."  I asked Sophie, "What did the bear see when he went over the mountain?"  With very little hesitation she said, "Other side of the mountain."  Whoa!  I'm impressed!  I've asked that question MANY times over lots of years and it's rarely answered by this age group.  I've never coached Sophie on that and I haven't asked that question since before Cooper left.  There have been times I've told the kids; "ok, lets sing this part again and see if you can hear the answer; "And all that he could see, and all that he could see was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain..."  This is obviously great cognitive development on her part.  (I can't wait to share this with Lauralea!  Ha!)

Sophie - 4/24/2017

Sophie ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she had a couple bites of burger from taco salad, ate bites of pita bread, bite or two of tomatoes, no olives, no salsa, ate two servings of avocado, and two servings of cantaloupe.

Kenzie and Riley are here this morning (no Reid) because of no school for elementary and middle schools.  In this first picture they were in the igloo watching a movie on a tablet and Sophie joined them for a few minutes before breakfast.

This picture of Sophie makes me grin because she looks all cute and innocent.  Well, she's definitely cute, but under the pillows that she's using is a stuffed animal that Bubba was playing with and she was 'hiding' it from him.  Ha!  So, not so innocent!!

Sophie spent a lot of time just watching other's run around this morning.  She just didn't have the energy to participate.  Poor sweetie.  She was grinning and was happy; not complaining.  She was chuckling because Riley and Kenzie were both saying, "Chase me Bubba, chase me Bubba."  And then they'd sprint away from him.  She and Hudson were sitting on the blocks and that was their "motorcycle."  We also read lots of books, sang silly songs, and did coloring and stamps at Art.

Sophie - 4/21/2017

Sophie ate bites of brown rice and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate at least one bite of salmon, bites of dinner roll, two servings of corn, and two servings of mangoes.  She arrived at breakfast time, sat down and started eating.  She asked, "Is Reido here!?!"  An answer bellowed from the Play room;  "NO!!"  What a fun and entertaining goof he is!

It really doesn't take too much to get the kids this age excited and engaged!  I swapped places with the igloo and the blue balance beam and Hudson was clapping and cheering like he'd won the lottery! They played like it was all brand new!  :)

We read lots of books at Story time, sang some songs, did some play dough at Art Time, and my lap stayed dry all morning!  Of course I managed to keep Sophie off my lap so that helped!  Haha!  Just kidding!  I'm a bit slow getting these Blogs done today and I just asked Sophie, "What shall I put in your Blog?"  She said, "My name."  Ok, got that!  Reid looked at the picture above and added a suggestion; "Put Hofie jumped on Avilene!"  See what I mean!?  He's a fun and entertaining goof!

Sophie - 4/20/2017

Sophie ate whole wheat english muffin and oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, tortilla bites, tasted the cabbage, ate corn on cob, and three servings of baked apple with cinnamon.

Yesterday afternoon Sophie was saying to Hudson; "Hi Gary."  Hudson, "I'm not Gary."  Sophie, "Are you Bubba?"  Hudson, "Yes."  Sophie, "Hi Gary."  And Sophie had this huge impish grin on her face. They repeated this many many times - I lost count!  Then this morning they resumed a similar game, except it was "Mommy" instead of "Gary."  And I heard Hudson initiate it at least once by going up to Sophie and saying, "I Mommy."

Sophie was working on Puzzles and Hudson was watching her through the big gate.  She was holding a puzzle piece of a bird and he pointed to exactly where it went.  She moved the puzzle, the pieces, and turned her back to block his view!  Ha!  No appreciation for your help Bubba!

I took this first picture when Reid and Sophie were doing "dot painting" quite aggressively.  They thought it was hilarious that it was jiggling the table and moving the other paint bottles.  The 2nd picture: It's not too often I can get a picture of all of them playing so closely together - without trying to stage a picture!  This was all about the 3 yellow buckets with the 3 different shapes.  As usual one or two were trying to fill the buckets and one or two were emptying the buckets.  And Nora was the amused spectator!

Lauralea fixed Sophie's hair and then read a couple books to the kids before she left for work.  Sophie went into the kitchen when Lauralea was rinsing a breakfast bowl.  Sophie said, "I watch."  Lauralea said, "I'm done."  Sophie said, "Awww...I missed it."  Haha!

Sophie - 4/19/2017

Sophie ate bites of french toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had a few bites of Paleo Stew - with burger, and at least 6 vegetables in it - broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, green beans, and tomatoes.  She ate crackers and tropical fruit.

This first picture was taken before breakfast when Sophie and Reid were having fun jumping and being wild on the mattress.  Avilene was right in the middle of it all even though she's not in the picture.  I always know they're working hard when they ask for water!

I saw Sophie lay her head on the table after eating strawberries and I felt like this probably depicted the feeling at breakfast the morning after Tax Day!  "Boy this tax season has been a long one!!"  (She is so stinking cute! Look at that smile!)  Tax season is hard for the entire family!  Congratulations to the Boyle families for finishing another season.  Not much to say about the following picture except that Reid joined Sophie when she was working on puzzles.

It was so pretty outside this morning and we played in the sunshine!  YES!!  While we were still inside Hudson asked, "Do art, do art?"  So I said we'd go outside and do sidewalk chalk and everyone was thrilled.  I think they each made 1 line and the over-achievers made 2 lines.  Ha!  We're done!!  They were off to more fun stuff!  Hudson and Sophie were pushing the ice cream carts down the sidewalk.  I was taking this last picture because I thought it was funny that Sophie was doing the work while the boys (especially Big Reido) sat in the wagon.  Just as I was about to take the picture Reid had a love surge and gave Bubba a big love.  So precious.  And I love Hudson's reaction.

Sophie - 4/17/2017

Sophie ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey burger, whole wheat bun, tomato, avocado, and two servings of cherries.  At lunch Hudson burped and said, "I burp." Sophie immediately reminded him to "say excuse me."  Thank you Sophie.

Sophie was super successful wearing her big girl underwear at Little Treasures.  (Both potty and poop.)  Well done Sophie.  She's totally made up her mind to be a big girl with that.  Good job working with her Mommy Molly and helping her move in that direction.

Sophie may frequently be bossy with Hudson, but she is also super sweet and protective of him!!  If anything happens she is right there to defend or protect him!  This morning he fell (I saw it happen and it was basically nothing and he didn't even whimper) and Sophie immediately asked, "Ate you alright Bubba!?"  He gets up and goes to her and she hugs him.  It was so cute and sweet.

I took this first picture less than 5 minutes after Avi arrived.  These three kids got on the couch and were ready for story time.  Sophie was more than happy to read to them.  She started singing "Twinkle Twinkle" and it was very cute.  We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were ready to check out the different books.

Sophie was wearing these dress-up shoes and the first thing she said when she put them on; "I'm going to softball tonight.  Then I come home and snuggle with Bubba."  :)  I don't know if you've been talking about "softball" at home, but Kenzie is all about softball right now and that's probably when it came from.  Sophie mentioned "softball tonight" probably 3 or 4 times today.  Then she was jumping with these shoes on and told Hudson; "Bubba, my shoes are tired!"  Ha!

Sophie - 4/14/2017

Sophie ate oatmeal and baked apples (with cinnamon) for breakfast.  She and Reid were raving about how yummy and wonderful the baked apples were!  (Which helped Hudson give them a try and he liked them too!)  Those apples even caused Reid to do some "dabbing."  For Lunch she ate most of her stew with hamburger, green beans, carrots, and red potatoes.  She also ate a biscuit and three servings of apricots.

What'd you do last night Sophie?  "Play with Sula."  Then she added, "My Sister scratch me."  On purpose or was it an accident?  She said, "A accident purpose."  Haha!  Reid said, "They probably fight over X-Box!  LOL!  That's what causes the most conflict with Reid and his brothers so he probably assumes it's that way in every house!!  :)

I sure enjoy observing and participating in Sophie's make-believe world and the scenarios she comes up with.  I was "Andy" for probably 20 - 30 minutes this morning so I started calling her "Molly."  Ha!  She said, "Gary...Uhhhmmm...Andy....what are you fixing for Lunch?"  Ha!  Good food Molly.  "Oh."  "What movie can we watch Andy?"  Wednesday afternoon she was on a bike and said, "I'll see you around Gary."  Haha!  Ok.  Where are you going?  "To the doctor."  She got off the bike at the gate and said, "Ok, doctor gonna fix my bike."  (a multi-purpose doctor for bikes and people)  "I'm gonna walk around."  ...2 minutes...  "Thank you doctor."

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  We read books, they played in block "hideout" that Kenzie and Riley built yesterday, they needed a water break from morning's jumping and rowdiness, and we did a decorative duct tape poster at Art Time; which we'll post on the wall.  (The "bacon" tape seemed to be a favorite!)

Sophie - 4/12/2017

Sophie ate half of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger with spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles, taste of squash, and two servings of fruit salad.  At lunch Reid said, "This kind of like spaghetti!!"  LOL!  Good!  We'll take that as a sideways compliment!

Sophie and Hudson were throwing stuffed animals off the mattress and Avi was pitching them back on the mattress as fast as she could.  And she was almost keeping up with them!  Ha!

Not too much to say about this first picture except it made me laugh when Nora dove between the other two kids.  Sure enough, there's room for everyone here!!  Before Lauralea left for work Sophie yelled at her; "Hey Lauralea!  You wanna come play with us!?!"  So Lauralea read a few books to the kids before she left.  Notice that Avilene is reading her own books.

Hudson wanted some help this morning and Sophie is always willing and eager to help him.  Thank you Sophie.  "Help me, help me," said Hudson.  Sophie said, "I will help you."  I consider that an important part of their social development - asking for help, receiving help, and giving help - and it pleases me to observe it happening!  It's also fun to watch Hudson joining Sophie on her make-believe camping trips and other adventures.  He understands language so well that he kind of gets what she's doing and he makes contributions as well.  :)

The kids had fun with the play dough at Art Time this morning.  This is homemade play dough and it's over 2 years old!  It's still in great shape, but it's about time for a new batch!  The kids use little rollers, plastic cookie cutters, pizza cutters, and knives, forks and spoons.

Sophie - 4/11/2017

Sophie had a couple bites of whole wheat bagel and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she may have had a bite of shrimp, ate flat bread, maybe a bite of stir fry vegetables, and ate most of mixed berries.

Hudson and Sophie were running back-n-forth across the room.  Sophie was getting down in a stance like a runner beginning a race and saying, "ready set go!!"  Then she said, "We're running away!!"  Haha!!  And off they'd go!!  Hudson said, "Knees and toes, knees and toes."  Haha!  We sing a song (and do the actions)  "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes...."  So him saying that phrase may have come from the song.

Sophie asked, "Do you wanna come to our Party!?"  Sure.  Hudson said, "I wanna come!"  Sophie told him, "Ok, and there's a potty there if you wanna go poop on the potty."  Haha!  Hmmm...I wonder what she's been thinking about!?  So I asked, "Are you gonna go poop on the potty?"  Sophie's answer was classic avoidance!!  "Hmm...I'm setting up the party!!"  Oh of course!  Silly me.

Here's a picture of Sophie giving Hudson his instructions for the day.  Earlier she'd told him, "Don't be sticking stuff in your mouth Bubba!!"  And while saying that she had several fingers stuck in her own mouth!  Ha!  She also told Lauralea that "The Dentist was so proud of me!!"

We did some Art today and I positioned Baby Nora so she could watch Sophie and Hudson do some coloring with the markers.  Sophie loves the role of being one of the "older" kids and being the "teacher."  Maybe too much sometimes!!  Ha!  "I'm in charge!!"

Sophie - 4/10/2017

Sophie ate bran cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bites of flat bread, and from the chicken salad: bite of olives, couple bites of red peppers, no tomato, bite of cucumbers, ate avocados...and two servings of pears.  I must have been having a flashback moment because at breakfast I was singing, "Come on people now, smile on your brother..."  (from the late 1960's)  Sophie said, "I don't have a brother!!"  Haha!  Oh man I laughed so hard!  Then Sophie said, "My Mommy was grouchy this morning!"  Do you know why?  "She wanted Nora to get dressed."  I said, "Nora should listen to Mommy."  Sophie said, "I'll tell my Dad."

Sophie was at the window and said, "I see a bunny!"  Sure enough the bunny was across the street (Briggs Street) and then it was running down the sidewalk!  It was moving pretty fast and I don't think anyone else spotted it before it darted into someone's yard and was gone.  It's been around since the middle of winter and I've seen it in our yard twice.

Sophie was "squealing" on Bubba about something this morning - actually several times, ha - and then she tattled on Nora!  "Nora pushed me!"  Haha!  That cracked me up!  Well I certainly hope you're ok Honey!!  You have to watch that Baby Nora - she'll crawl right up behind you and push!

Sophie was giving Hudson some instructions on how to do "jumping jacks."  "Here's how you do a jumping jack Bubba!"  So Hudson watched how it was done and then gave it a shot.  I thought he did pretty well, but Sophie said, "Not like that Bubba!!"  Here's a picture of Hudson jumping under the watchful eye of Cousin Sophie!!

Here are a couple more pictures from this morning.  She was reading books to Hudson and Reid joined them.  Then Sophie, Hudson, and Avi were spinning in circles with the doll blankets over their heads.

Sophie - 4/7/2017

Sophie ate some malt-o-meal cereal and ate two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a small little bit (ha) of everything: beef steak, brown rice, vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, red peppers), and pineapple.

When Sophie arrived one of the first things she told us was about - "Dumbo" her stuffed elephant.  So where is Dumbo and why didn't you bring him?  She said, "He's at home and he's sick."  Well who is taking care of Dumbo?  "Mommy is."  Reid was listening to this conversation and said, "Who the heck would do that!?!"  Not sure exactly what it meant, but the way he said it was hilarious!!

When I took this picture of Lauralea reading to the kids this morning I was trying to get all four of these kids with a finger in their mouth.  All of them were doing it, but they would never ALL do it at the same time, so I got 3 out of 4!  :)  The 2nd picture depicts Sophie in the middle of some dramatic play.  (I've mentioned it several times, but this reminds me so much of sister Nora!)  Sophie was saying, "I'm driving to my meeting.  I will be back soon Bubba....."

I've been changing Hudson's diaper on the floor because the height of the changing table is an issue for him right now.  Anyhow it's a challenge to position him in such a way that I can block the little ones, especially Baby Nora who immediately crawls over.  Nora was mad that she wasn't being successful and Sophie jumped right in to assist her without me even asking.  She was comforting Nora and Reid was trying to assist Hudson with some reassuring talk; "It's all done Bubba, it's all done..." They were both trying hard to be good helpers and on their own initiative !!

Sophie - 4/5/2017

Sophie ate french toast (with peanut butter) and maybe a bite of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had a bite of salmon patty, ate whole wheat bun, bravely tasted the squash, and had 2 servings of tropical fruit.  Reid made an important (Public Service?) announcement at Lunch Time:  "All of you in here, including Baby Nora, should NEVER try a Jalapeño chip!!"  It is awful!!  :)  Thank you Reid.

These first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  These 3 boys from down the street came to the window to watch the Daycare kids.  And of course they asked if they could come in!!  Ha!  Uhh...No. The 2nd picture is a traffic dilemma on the sidewalk.  I work hard at teaching them some "sidewalk etiquette" - ha - to "go around" each other and we actually have minimal conflicts on the sidewalk.  Now that the weather is nicer we are revisiting some outside rules.  :)  I also had to take a picture yesterday of Sophie sitting in the boss's chair.  :)

When Sophie walked in this morning she asked me, "Is Lauralea here?"  Yes.  So she yells; "LAURALEA!!!  I'M HERE!!"  I love that!  So Lauralea fixed Sophie's hair and read to the kids before she left.  Sophie was doing some more of her 'trying to talk to Colin on the phone.'  She said, "Hi Colin!"  Hudson said, "Hi Colin!"  (with his own phone)  Sophie said, "Colin NOT on your phone!"  Hudson said, "Colin on my phone!"  And on it went.  :)  Then in the last picture Sophie is trying to help Baby Nora see the animal pictures in the "binoculars."  We read books, sang songs, and practiced some sign language.  I'm always impressed with Sophie's memory.

Sophie - 4/4/2017

Sophie ate a few bites of whole wheat english muffin and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop, whole wheat toast, bite of a couple roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes yes, turnips no, brussel sprouts no, beets no, red potatoes yes), and ate applesauce.  At breakfast Hudson said, "Where'd my helmet go?"  (I assumed he was remembering the one on his cubby from Sophie)  Sophie said, "I haven't seen your helmet."  Then she added, "I have a new bike."  Hudson said, "I have a new bike."  Sophie, "I have a new bike."  Hudson, "I have a new bike."  Ok, you get the idea!  Sophie wanted him to NOT copy what she was saying so she said, "Don't say my word; say your word!"  Isn't that cute?!

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and here's what the greeting committee looked like  when Nora awoke from her nap.  They love going in the rooms when the babies wake up.  Avi always wants to stop in Nora's room after she awakes from her own nap.  Also a note from snack yesterday: We were having scrambled eggs and bagel and I asked Sophie if she liked scrambled eggs.  She said, "No, I like chex mix."  LOL!!  Oh man I roared!!

Here are a couple pictures from this morning with Sophie in the Lion Suit.  She was chasing Hudson around and around the chair and they were having so much fun.  Notice that Hudson is carrying the leopard suit; he prefers that to actually putting it over his head.  Ha!!  And in the last picture Nora was cracking up!  I've had kids this age be super frightened, but it sure didn't bother her at all.  (If the suits and masks scare someone I'll just remove those toys for awhile.)  One more note about Sophie this morning: She had one of the Flip Phones and said, "Texting my Dad."  I think that's actually the first time I've heard that phrase at Little Treasures!  Congratulations Sophie!  Ha!  Then she was "texting Colin" and "then I calling him."  She was getting frustrated that these stinking phones were not really working.  It was hard not to laugh!!  She said, "Colin NOT working on my phone!  And I gotta talk to Maddy for a second!  Maddy NOT on my phone either!  I NEED to talk to her!!"  So I "talked" to them and passed the word on to Sophie that they were super busy and would call later.  That satisfied her.  :)

Sophie - 4/3/2017

Sophie ate corn chex cereal and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  At breakfast Hudson burped and said, "I burp!"  Sophie said, "Excuse me Bubba!"  Thank you Sophie for trying to bring some culture to this place!  Ha!  For lunch she ate hamburger with hamburger bun, (no lettuce, tomato, mushrooms on the side) ate two servings of avocado, and two servings of oranges.  Just a head's up for everyone.  Baby Nora turned 1 on Saturday so I'm doing 5 Blogs now!  It probably won't change the time too much when they get posted, but just so you all know!

Sophie noticed the different picture on the Calendar and asked, "Why'd you change that?"  I told her it is a new month and she asked, "What is that?"  That's a baby wolf and it's called the same thing as a baby dog.  What do you call a baby dog?  Sophie said, "I like Panda bears."  LOL!!  I roared!  That is a typical Toddler response!  Actually she's quite knowledgeable about animals.  She answered correctly baby animal names for dogs, cats, kangaroos, and bears.  Also this morning she identified all the animals in the viewfinders in this toy set; fox, bears, eagle, skunk, raccoon, and more.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and of course Sophie went directly to the new books.  I Love that!  She also was wearing the lion suit and this 1st picture shows the kids waving bye to Avi's Dad this morning.  While Sophie was looking out the window she saw the neighbor's motor home and said, "We have a camper!"  :)  She later spotted a bird and yelled for Hudson; "Hey Bubba! See the crow in the yard!"

Sophie was wearing one the animal suits and was trying to talk Hudson into putting on the lion suit - or more accurately, let her put the lion suit on him!  She said, "Do you wanna be a lion Bubba!?!  Do you want me to put it on your head!?!"  He agreed to let her put it on him and he wore it for a few short minutes.