Mia ate english muffin and blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken and crackers, sweet potatoes, and two servings of canned cherries.

Here is a picture of Mia first thing this morning wearing one of the dress-up robes.  :)  In the background you can see Thomas in the igloo and Riley on the chair.

Here's a picture of Nora and Mia having fun banging their feet against the changing table.  You can see Mia's feet are in mid-air.  They were quite amused with themselves.  :)

Yesterday afternoon and this morning Nora and Mia spent lots of time playing with the swivel-rocker in the back room.  This is really the first time Nora has enjoyed being in the chair.  She was laughing during the ride and Mia was pushing as fast as her little legs could go.  For at least 20 minutes each time.  Then when Mia would stop Nora would tap the arm of the chair and signal "Let's Go!!"

RaeAhnna was at the window waving bye and yelled, "Bye Robin!"  So Mia joined her and was yelling, "Bye Wa-bin, Bye Wa-bin!!"  :)  Then Mia was covering Rae with a blanket and saying-singing, "Good-a-night baby, good-a-night baby.."

Mia ate a biscuit and three servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked beans, dinner roll, peas, and two servings of pineapple.

This picture was taken yesterday afternoon when we came inside because of the rain.  We'd made this "cubby" for them to walk into and then the side closed-up.  They were taking turns and then peering over the edge at each other.

Thomas was playing with the food toys and had the table all set up and then he started singing, "Happy birthday to Mia!"  It was pretty cute and Mia's face lit up like a light bulb.

Mia was doing her morning ritual and sitting on the couch between Lauralea and I and then when we'd go do something she'd pat the couch.  "Hey, come back and sit right here!"

She played with the dress-up clothes and was pretty fascinated by the race car slippers.  :)  She also played with the musical keyboards, read some books, and shuffled the legos in the drawer.  She and Nora piled lots of legos on the legos table.

Mia ate most of her breakfast: waffle and hash browns.  For lunch she ate shrimp, brown rice, three servings of peppers (red and orange), and ate oranges.

The kids were all having fun outside and I liked how Mia was perched on the top of the merry-go-round!  Nora was pushing it around for her and Nora didn't like it when Mia left to play elsewhere.  Nora was yelling and pointing for Mia to get back up there where she belonged!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so there were new toys everywhere for Mia to explore.  She played with the food toys and was intrigued by the toasters and how they pop-up toast.

Kenzie and Mia were sitting in the wagon and Aaron was pulling it and RaeAhnna was pushing.  They were being quite successful and had it going around the yard, which is much more difficult than the sidewalk.  Then they switched.  Kenzie pulled and Mia was pushing.  Well let's just say that didn't work quite as well.  Mia is plenty tough enough to push, but she'd stop and wave at an airplane flying over.  A bit distractible maybe?  :)  It was plenty entertaining though!

Mia is just repeating anything we say now!  I love it.  When she was running to play with another toy and Nora wanted her to return I said to Nora, "Say, Come back!!"  So Mia (who's now on the climber) says, "Come back!!"  Not you, silly!  I'm talking to Nora!  :)

Mia ate two servings of raisin english muffin and ate blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of turkey burger sandwich, ate green beans, and pineapple.

Well it's been awhile since I posted a picture of Mia with a mask on, right?  At least three or four weeks!  And besides that you've probably never seen a rabbit sucking on a binky!  :)

Yesterday afternoon Nora and Mia were pushing dump trucks up and down the sidewalk.  Thomas, Emily, and Kenzie were cheering like it was a big race.  (led by Thomas)  Then he was yelling, "Mia win! Mia win!"  The amusing part to me was that the toddlers weren't even aware that they were involved in a race.  Thomas has an older sister so he's been introduced to the whole racing and competition thing.

After Darcy drove by this morning Mia went right over to the couch, sat down, and started patting the spot where I generally sit and she was saying, "Gary Gary!!"  Little cutie!  :)

Mia played with the tractors, barns, and barn animals in the back room.  I think today was the first day we've been back there this week so it was pretty new to them.  (We spend more time outside with the nicer weather, but it was a bit wet out this morning.)  Mia was "building" towers with the stacking blocks and had it five or six blocks high.

Mia ate jelly toast and two servings of dried mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of beef & bean burrito, ate sweet potatoes, and tropical fruit.

I haven't seen the kids playing this game for awhile, but here's a picture of Mia and Aaron peeking through the holes in the climber.  Then they were sticking their arms in there and grabbing each other's hands.

Mia was sitting on Riley's lap and they were both giggling and smiling about it.  Mia would get off and Riley would pat her lap again for Mia to sit down.  Mia is considerably bigger than Riley so it really looked cute!  :)

Nora was very concerned at story time because Mia started standing up and Nora was saying, "oun oun!" (Down down)  And she was patting the couch.  Mia stood up again and Nora said, "it oun!"  (Sit down!)  Not that Mia really cared!!  :)

Riley and Mia were jumping on the mattress and Riley was wanting me to watch and started saying, "Gary Gary!"  every time she jumped.  So Mia started mimicking her; "Gary Gary!"  I loved it!  :)

It was kind of chilly outside this morning so I looked at "baby" Reid's jacket and thought it would fit Mia just fine and it did.  :)  Then Mia was running by the fence and the neighbor's dog was barking and she put her fingers to her lips and said, "Shhh Shhh!!!"  :)

Mia had two servings of breakfast: cinnamon rolls and dried plums.  For lunch she ate scrambled eggs, bites of waffle, half of hash browns, and ate cantaloupe.

The kids frequently put the little balls in the dump trucks and push them around.  I thought it was cute because Mia was testing the big ball.  "Now why doesn't this one fit too?"  :)

I was using a magnifying glass (trying to read the street signs on a Missoula street map) and of course Mia was totally into that.  She was looking through it and pointing and we were looking at our fingers, etc. I didn't really have a chance to find the street.  I basically couldn't see through her head!  :)

Nora and Mia sat in the big chair together at least two different times reading books.  This one time Nora got down and walked away and Mia yelled, "Nora!"  (She's saying it pretty clear with two syllables.)  Nora grinned, stopped and went back to the chair and then strolled off again.  Mia called to her again and they repeated that at least 10 times.  I love how they turn simple things into a game.

Lauralea did a pony in Mia's hair and I think she reminded Mia to say "thank you."  Anyhow, about five minutes later Mia was walking by while Lauralea was fixing someone else's hair and pointed at the ponytail holders and said, "Thank you!" And doing the 'thank you' sign too!  :)

Mia ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate her ham sandwich, peas, and mandarin oranges.

Mia was studying one of the posters for a long time this morning.  At least I'm assuming that's why her face was three inches from the poster.  :)  No, just kidding!  It was more like four inches.  :)  It was really cute to watch her looking at it.  I love her curiosity about everything.  It's only hard when I'm trying to do anything in my lap; i.e., write notes so I can write this journal.  Then she wants to be on my lap too.  Then if I put my pen down for more than two seconds she's right there; regardless of where she was in the room or what she was doing.  And now Noah is everywhere and he's a Mini-Mia.  :)  He had my pen and paper this morning!

Mia got in the big box to play with Nora.  They had books, food toys, and dolls with blankets in there.  They were wrapping the dolls and then Mia was feeding her baby and trying to feed Nora.  They migrated to the igloo and they were taking turns thumping on the outside of the igloo while the other person was inside.

Outside the kids chased the bubbles around the yard again.  The first few times in the summer when we play with the bubbles it's very fun and exciting again.  Then they get less excited and tire of that game pretty quickly. So we'll only do it probably once a week the rest of the summer.  Mia chased them for a few minutes then lost interest and went to play on a climber.

Mia got on a bike and used her feet on the sidewalk to propel herself along.  She also played in the wagons and tried to pull Rae around the yard.  Mia is pretty tough, but someone always wants to jump in the wagon and the second person makes it too heavy.  So we make sure there is only one in there when she's trying to pull.  We want her to be successful and she loves doing it!  :)

Mia ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate meat loaf, french bread, carrots, and dried apricots.

Ok, this first picture is kind of silly, but here's the story.  This is the lid to one of the cooking pans in the food set.  There is a mirror on the inside of it and I always tell the kids to "look at the monkey!"  So if I say that to Mia or Nora they go find a mirror and do what Mia is doing in the picture!  :)  The 'older' kids won't fall for that trick anymore!

All the kids were hanging on to a handle of the big parachute outside.  When the parachute was in the air Mia and Nora were going under it.  We also used it like a tent over one of the climbers and they loved getting under it then too.

And we laid it on the ground and used it to sit on and sing songs.  Mia, Nora, and Riley (the three youngest sitting on the parachute) are the three kids clapping along with the song in the picture!  :)

The kids spotted a dragon fly in the yard and then a squirrel on the cable above the yard.  The squirrel was much easier for Mia to watch; it didn't move as fast.  :)

Mia ate two servings of cinnamon toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, biscuit, hash browns, and canned cherries.

We got out the 'geo-climber' this morning and Mia was all over that thing.  :)  Here's a picture of her peering down through the top at the action below.

When Mia was waving at Mommy this morning she saw the car pulling up behind you.  She started pointing at it saying, "Oh oh! Oh oh!"  I guess she knew that was not good!  :)

Outside this morning Mia and Nora also played on one of the bigger climbers and slides.  They were climbing up and then going down the slide and it was cute because they were cheering for each other every time.  Which was pretty cool because Nora has been quite fearful of those.  And we know Mia has very little fear.  :)  So maybe Nora needed the extra encouragement.

Mia was fixing Nora's hair again and then Rae's hair.  They remind me of little monkeys picking at each other's hair!  :)

We've been doing sand play at the sand tables in the afternoons this week.  Mia likes it, but soon loses interest and just wants to spread the sand around the neighborhood.  :)

Mia ate whole wheat bagel and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham slices, mac-n-cheese, lettuce salad, and corn.

The kids had fun chasing bubbles outside.  I tried to get a picture of Mia after one, but I thought this picture was kind of cute.  There was a big bubble there and Mia just about got it at the same time Kenzie arrived and grabbed it!  :)  "Hey! I had that one!"

And here's a picture of Kenzie doing a "reenactment" for me.  :)  I figured a picture was better than me trying to describe it to you!  Mia was playing on this climber and slide and she got stuck with her butt hanging way over the edge and she couldn't get herself pulled back up!  I got there before she let loose. The ironic part is this; the exact same thing happened to Nora not more than two minutes before Mia did it.  Maybe she saw it and was copying her!?!

Mia saw Lauralea heading to the couch so she smoked over there, crawled up, and started patting the couch seat where Lauralea always sits.  :)  Of course, I think she had ulterior motives and it wasn't just to sit beside Lauralea.  She saw the iPad.  And she was trying to make it turn on.  :)

We had a visitor (a "graduated" child) during outside time and the kids had a blast playing a wild game of chase with him.  Everyone was doing lots of running and wearing themselves out!  I say that because everyone instantly went to sleep at nap time!  :)

Mia ate two servings of waffles and ate pears for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tuna, crackers, sweet potatoes, and oranges.

Here's a picture of Mia sitting at the table in one of the back rooms playing with some toys from the farm set.  Baby Cooper is crawling everywhere now so no one's toys are safe!  Look out Mia! Here he comes!  :)  I like how she's totally staring!

Mia did her daily job of collecting baby Noah's sock (or socks) when he loses them.  She put one on the changing table and then went to get his other one.  Except by then he was standing up and she looked at his sock and kind of grunted; probably thinking "how am I suppose to get that sock off when he's standing on it!!"  :)  She also spotted Aaron's shoes that he'd left on the floor so she put those on the changing table too.  Thanks Mia!!

When Nora got here today (and yesterday) Mia walks up to her and waves and says, "Hi!."  It's so cute. You can tell she's genuinely glad to see her friend.  Of course, before too many minutes they're acting more like feuding siblings than friends.  :)  Actually it's pretty normal behavior for Toddler Friends!  I told Mia and Nora to "Be Gentle!"  Mia immediately starts gently stroking Nora's arm.  (Just like we've shown her many times.)  She also knows that term very well.  It's probably one of the terms they hear most often!  :)

Mia played with the farm animals (besides just chewing on them like you see in the picture above), the building blocks, the food toys, read lots of books, and crawled in the legos drawer with Rae.  They like to shuffle the legos all over because it makes lots of noise!

Mia ate two servings of chex cereal and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of roast beef sandwich, drank her tomato soup (holding the cup by herself), and ate most of apple pieces.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so everything was 'new' to explore.  She looked at lots of books, played with the food toys, and tried to put on some cowboy boots.

Darcy, Mia sat down and had her shoes off and put them on the changing table before you even drove by the window!  :)  Then we had to pry her away from the 'new' stuff to go wave at you.  :) 

I think Mia was jumping on the mattress and she went over to get Lauralea to give her a "five."  She lifted up Lauralea's hand and looked at Lauralea like "Come on, get with the program.  When I do something great you're suppose to give me five!!"  Lauralea and I were both involved in something else at the moment and missed out on the activity.  However, she was walking toward Lauralea from the mattress so I just made an educated guess!  Good jumping Mia!!   :)

Mia liked the barns and the barn animals in the back room.  However, the first order of business was for Mia and Nora to literally empty every last toy off the shelves first when we got back there.  She also had fun with the building blocks and legos in the other back room.  This set of legos also has a farm theme.

Mia was trying to comfort baby Reid when he started getting fussy (hungry and tired) this morning.  She was vigorously patting his back.  :)  Then she was happy to see baby Cooper when he woke up from his morning nap and was loving on him too.