Sophie - 7/31/2017

Sophie ate whole grain chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger on bun, no lettuce or tomato, ate avocado, and oranges.

This first note is actually leftover from Friday, but I want to post it anyhow because it was pretty cute. Baby Nora was kind of slapping Sophie and I told her to use "gentle touches."  Sophie said, "Well, she's hitting me and I like it."  Ha!  Hmmm....that is not helpful Sophie!!  :)  And of course I told Sophie that she could help teach Nora to use gentle touches too.

When Sophie arrived today I told her she looked much older and she immediately informed me that as a 3 year old she was now ready to jump off the igloo!  Ok, fine with me!  So I helped her ONE time and that was all!  I scooted the igloo over to the mattress so she could easily jump on it and it also allowed her to be able to get onto the top of the igloo by herself.  (Which is part of the deal - you want to jump off there - you have to get up there!)  So here are some pictures of the BIG DAY!!  She did this over and over!!  So cute!  Hudson and Avilene thought they were now ready too!  Ha!  I told them they would both have to jump off the blue balance beam first!  ha!

 

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange and Sophie loved the new dolls I got.  (They really are new and not just toy exchange.  Ha!)  And of course she had to try on the dress-up clothes too.  We also played outside and they chased bubbles.

Sophie - 7/28/2017

Sophie ate some oatmeal and ate dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of tilapia, ate whole wheat elbow noodles, two servings of green beans, and ate applesauce.  She's always keeping an eye on everyone for me!  Constantly on the alert for violators!!  Haha!!  "Gary! Nora is spitting her milk!!"  I actually appreciate it!  We've had many "little monitors" over the years!  Later she yelled, "Gary!  Bubba is hitting Avi!!"  Thank you Sophie!!

Reid and Sophie were doing some puzzles and Reid has been enjoying them in this toy exchange because there are lots of fish puzzles and He's the resident "Fish Expert."  I could hear him telling Sophie, "These (pointing to some in the puzzle) fish are SO rare!  Rarest fish in the world!"  Haha!

These next 2 pictures are bowls of "Chicken Soup" that Sophie was passing out to the kids.  "Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup!!"  Hudson's chicken soup had walrus in it and Avi's chicken soup had octopus in it!!  :)  Everyone acted like that was totally normal - and now that I think about it - anything unusual is pretty much the norm for Little Treasures!!

 

Reid was so ready to go outside (and the others will frequently take up the chant on his behalf - haha!!) and as soon as we were ready it started to rain.  So we watched it rain from the window inside!  And it poured hard for several minutes - enough that we listened to it hitting the metal roof.  We read books, sang some songs and looked at the Bear Cam in Katmai Park Alaska.  Sophie was pretty mesmerized by the web cam - we listened to the water in the river, going over the falls, saw LOTS of fish jumping, and the bears catching and eating the fish.

Sophie - 7/26/2017

Sophie ate whole wheat toast and lots of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of pork roast, bite of whole grain tortilla, bite of vegetable (potatoes and carrots, not brussel sprouts), and ate 2 servings of fruit salad.

When Sophie saw Hudson she asked, "Are you back from Denver with your Grandma?"  So cute!! What is his Grandma's name?  She said, "Tutu."  Good job Sophie.  Sophie was glad to see Bubba and he immediately joined her in some dramatic play.  She definitely missed that when he was gone.  She loves her dramatic play and Hudson is such a willing participant!  In the first picture he was taking her combs and she said, "Thank you Momma."  She said, "You wanna go to the park with me?"  He said, "Bonner Park?"  So they went to the park and she was pretending to be in a swing.  "You wanna push me?"  He said, "Swing."  He totally gets what she's wanting to do and he frequently adds his perspective as well.  Very cute.

We played outside for a long time this morning and the kids had fun with the toys, the climbers, searching for apples for Reid to pitch back over the fence, and doing some sidewalk chalk.  In the next picture Sophie, Hudson, and Avilene were mowing the lawn.  In the last picture Sophie is making some marks on the sidewalk with some chalk.  Sophie and Reid did a nice job showing the "little ones" how to appropriately use the sidewalk chalk.  Of course that didn't stop a couple of them from trying to make marks in the dirt.  :)

Sophie - 7/25/2017

Sophie ate half of breakfast: whole wheat english muffin and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken, brown rice, stir fry vegetables, and ate lots of oranges.

This first picture is from yesterday afternoon and it's already in the top 10 cutest pictures ever taken at Little Treasures.  (I'm the lone judge of this ongoing contest and I make up the rules as I go!)  I could see she was doing something cute with her eyes and she said, "I'm gonna keep an eye on the kids until my Mom and Dad come!"  Haha!  And that's a great example of how young children translate everything literally!!  Dang, that's a cute picture!!  Ha!!

Lauralea's sister (Julie) is here for a couple of days and Lauralea took time this morning to sing to the kids and bounce them on her knee.  Sophie requested her usual Lauralea song; "Oh here we go to Boston, to Boston, to Boston....."  Sophie, along with Avi, were also having fun showing off for Julie!

Here are a couple more pictures from this morning's activities.  Sophie wrapped this pillow around her to use as her "backpack" and said, "Get my backpack; I'm going to the airport by myself."  (I'm not sure how inviting Avi to go with her fit that scenario, but whatever....)  Then when we went outside Sophie announced, "Hey guys, this is a playground!"  Haha!  In the last picture I think the conversation sounded like this: "No, it's my turn to sit in the chair.  You had a turn."  :)  Nora's reply; "And what's your point?"

Sophie - 7/24/2017

Sophie ate some bites of breakfast: cheerios and banana.  For lunch she ate some hamburger from taco salad; no lettuce, tomatoes, or olives.  She gladly donated the olives to "Reido" to hold off his starvation!  She ate no whole wheat pita bread, but ate lots of cantaloupe.

When Sophie arrives every morning she greets Nora with the sweetest touches and words.  She loves her Baby Nora.  (Look how adoringly she's looking at Nora!)  Then that's pretty much it for the rest of the morning - however, Sophie still has her ear tuned into Nora and responds immediately if Nora needs something!  (Which basically helps reinforce the "I scream, you fix it!" behavior.  Haha!)

This has always been one of my favorite sights in the mornings at Little Treasures!!  I remember many times when Lauralea was doing this for 6 - 8 girls every morning!  (Feeling a bit nostalgic, but I'm gonna miss me some Sophie when the summer is over!!)  I'm not sure who enjoyed this moment the most today - Lauralea, Sophie, or me!

We had a fun morning and Sophie played with some dress-up clothes, pretending to nap, having her babies take naps, etc.  She's such a good example for the little people how to use the toys and create every imaginable scenario!!  In the next picture Baby Nora is watching closely as Sophie is getting dressed up!!  We also chased bubbles outside and here's a picture of her and Reid reacting to the same bubble.  Reid said, "Hey Gary! Did you know you can actually use bubbles for sunscreen?  The sun will not burn you!?  (As he's smearing bubble water on his arm!  Probably washing off the real sunscreen!  Haha!)

Sophie - 7/21/2017

Sophie ate whole wheat english muffin and lots of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and lots of applesauce.

We were all at the window ready to wave bye at Grandpa John, Kim, and Nora.  Kim and Nora saw us and were waving, but they never stopped and Reid said, "Well they just went right past - like - ok, that it!! Bye!!"  Haha!

We were watching some workers across the street at Big Willy's house removing his front hedge and I verbalized what they were doing.  Sophie asked, "Is he gonna be frustrated?"  Haha!  Like Willy didn't know they were out there doing that!  That reminded me of last year when some workers removed a tree in his front yard and Reid said essentially the same thing!  "Big Willy gonna be unhappy when he come outside!!"  Ha!

It is so nice to have Sophie here today!!  Been missing her a lot!!  :)  The dress-up clothes rarely get used unless she's here and it was fun to see her using them this morning.  Avi decided to join her today, but was using a more unconventional approach!!  But she was very intentional in being silly and covering her head!!  Sophie seemed to be greatly amused by Avi's silliness!

We don't have Art Time that often in the summer months - it's just too nice outside in the mornings to stay inside!!  But they were excited to do art today and we did "golf ball" art. Then we went outside and Sophie played on the geo-climber.  She said, "Look at me Gary.  I made it through the top."  She also pulled Nora in the wagon.

Sophie - 7/6/2017

Sophie ate waffles and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she had a couple bites of shepard's pie: hamburger, potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  (Thank you for giving it a good try Sophie.)  She ate toasted rye bread, and lots of cherries.

All 6 children are here today so it's been a busy morning.  (During the summer Reid will be here on Thursdays and Fridays.)  Baby Nora was not here yesterday so everyone was happy to see her!  As you can see in the first picture Sophie and Hudson were vying for her attention!  Sophie said, "I'm tickling her!"  Reid said, "It's not working."  Haha!

Lauralea stopped by here about 10:30 and the kids went to the window to wave bye to her.  Sophie was slapping at the window and Lauralea would pretend to stumble backwards.  They (especially Sophie) were laughing SO hard.  It was pretty cute.  Lauralea was working her way back-n-forth to each one at the window.

Here's a picture of the kids (except Hudson - doing his own thing beside me) playing on the patio.  They tipped over the ball barrel to get all the balls out.  Reid looks a bit large beside this group, right!?  Geez!!  Well, he is a big kid.  He'll be 5 in late September and I told Lauralea he'll be the only 5ft 5year old in preschool!!  Ha! He's 4 years old and almost 4ft 2in.

Sophie - 7/5/2017

The funnest part about coming home from vacation is always the greeting from the Daycare children!!  So many loves and everyone is happy to be back into their routines!  We had an awesome vacation and I thank everyone again for allowing this to happen!  We made it to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, saw some old friends, went on many walks, and did lots of reading!!  Here's a picture of the sign entering NT.

A couple of cute things Sophie said this morning:  Talking to Avilene, I asked, "Avi, did you fly on an airplane?"  Sophie immediately answered!  "She did.  My Mommy talk about it."  LOL!!  Then at breakfast Sophie was very excited when she saw that she and Avi had the same shoes - Pink Crocs.  She said, "We're matching Gary, we're matching!!"  Turning to Bubba she added; "Is that amazing Bubba!?!?"  :)  He wasn't convinced!!  And one more Sophie quote: "Atley's poopy Gary; check her diaper."  Ha!  (Ok, thank you and I'll get right on it!!)

Here are a couple pictures from this morning's activities.  Sophie was looking at herself in the mirror and I think (judging from the grin) she approves of her choice of dress-up cloths.  Nothing like cowgirl boots and a bumblebee jacket!!  In the following picture she was playing on the geo-climber first thing when we went outside.

The kids are picking up little apples that drop off the neighbor's tree in this picture.  They think it's lots of fun!  I never like it much because I always worry how much those fallen apples attract the bees!  So I have a standing agreement with the neighbor that I can trim back the branches that hang over our yard so the apples only fall in his yard!  So that's one chore I need to get after this week!