Sophie - 6/20/2017

Sophie ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and most of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate no chicken with stir fry vegetables.  She had bites of brown rice even though she said she didn't like that either.  Then she ate lots of oranges.

Here are samples of Sophie conversations this morning!  "Gary! Someone is poopy!!"  Who is it Sophie?  "Uhhh....Bubba, I'm gonna sniff your butt!"  Haha!  Thanks Sophie, now I don't have too!! "Bubba's poopy!!"  "Gary, I made a messy thing."  What's a messy thing?  "It's for my daughter....Bubba...he's my daughter." (Oh. That did not answer my question. Ha!)  "Gary, I'm not a baby anymore.  I was a baby and you fed me the bottle.  I'm a big girl and I'm going to Pre-school. And you are sad I'm a big girl."  Haha!  Well, I'm very thankful you are becoming a big girl and I'm trying hard to not be too sad!!  "Gary, my Sister is 5."  Yes, Nora is 5 now, soon to be 6, and she is a big girl!!  Sophie said, "And bossy!"  LOL!!  Hmmm...speaking of being bossy.  Do you ever boss Bubba around?  Sophie giggles.  :)

Sophie was tickling Nora when I took this picture and Nora was giggling and laughing loud!  It was so cute!  Sophie had basically pursued Nora across the mattress and continued to tickle her.  Hudson was watching and of course wanted to get in on the tickling, but Sophie was guarding (see the next picture) Nora and a serious argument ensued about who could tickle Nora! Ha!  (Intervention was necessary and successful.)

This last picture should probably be up at the top - this was the "messy thing" that Sophie was making for her "daughter Bubba!!"  It didn't look very "messy" to me; I thought she'd done a fine job with it!  Haha!!

Sophie - 6/19/2017

Sophie ate half of her cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch we had taco salad and I serve it separately rather than all mixed together: She ate ground beef, pita bread, most of tomatoes (no lettuce, no olives) and ate three servings of cantaloupe.

Almost all morning Atley was humming, singing, making sounds - sometimes building to quite the loud crescendo!!  :)  So cute.  I love it.  Sophie said, "She's singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  And it probably was that song!  So Sophie started singing it as well and Hudson joined in!

In the first picture all 5 kids were playing on the mattress and having lots of fun bouncing and jumping.  In the 2nd picture Hudson was tucking in Sophie - she kept calling him "Mommy" and then she said, "You forgot my lovey!!"  He seemed to know exactly which stuffed animal she wanted - the sheep.  Then he said, "I'm gonna tuck you in."  In the 3rd picture Sophie was tickling Avi with "Lovey" and I suggested she give Avi a turn and so she was handing it off!  Thanks Sophie.

I took this picture when I told the kids I was getting some books for Story Time!  Isn't that the coolest thing?  When I turned around this is the picture I saw - so I got the camera!  They are all sitting (got up there and got ready on their own initiative) and ready for it to start.

Sophie - 6/15/2017

Sophie ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and no oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, most of her peas, and two servings of applesauce.

There will not be any Blogs tomorrow, June 16th.  Little Treasures is closing for the afternoon so Lauralea and I can attend a Memorial service for the precious daughter of some dear friends of ours.  Thank you so much to all my Daycare Families for making it possible for us to attend the funeral and support this family.

For the first time this week all 6 six kids are here today!  It was a busy place this morning, but we had lots of fun!!  Here's a picture of the kids playing on the mattress and blue balance beam.  Hudson is a bit blurry in the background, as he was just coming in for a landing!!  :)  Sophie asked, "Hey Bubba! You wanna do 'how-a-bunga' with me?"  (I thought she said "cow," but she informed me it's "how.")  So Hudson immediately started chanting, "How-a-bunga, how-a-bunga, how-a-bunga...."  "NOOO!! Not like that!" Sophie yelled.  She hadn't described the specific instructions on how the game was to be played, but apparently he wasn't doing it right!!  :)

Sophie had been telling Hudson a story and the only part I heard was this; "I called him Stevie and that's funny!"  So I'm assuming that is Grandpa Steve.  :)  In the picture below Sophie was upset with Hudson because he wasn't doing whatever she wanted him to do.  She said, "You're not listening Bubba!  Go somewhere else and sing that!"  Ha!  Wow!  That's a bit harsh.  So I told her that Hudson liked singing his own songs too as well as singing with her.  :)

I think the kids were looking at some birds when I took the last picture.  I was intent on taking a picture and I never did see what they were looking at.  This picture gives you a good perspective of a big 4 year old!!  (Reid will be 5 in late September.)  NBC news recently ran a piece on how a study showed that kids who drink only Almond Milk (along with rice milk, soy milk, and maybe more) are on the average 1- 2 inches shorter than others the same age.  I think Reid may be an exception to that study!!  Haha!  He's drank almond milk almost his entire life!!

Sophie - 6/14/2017

Sophie had bites of french bread and no strawberries for breakfast.  Our lunch was cooking in a crock pot and Sophie said, "Hey Gary, it smells in here; like soup."  Does that soup smell good?  She said, "No."  Haha!  At least she ate a few small bites!  For lunch she had a few bites of Paleo Stew with ground burger, potatoes, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli - she ate crackers, and two servings of tropical fruit.

Hey, I was able to get all 4 kids that are here today in one picture!  :)  Nora was squealing and excited to have everyone close by.  Nora was thumping Atley and Sophie and so I was saying, "gentle touches" and showing her what a gentle touch looks and feels like.  Atley just seemed amused by it all.  Ha!  Sometimes the kids aren't very helpful when I'm doing a teaching moment like that!!  For example, Nora had also tugged on Sophie's hair on the way by.  So I was doing the "gentle touches" thing again!  Sophie said, "I like her pulling on my hair!"  Haha!  Well I don't and it's not helpful for you to say that!  :)

We got the tunnels out and the kids had fun crawling through!  Nora watched and crawled along the outside of the tunnel for a while.  She eventually went inside and I took the picture when she was first going in with encouragement from Sophie!  Thanks Sophie!!

Sophie was wearing the bumblebee jacket and cowgirl boots and standing in front of the mirror talking.  Who are you talking to?  She said, "Mom.  And she's a real Mom."  Then Sophie turned back to the mirror and continued to talk;  "Mom, can I sleep with my boots and jacket on?"  Ha!  So cute. It's so fun and fascinating when you can listen to their imaginative play!!

Sophie - 6/12/2017

Sophie ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground turkey, some hamburger bun, no lettuce, maybe a bite of tomatoes, ate avocado, and a few cherries.

We were having Story Time this morning and reading "Barnyard Dance."  Two of the lines go like this;  "Bow to the horse, bow to the cow...."  Sophie gets off the couch and does the cutest and most perfect bow!  Then Avi gets off the couch and tries to mimic her!  SO CUTE!!  What followed was also cute - Avi was being silly and started trying to tip her head backwards instead of bowing forward.  What a goof!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Sophie was very busy all morning with the new stuff.  She started with the food toys (in the first picture), then dress-up clothes (wore some cowgirl boots to breakfast), then on to the puzzles (in the 2nd picture).  I've mentioned this recently, but Sophie spends lots of time here with the puzzles.  I think she did every one of the puzzles this morning.  Baby Nora was standing and hanging onto the gate watching Sophie do puzzles. Sophie got excited and acted like it was the first time she'd actually seen Nora stand up! "Nora's standing up!!"

Sophie said, "Hey Gary!!  I'm wearing Baby Jammies!!"  So here's a picture of her in her "baby jammies."  Actually it's a "cow suit."  (There is an animal theme in this toy set - mostly barnyard animals.)  I was most impressed because she's gotten the cow suit on all by herself!  And it's pretty snug and wasn't that easy for her!!

Sophie - 6/9/2017

Sophie ate bites of oatmeal and I didn't see her have any baked apples with cinnamon for breakfast. For lunch she ate the meat from the hamburger stew; "I like the meat."  She ate several bites of dinner roll, no vegetables from the stew (carrots, green beans, potatoes, brussel sprouts), and ate two servings of apricots.

She was reading several books this morning in the chair and I love listening to her sing the songs as well.  This picture was "Pooh and Tigger touch the ground, Pooh and Tigger turn around...."  We also read lots of stories and she watched Reid jump and chant; "I believe I can fly!"  Ha!

Here are some pictures from our outside time.  She yelled, "Here's a dandelion Gary!!"  Love these little helpers!  We quickly find and dispose of all dandelions in the back yard!  :)  Then in the following picture the kids loved the chance to see Bode on his way home from school.  (Last day of school before summer break and they got out early.)  Bode is such a sweet and gentle boy and all the little kids love him.  He was answering all of Hudson's questions about "what's that? what's that? what's that?"  The kids also played on the geo-climber.

Sophie - 6/8/2017

Sophie ate half of toasted rye bread and two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork sandwich, ate peas, and two servings of cantaloupe.  At breakfast Reid was requesting a different color plate for Lunch time;  "Can you remember at Lunch Time cause all my life I like blue; and get Sophie green plate."  Haha!  Sophie said, "I don't like green, I like purple."  Which Reid already knows!  (And I have purple plates so everybody is a happy camper!!)  Silly Reid!

Sophie was reading the "Frozen" book and talking to Hudson about it.  He's obviously not in the picture, but he was sitting on the window step close enough to see the book.  And Bubba was the "Momma" at this point!  "So Mom, I'll just keep reading....."

We went outside and I took a picture of these 4 kids single-filing up and down the sidewalk.  Two dump trucks, one ice-cream cart, and Atley just out for the stroll.  :)  Then Sophie and Hudson were on the geo-climber and Sophie pointed at Bubba and said, "This my sister right her," then points to self and said, "I'm the brother!"  Hudson just looked at her as if to say, "Huh?  Ok, whatever."  :)  Sometimes the "Mom," sometimes the "Baby," and now the "sister."  It's hard to keep up!!

Sophie - 6/7/2017

Sophie ate most of her whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate some of her hamburger with spaghetti sauce, ate whole wheat spaghetti noodles, no squash, and ate two servings of fruit salad.

Lauralea covered for me this morning while I went to a Doctor appointment.  (Just dealing with a foot issue, nothing serious.)  So these notes and pictures are from activities prior to 10:30.  Sophie was hanging out with Lauralea in the kitchen and asked Lauralea what we were having for lunch: Lauralea told her spaghetti, but nothing else.  Sophie totally remembered what goes with that meal! That's a good memory considering we've changed up the menus in the past few months!!  She told Lauralea, "WE don't like that Baby Food stuff!"  LOL!!  2 Observations: 1.) I like the "we" thing.  I'm speaking for the group!!  Haha!!  2.)  That suggests to me that the dislike for squash may be more of a texture thing than taste!  Sophie also enlightened Lauralea that "We don't say butt."  Lauralea asked, "What do we say instead?"  Sophie said, "Just nice things."  Haha!!

This note is from Baby Nora's Blog, but Sophie was getting such a kick out of watching her!  We're all at the window waving and after Sophie's Mom drove off one of the neighbor's strolled past walking his dog.  Oh man, Nora almost lost her mind!  Haha!  Her whole body started quivering, arms flailing, squealing, and yelling, "Baby Baby, Baby."  LOL!!  Sophie was standing there staring at Nora's reaction and she started laughing hard!  :)

Hudson and Sophie were giving their babies rides down the slide!  In the last picture Sophie is doing the Alphabet puzzle and she said, "This is my favorite puzzle."

Sophie - 6/6/2017

Sophie ate bites of whole wheat bagel for breakfast.  She did not eat much Lunch: she didn't want to try the shrimp, brown rice, or stir fry vegetables.  She did eat lots of mixed berries.  This particular blend is from Costco and has some pomegranate seeds in them.  Sophie said, "I don't like the nuts in my berries!!"  I thought maybe they were too crunchy, but Baby Nora was handling them just fine! :)

Sophie was telling me the cutest story and she made it sound like some cat just happened to end up in your house!  "There was a white cat in the play room."  A white cat?  Did you get a new cat?  "No; maybe it's the neighbors."  Haha!  Ok.  However, she seemed to know the name of the cat (she said it is "O'Mally") so that means you all gave it a name or you know the owner!  Haha!

Sophie was asking Hudson if he wanted to play some game and she said, "Hey Bubba!  Remember when you were the Mommy?  Do you want to play that game?"  From my perspective the games are basically the same whether she's the "Mommy" or the "child."  Either way, Sophie is the one gives the orders and making up the rules as they go!!  :)

I took this picture of her when she tossed her doll on the couch and it just kind of stuck there!  Ha!!  We also read books and did some coloring at Art Time.  This next piece has absolutely nothing to do with Sophie, but it took quite of bit of time this morning!!  Ha!  It was kind of a crazy and busy morning for about an hour - and here are the stinky details.  All 4 of my "diaper" kids were basically poopy at the same time!!  Hudson was leaving a "trail" of evidence behind so it wasn't hard to determine who was going to get cleaned first!! Seriously!  Little pieces across the floor!  Maybe that's too graphic, but that's how it was!  Ha!  Geez, what a mess!!  Yup, that's occasionally what life is like at Little Treasures!!  He got a nice warm soapy bath in the utility sink!

Sophie - 6/5/2017

Sophie ate some bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch we had chicken salad - I serve the ingredients separately rather than mix it all together.  She ate chicken, pita bread, not lettuce/spinach or olives, ate all of her peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and she ate two servings of pears.

I was getting books for Story Time and then I was looking for my pillows.  I hadn't said anything, I was just looking!  Sophie saw that and immediately pointed to my pillow!  Haha!  Thank you Sophie!  Naturally intuitive!  In this first picture She was just relaxed and having fun in the chair while Hudson and Avilene pushed her.  In the 2nd picture She was using the pillow as her backpack and was going on a trip with Hudson to the Airport.

If this isn't just the cutest picture!!........??  Geez!!  It was mostly because of what she was saying!!  "Gary, watch me!!  This is my pose!!"  ........  "Bubba, you do the "pose" like this for Dance."  And she was totally serious about it all.  Look at her face; focused.  :)

I like this picture of Baby Nora watching what Sophie is doing with the little people and the school bus.  "What are you doing here Sophie?"  Sophie is very sweet with Nora - she went over to greet Nora first this morning before she greeted anyone else!

Sophie - 6/2/2017

Sophie had bites of malt-o-meal cereal and ate lots of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she had bite of baked beef "kabobs," bite of brown rice, bite of zucchini and peppers, and ate pineapple.

Here's a note from Hudson's Blog:  Hudson kept asking EVERYONE this morning; "Is Sophie coming, is Sophie coming, is Sophie coming?"  Sophie eventually did arrive, but she was last.  He asked Lauralea, Molly (Avi's Mom),  Emily (Nora's Mom), all the other kids, and me.  Haha!  Then he was being silly calling me "Pat." "Hey Gary! You're Pat!"  Ok Bubba then you're Colin.  "Nooooo...Hey Gary!  Can you read!?!?"  Yes I keep telling you I learned to read many years ago and I love to read!!  :)  "Hey Gary!  Is Sophie coming!?!?"  Ha!  The boy is a talking machine!

As soon as Sophie did arrive she made a major announcement!  "Hey everybody!!  Tonight is movie night everybody!!  Then while I was setting up breakfast Reid said, "Hey Gary!  Apparently Bubba was hitting Sophie and Sophie doesn't want to play with him.  That is just rude!"  So I tried not to laugh and asked the 4 year old; Who is rude?  "Sophie."  I didn't think Sophie had heard that, but after breakfast she said, "I not rude anymore."  :)  Oh good.

In the first picture Sophie and Hudson were singing, "Ring around the Rosy."  In the last picture Sophie was dressed up and reading her books.  Right after I took the picture she took off her headband and said, "too itchy!!"  We also played outside and the kids had lots of fun and really weren't ready to come inside for lunch time.

Sophie - 6/1/2017

Sophie ate waffle and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of shepard's pie which has hamburger, green beans, potatoes, and carrots.  She also ate toasted rye bread and ate cherries. Sophie started coughing at breakfast and Reid admonished her - "Don't choke!!"  (Like it was a choice she was making!)  :)

Here's a picture of the kids waving bye to one of the parents.  The new girl Atley is on the left, then it's Avi, Sophie, and Bubba.  Atley did so well this morning and she is going to be a great fit at Little Treasures!  She has a mild temperament and that works well for starting in a new place at her age!! Sophie was making sure I was taking proper care of Atley!  At breakfast she was quizzing me; "Hey Gary!  Does Atley have a cup?"  Reid answered for me; "Well yeah!!"  Sophie wasn't done; "Does Atley have a bib?"  Again Reid jumped in with a comment!  "When a new kid come you always forget to have a bib!!"  Haha!  What a goof!

I had an important phone call to make so Lauralea covered for me between 9:30 - 10:00.  She read books to the kids and when I started to take this picture Lauralea said, "My hair's a mess."  Sophie was looking back to see the mess.  Ha!  (Sophie didn't say anything and it doesn't look like a mess to me either!)

These last two pictures are Sophie and Reid "fanning" each other with the pillows!  When Sophie wanted Reid to do it again she said, "I need some air again!"  Haha!  So Reid said he wanted a turn and sat down while Sophie started fanning him.  Except she was way too far back and he told her to get closer.  Hudson started swinging a pillow and Reid was keeping a close eye on him.  (Which shows good common sense!  Haha!)