7/31/2013

Mia ate three servings of whole wheat toast and two servings of mixed berries.  For lunch she ate bites of ham, ate saltines, bean & bacon soup, and ate kiwi.

I had to include a couple of breakfast pictures and share the humor!  Notice how she's holding the spoon with one hand and eating berries with the other hand!  :)

And then in this second picture I'm not really sure how she managed to get stains all the way to her hairline!  But I do like the look on her face; "Totally innocent of all charges your honor!!"

All of the kids really enjoyed painting at art today.  I have several different colors and they'd paint for awhile and then I'd squirt on another color.  Mia sneezed all over her picture so she had some special effects that the other ones didn't get!  :)

Outside, Mia was playing with the wagons, dump trucks, and lawnmowers and going up and down the sidewalk.  Then she started chanting something and was going down the sidewalk backwards!  As I was watching her I realized I was holding my breath!  "Be careful Mia!  Do that on the grass!!"  :)

This morning she was trying to see into my cup and she said, "I look coffee!"  :)  Lauralea and I got a kick out of that.  I love how she's using language so much.  It's definitely one of her strengths.

7/30/2013

Mia ate two servings of breakfast: whole wheat bagel and dried apricots.  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles with peas (topped with shredded cheese), and ate applesauce.

Here's another picture of the three of them holding hands.  As I've probably mentioned more than once, this rarely ends well.  BUT, it's so cute and they love it and I monitor it closely!  Mia usually ends up essentially dragging the other one (in this case two) and bulldogging them onto the mattress!  She doesn't care which direction they're going as long as it is fast & furious.  :)

If you look at the picture you can sort of see that Mia has an animal mask (actually two of them) around her bottom again.  It's the new style for the past few days.  I didn't notice, but she still had them on when we went outside this morning.  Riley, on the other hand, notices everything!!  "Oh oh! Oh oh!"  And she was pointing at the masks on Mia's butt.  :)

The three girls were at the gate and these two ladies walked by and were totally enthralled by the kids.  "Oh, they're so cute, they're so cute..."  Yup, I agree!  :)  However, Mia was way more interested in the doggie that accompanied them.  She kept saying, "Doggie, doggie!!"

Darcy, right after you walked out the door this morning Mia took off her shoes.  I told her to go put them in her cubby and on the way to her cubby she looked at the door you'd just went out and she yells, "Bye Momma!!"  Cracked me up!  (That's why she was a few seconds late getting to the window to wave bye.)

I love observing the kids and see how they go about 'solving' problems.  At this age a lot of it is a 'temperament thing'.  Mia will frequently just pull harder if something is stuck and yell if it doesn't work.  She wants it done NOW!  This morning she was trying to pull the wagon through an opening that was barely wide enough for the wagon.  (A pretty tight fit!)  She hit the opening fast and was abruptly stopped.  She pulled harder and then looked at me and yelled.  I said, "Work at it; I think you can do it."  She looked at it and walked to the back of the wagon and pushed it through the hole with success!  Way to go Mia!  I love it!

7/29/2013

Mia ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate cheese pizza, corn, and tropical fruit.

Nora was laughing and I peeked around the corner to see what was going on and Mia was taking the batting out of one of my pillows and piling it up.  Nora's laughing was a clue they were up to something!  It was an old pillow so I got the stapler and stapled it shut.  They were looking at me like "Is that legal?!"  :)

We were looking at a web site to see if the big bears were catching any fish.  The kids love watching the bears and there are usually some sea gulls flying around trying to get some leftovers.  If you're interested it's at explore.org and the web cams are in Alaska in Katmai National Park at a place called Brook Falls.

Mia played with the dolls and blankets with Nora.  They always use the big box like it's their babies bedroom and cover them with blankets.  Then she and Riley played with the food toys on the window sill.  Primarily thumping them on the sill.  :)

All the kids were very concerned about the neighbor's dog howling (a hound dog) as soon as we went outside.  They were saying, "Puppy!!  Shhhh!"  And putting their fingers up to their lips when giving it the "Shhh" command!

Mia also played outside with the wagons, climbers, teeter-totters, dump trucks, and waving at the airplanes.

7/26/2013

Mia ate two servings of chex cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate everything and it was a pretty large serving;  Burger with spaghetti sauce, whole wheat elbow noodles, lettuce salad, and mixed fruit.

Mia found a new way to wear the animal masks!!  :)  This cracked me up!  I have eight masks and she eventually had seven of them around her bottom.  (I think the elastic may be getting a bit stretched!)  Nora watched her and that's where number eight ended up; around Nora's butt!  :)

I'm not sure exactly what this game is they are playing, but they've been doing this for two or three months now.  One will lay on the bench (on the patio) and the other one pats their back.  And after a few seconds they switch positions!  It's very cute and they seem to think it's quite funny!  You can see in the picture how Mia is laughing.

Mia was wrapping up a doll with the blanket she brings from home and singing, "Night night baby..."  Then she was listening to some music (while playing with some toys) and the person said, "Put your hands together for Andy!"  Mia immediately started clapping and cheering!!  :)  It was perfect timing!  I know she understands language really well, but "Put your hands together" is not a typical concrete concept for a toddler to grasp!  (i.e., not to start clapping, I mean.)  Anyhow, it was so cute!

She found the pockets in her shorts and was strolling around outside with her hands in her pockets.  That too was very cute!  :)  Then she was pushing the lawnmower with one hand and with the other hand still in her pocket.

7/25/2013

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

Nora and Riley were sitting side-by-side in the doorway of the garage and Mia goes over and plops down on Riley's lap.  I figured Riley would yell for her to get off, but she just wrapped her arms around Mia.  By the time I got the camera Mia had moved over to Nora's lap and then she started going back-n-forth.  :)  You know Mia; she won't sit in one spot very long!  And that made Nora mad!  She'd get furious when Mia would jump up and take off!      I love this picture!!

Mia joined Riley in watching a neighbor empty stuff from inside his car and trunk.  They watched for quite awhile and then he drove off.  Riley asked, "Where'd go?"  Mia is waving, yelling "Bye!" and blowing kisses!  :)

They all picked up apples when we went outside and then played with the lawnmowers.  Riley joined Mia laying on the grass on her back staring at the sky.  I haven't noticed her doing that for several weeks.  Mia used to frequently lay on her back in the house, on the grass, on the concrete patio, wherever!  :)

I was getting a kick out of watching Mia use her spoon at breakfast.  She'd hold it in one hand and carefully pick up a blueberry with the other hand and set it in the spoon.  And then eat out of the spoon.

7/24/2013

Mia ate two servings of breakfast: biscuits and peaches.  For lunch she ate two servings of baked beans, ate dinner roll, peas, and pineapple.

Mia wanted help putting on the frog suit and of course she wanted it off almost immediately!  But I managed to get a picture first.  :)

Right after Mia arrived she had to take out her binkie to give Cooper a kiss.  Or as she calls him, "Bubba!"  :)  It was so cute.

Here's a contrast of temperaments.... Cooper was sticking grass in his mouth and had some dangling out the corners.  Riley was very concerned and kept pointing and saying, "Oh oh!!  Oh oh!!"  And looking at me to hurry and do something!  Mia, on the other hand, was holding out her hand to Cooper offering him more grass.  "Here Bubba!!  Here Bubba!!"  :)

Mia was studying that same poster again today that I posted a picture of a couple days ago.  I think it's the silly picture of the kids wearing the Groucho Marx nose and glasses that she finds so intriguing.

She was jumping off the climber onto the mattress today saying, "Two, three" and then she'd jump.  The girls were also mimicking me doing the sign language for different colors as we were reading at story time.

7/23/2013

Mia ate two servings of waffle and ate hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of roast beef & cheese quesadilla, ate carrots, and oranges.

I love this: Riley found a knot hole that she can reach and stick the apples back through the fence.  Mia watched her and started doing the same thing.  She has one in the hole and two or three more in her left hand.  :)

I was showing them the 'sign' for "good friend."  Which they've been hearing when they're not being gentle to their friends.  "Be gentle,"  "Be a good friend."  I went to check the 'cheat sheet' (that I keep on the shelf beside the fish) to make sure I was doing the right sign.  It was so funny because they were all watching me go there and all three of them immediately went and set on the step under the window.  That's our spot for singing and practicing sign language.  So we sang and practiced some signs.  :)

We watched the water truck go by three times spraying water on the street.  Then while we were outside the street sweeper came by.  It's pretty loud and the kids wanted me right beside them watching it clean the streets.  Even Mia, who generally doesn't frighten easily, was a bit uncomfortable.  Nora, meanwhile, was around the corner somewhere.  :)

I don't think I've mentioned this in Mia's journal, but she's been doing this fake cry sometimes and it's kind of funny.  Here's a couple of examples I can think of:  They were pushing the lawnmowers around and Mia and Nora were by the fence and the neighbor's dog was just a few inches away (on the other side of the fence), but Nora did not see it.  All of a sudden it started barking and boy she started howling and screaming.  Mia started doing this fake cry and came over for a love too.  :)  A few days ago the mail truck had parked by the gate and shut off his motor.  When he left he started the motor and it can of startled Riley and she came running and crying a bit.  Mia wasn't sure what the problem was, but a fake cry seemed like a good idea then too.  :)

7/22/2013

Mia ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate cheese sandwich, tomato soup, and apple slices.  She did a great job handling her soup cup.

Mia is examining her ponytails after I was finished with them.  She has such nice hair and lots of it.  I like practicing on it!  :)  

I did a toy and book exchange this weekend and the kids are always so engaged with the new stuff.  We frequently don't even do art, story time, singing, or whatever else on Mondays after toy exchange.  I don't like to interrupt them when they are that engaged.  Mia especially played with the dress-up clothes, animal masks, fanny packs, and the drums.  They had the fanny packs over their arms like purses and was waving and saying, "Bye!"  Ok, I'll see you when you get back!

I also got out the lawnmowers and they pushed them up and down the sidewalk for almost all of outside time this morning.  I like how all three of them are focused on their lawnmower.

I frequently floss my teeth and the kids are quite fascinated by that.  This morning Mia found a random string (from cloth, not leftover floss!) and it looked like she was trying to floss her teeth.  :)  I told her she couldn't use any random string she finds on the floor!

7/19/2013

Mia ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, two servings of whole wheat elbow noodles with peas and topped with shredded cheese, and ate applesauce.

I thought this was so cute.  I love it when the kids get absorbed in studying the posters, looking at pictures, reading books, etc.  Look how close her face is to the poster.  :)  The picture she is studying has two little kids wearing the "Groucho Marx" nose and glasses.

Nora was playing these keyboards and I was trying to get a picture of her.  Mia started playing it with her toes like; "You want a photo op? How about this?!?"  :)

I told Riley to pull up her skirt as she was about to lose it.  Mia heard that and immediately started pulling her pants down.  Well that's close, but not exactly what I meant!  :)

The three girls with their sun hats on outside looked so cute.  They played on the slides, waved at airplanes, and got excited when some crows started "cawing" while flying low overhead.  Mia started to mimic their sound.  Speaking of mimic I was pretending to snore this morning and she laid down beside me and started doing the same thing.  It was pretty funny.

7/18/2013

Mia ate two servings of raisin english muffin and ate blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she the turkey slices from her turkey sandwich, ate green beans, and ate kiwi.

Here's a picture of the kids doing some dot painting.  I think they look so cute in their paint shirts experimenting with what they can do with the colors.

Mia rode on the merry-go-round while Riley and Nora took turns pushing.  :)  Mia is by far the strongest of the group, but hey, maybe the smartest?  :)

She loves watching Lauralea every morning putting on make-up and doing her hair.  Mia kept saying, "pony, pony.." while Lauralea was fixing her hair.  :)

Mia noticed some different posters that I put up.  She was especially interested in the big poster with all the animals and was pointing at several of them.

Yesterday after nap time Mia and Nora were awake and playing and I was trying to help them be a little quiet while Riley continued to sleep.  So I told them in a whisper, "I'm going to check if Riley's still sleeping."  Mia yells, "BYE!!"  :)  Ok then, I think she's probably awake now!  It was pretty funny.

7/17/2013

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

Mia is calling Cooper "Buddy" about half the time now.  Riley does most of the time, I do about half the time, so I guess it's pretty much expected that the others will too.  When I brought Cooper out from his nap Mia was excited and was saying, "Buddy, baby, Bubby (a combination of the first two), and Cooper."  Whatever your name is!!  It was pretty funny.

She was really into the "bye!" thing this morning!  She was waving, saying "bye," and blowing kisses every time I'd just move or stand up!  :)  And even when she was just moving off my lap.  So of course Nora started doing it all the time too.

Mia hasn't done this for a couple of weeks, but I don't think I've mentioned it before; At meal time she'd say, "I'm done!!"  Then when I'd go to get her cup she'd immediately stick it back in her mouth.  I supposed it was just a game she played at home!?  :)  Anyhow, it didn't take her long to figure out when she'd say, "I'm done!" that Gary believed her!  :)  She's pretty smart!

Mia and Nora was inside the igloo and Riley was outside the igloo poking their fingers through some little holes that are in the bottom of the igloo walls.  I love how they explore and then make little fun games out of things they find.

They did the usual outside play; Waving at airplanes (with Mia yelling, "bye!"), playing on climbers, bikes, and in the wagons.  Riley pulled Mia and Nora in the wagon until it went off the sidewalk and then she walked away.  :)  "I'm done!"

7/16/2013

Mia ate cinnamon roll and two servings of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of scrambled eggs, bite of waffle, most of hash browns, and ate cantaloupe.

All three of the girls were playing with the dress-up clothes and I was trying to get a picture of them together with their hats on, but that wasn't happening.  So here is Mia playing on the mattress.  She was trying to get some shirts on by herself and I was trying to show her the "flip over the head" method.  (Which works much better with jackets than a light shirt.)  Anyhow, when I'd lay it out on the floor she assumed she was supposed to stick her foot in the arm hole.  It was all quite hilarious.

I had to take this picture of Mia playing with the magna-doodle.  You can see her hand is basically a blur.  I decided that she thinks art is a "timed competition!"  It's called "high speed art!"  :)

I bagged up the garbage and was taking it out to the patio and Mia does this big wave and says, "Bye!" Like I was leaving to go somewhere!  Which made me laugh.  It was like; "Bye..we're good! We got this under control! You have a good day!"

Mia pulled Nora in the wagons, she rode bikes with Riley, played in the house on the patio with Riley, waved at the airplanes, and told the neighbor's dog to "Shhhhhh" when it was barking.  :)

7/15/2013

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

Here's a picture of Mia and Riley playing one of the favorite games again.  I know you've seen this before, but it's been awhile.  :)  They love poking toys back-n-forth through the hole in the table.

Mia and Nora have been trying to get their own bibs off the hooks at meal time.  They just pull on them rather than 'lift' a little bit first.  I take their hands and say "lift" while we're doing the 'lift' motion.  Anyhow, we've been working on it.  Well they both managed to get their bibs around their necks while the bibs were STILL hanging on the hooks.  Silly kids!  :)

We always plug the fish in and tell them "good morning;"  It's one of our morning rituals.  Well this morning Mia said, "Good morning!" a few minutes after I did.  It was very cute.  Good job Mia!

She kept saying, "Ow ow ow...!"  I was looking at her finger and then I finally figured out she was talking about the owie on MY finger!  :)

We had fun outside until some guys kept roaring by on motorcycles (dirt bikes with 2 cycle engines) and after about the fourth trip and Nora's fingers were digging into my chest I decided we'd move the party indoors.  It was almost time for lunch anyhow.  :)

7/12/2013

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

Mia had fun playing with the bath foam at art time.  It didn't take very long and she had it everywhere!  Riley and Nora, on the other hand, sat across the table and looked at their's and I believe they were thinking; "Now why on earth would we want to touch that!?!"  So they pretty much sat and just watched Mia.  And she was fairly entertaining!  :)  When Mia dove into her's Riley was pointing at Mia and saying, "Oh oh! Oh oh!"

So here's a prime example of Toddler Logic:  Mia was pulling the wagon and giving Nora a ride.  She tried going around the play house on the patio and rammed the wagon into it.  She looked at me like; "Now what?"  So I looked back and said, "Now what!?!"  :)  So she shoves the play house out of the road!!!!  I loved it!  She slides it across the concrete a few feet.  Hey, she solved the problem!  Maybe not the way I would have done it, but it's still solving the problem.  :)

After she waved at Mommy driving bye this morning several times she would randomly look out the window, point, and start laughing.  Lauralea and I thought that was pretty funny.  We have no idea what she was seeing or thinking, but it was comical.

The kids stood by the fence and watched the garbage workers outside.  And then waved bye to them when they left.  Then a crow was perched on the top of the garage and was "cawing" at us.  The three toddlers watched and pointed at it.

7/11/2013

Mia ate two servings of cinnamon toast and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken, half of dinner roll, ate hash browns, and canned cherries.

Mia was probably a bit more cuddly than usual Darcy, but overall she had a good morning.  (You'd mentioned that she was bit out of sorts this morning.)

We were looking at pictures on the camera and I was showing Nora a picture of herself and trying to get her to say, "me!!"  Mia was beside us listening so I showed her the picture of Nora and asked, "Who's that?"  Mia yells, "ME!!"  :)  Cracked me up!  Right answer, wrong picture!

Nora was pulling Mia in the wagon outside up and down the sidewalk.  She was doing good until she'd get a wheel in the grass.  She'd try for a minute and then abandon that wagon and head for the other wagon.  Mia recognized what she was doing and sprinted for the other wagon and jumped into it.  Well, I guess it was more of a dive than a jump.  :)  Ok, now I'm ready!  Pull me some more!

Yesterday and this morning they were taking turns laying on the bench on the patio.  (On their tummies.)  Then the other two would do pats on the back of the one laying down.  I always think it's funny how they'll do something like that for a day, or two, or three... and then they never do it again!  It was like they were patting their baby to sleep.  Well, except Mia's pats were a bit more aggressive than the other two.  :)  Like she was trying to burp her baby!

7/10/2013

Mia had two servings of whole wheat bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ham, ate mac-n-cheese, lettuce salad, and ate corn.

The kids had all the little apples picked up that fell from the neighbor's tree.  Now they're reaching through the fence to try to get more.  Mia could see one, but couldn't quite reach it.

Mia was the first one here this morning and I was trying to get her to say, "I love Gary!"  Then she said, "I love baby!!"  :)  Lauralea and I laughed about that!  Super cute.

She played with lots of food toys and was trying to feed Nora; "Bite, bite..."  Then she was trying to coax Nora over to the step to have some hair work done.  :)  She was patting the step and saying, "Sit down, down down..."  Nora was teasing her and she'd walk over there and then run away.  Then those two played in the igloo takings turns being inside while the other one thumped on the outside of the igloo.  There was lots of giggling and squealing.

She played with the phones and was just BELLOWING into the phone; "Hello Momma! hello, hello, hi, hello, hi, hi, hello..."  And on and on it goes.  :)  We also read stories and hey! she wasn't the first one to leave the story time today.  :)  That's a first!

7/9/2013

Mia ate two servings of blueberry waffle and ate pears for breakfast.  She ate all of her lunch; tuna and crackers, sweet potatoes, and oranges.

Yes, I know what you're thinking; "Not another hair picture!!"  :)  Prior to taking this picture Riley was letting Mia 'work' on her hair.  Then Nora joined them.  Mia had stuck Riley's hair in her mouth (I told her that wasn't an accepted technique), sneezed on Riley's head, poked her in the eye, and then was pulling on it.  (The poking and pulling was not really intentional.)  Riley came over to me and was needing a love and saying, "Oh oh! Oh oh!" pointing at her head.  I told her if it was me I wouldn't leave that hairdresser a tip!  But as you can see by the picture she was pretty tolerant with Mia and let her do some more hair adjustments.

The first thing they did this morning was lots of jumping on the mattress.  Mia seems pretty pleased with herself for mastering the technique of diving off the climber.  (The one they are sitting on in the picture.)

Riley and Mia were on the merry-go-round and Nora was pushing it around.  Then they switched and those two pushed while Nora sat on it.  :)  Which I thought was pretty funny and cute!

They also played with the wagons, the balls, searching for apples, playing on the climbers, on the bikes, and peeking through the fence at the neighbor's dog.  Oh yes, and waving at every plane that passes overhead!  Mia was waving and saying, "Bye eh-plane!"  (airplane)  :)

7/8/2013

Mia ate chex cereal and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of her roast beef sandwich, drank tomato soup, and ate apple pieces.

I took the doors off the changing table to have more toy shelves.  Or how about a bunk bed?!  Mia and Nora took turns on the top bunk!  :)

Mia was playing on the climber and mattress again and Nora was cheering and clapping for her every time she jumped off.  Well actually it's more like diving off; the jumping off will come next!  :)  But Nora was pretty excited about it anyhow!

Mia went over and snuggled down beside Big Bear and was saying, "Night night!  Night night!"  I love how she's putting words together.  She was trying to feed Nora some ice cream.  She asked her, "Wanna bite?"

Mia played with the phones, read books beside Nora, played with the legos, and watched for puppies out the window.  That's the first thing she said when she went to the window to wave "bye" at mommy this morning.  "Where dog, where dog?"  She frequently watches one of the dogs across the street.  We can see the dogs laying on the back of the neighbor's couch in front of their window.

7/3/2013

Mia ate two servings of toast and ate mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her ham, ate crackers, bean & bacon soup, and ate kiwi.

Mia has been very close to jumping off the climber.  This picture was yesterday afternoon and she went off head-first.  This morning she was doing some very careful 'jumps' onto the mattress.  It won't be long and she'll be jumping off and doing somersaults.  :)

I thought this was so cute of the girls both talking on their phones.  They were both saying, "Hi momma! Hi momma!"  These are modern girls; having lunch, checking their messages, talking to someone on their phones, and still having "meaningful" conversation with each other.  (They are making good eye contact!)  :)

I don't think I've wrote about this in Mia's journal; At lunch time I have Cooper in a high chair beside Mia and I put his bowl with cereal and baby food on Mia's tray because he grabs it of course.  (You know where this story is going, don't you?)  I jumped up to do something and when I looked back Mia had a big spoonful of Cooper's food entering her mouth!  :)  Then a day or two later I had Cooper's high chair on the patio for snack and he was having some baby puffs.  (He'd slept through snack time.)  I saw Mia with her hand on his tray sneaking some of those baby puffs.  :)  She's our "Little Opportunist!"

7/2/2013

Mia ate most of her whole wheat bagel and half of her dried apricots for breakfast.  She and Riley also ate several bites of Lauralea's toast before Lauralea left.  :)  For lunch she ate chicken, whole wheat elbow noodles with peas and cheese, and applesauce.

Here's Lauralea putting on some make-up before leaving.  I wonder if this will become the morning ritual or if she'll move to another location!?  I like how Cooper's getting in on the action.

And this picture: well Mia's hair was falling out and into her eyes so here's my first attempt this week of putting her pony back together.  It is more like a 'whale spout,' but at least it's out of her eyes.  She looks like she's saying, "Hurry up and take the picture; the sun is bright!"  :)  

They had fun outside playing in the wagons, on the bikes, picking up little apples and putting them in the garbage can, pointing out dandelions for me to dig, and chasing bubbles.  If it gets much hotter I don't know if we'll go outside this afternoon!

When Mia was waving bye to mommy at the window this morning she was trying to get Riley to hold her binky so she could blow mommy kisses.  Riley just kind of looked at her like, 'no thanks!'  :)

7/1/2013

Mia ate most of her breakfast: bran cereal and dried cranberries.  For lunch she ate cheese pizza, most of her corn, and ate tropical fruit.

Mia had a good morning even though it was obviously different than it's been.  Nora is still on vacation so it's just Mia, Riley, and Cooper this week.  All three of them were awesome this morning!  :)

Mia and Riley were both playing with the dress-up clothes and Mia kept bringing this head-band for me to put on her.  There is a robe that matches it.  Whenever Riley got some slippers to put on Mia would grab a robe or this headband.

And here are Mia and Riley doing some more side-by-side or parallel play.  They each had a book to read and this is where they chose to do their reading.  Mia had all the books out of the book rack and a big pile beside her.

I took a picture of Lauralea leaving for her first day at her new job.  Mia was saying, "cheese! cheese!" We got a kick out of that.

Riley's nose was running and every time I'd wipe it Mia would say, "Wanna blow, wanna blow!" and then she'd blow her nose.  Silly girl.  She also went into the bathroom with Riley and I and sat and watched Riley's routine in going potty.  (Just FYI; Riley is doing this younger than most!)