6/30/2014

Mia ate most of her cheerios and ate her banana serving for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her cheese sandwich, drank tomato soup, and ate apple pieces.  While drinking her cup of soup Nora said,
"This my coffee Mia!"  And Mia said, "This is my coffee too!!"

Mia was telling me about Mommy's new company car when we were waving at the window this morning.  "It's a white car - and my car seat fits in there!!"  :)

One of the funnest things about being away is coming back to lots of hugs and loves.  Now that's hard to beat!!  Mia was so cuddly and loving this morning.  We had a great vacation; Lauralea visiting Missy in Portland and Me hiking in Alaska.  The hike was awesome; strenuous at times, but the scenery was beyond beautiful!  I will provide a link to some pictures (probably this week) if anyone is interested in looking.

Nora asked Lauralea to put two braids in her hair so she also put a braid in Mia's hair.  I took this picture so everyone could see; just in case it does not last until she's picked up!!

Mia was asking Lauralea to sings songs this morning; one of her favorites things to do in the morning; listen to songs.   Nora was covering them with blankets.  Nora said, "Good night Lauralea, good night Mia.  You want door closed or open?  Lay down Lauralea; lay still.  You want two blankets?"  And on and on.  :)

Nora was being Mia's puppy; "My puppy, Gary!"  Then they were having a "party" with mostly ice cream cones and cakes.  Mia was announcing, "Come on everybody!  Having a party guys!!"  We read lots of books (that's the only thing I brought back from Alaska; an ABC board book for the kids I found in a book store in Skagway) played outside.

6/19/2014

Mia ate half of her whole wheat english muffin and ate blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of turkey sandwich, ate a large serving of green beans, and a large serving of strawberries.

There are extra benefits for Mia being the first one here in the mornings!  She gets extra snuggle time and undivided attention from Gary or Lauralea.  She loves having Lauralea sing to her in the mornings.  We call this time "filling their love tanks."  :)

Here's a picture of the kids having a blast running and hopping on a large sheet of bubble wrap or packing; whatever it's called!  Lauralea brought home a couple large pieces from some freight they received.  The kids were thrilled when I brought out the second piece so they could do it again.  When the second piece was done Mia asked for another one.  :)  I called Lauralea on the phone so she could listen to how loud it was and she said it sounded like fireworks!  :)

Mia yelled, "HIDE!"  Cooper sprinted across the room and dove into the igloo saying, "Hide hide hide!"  LOL  He's a quick little feller!

During story time we were reading a book that had several animals in it and Riley and Mia were calling the flamingos; "Mangoes, mangoes!"  Then it was "Flamangoes!"

6/18/2014

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

Here are the vacation dates for everyone following the children's blogs;  Tomorrow, June 19th, will be the last blog until June 30th.  I'm going on a 5 day hike in Southeastern Alaska and if anyone is interested you can Google "Chilkoot Trail" to see where I'm walking!

Riley and Mia were playing with the swim goggles and Mia went to the mirror to look at herself.  She and Riley were also playing with the little "pianos" and singing "Twinkle twinkle little star...."

We did finger painting at art time and Mia was very proud for getting her paint shirt on all by herself. She had worked real hard at it.  After she was done with her picture she finished Nora's painting too.  Nora was done and there was still lots of paint that needed to be spread around and Nora was totally ok with Mia doing it.  Yup, I was shocked too!  :)  In the picture below you can see the paint around Mia's mouth.  She decided to paint her lips as well.  She's actually using a brush to finish Nora's picture and she has the brush in her mouth as she's experimenting with alternative ways to apply the paint!  :)

Mia talked lots this morning about sleeping in a "big girl's bed" last night.  She said, "I so much bigger now!!"  :)

She was playing in the big box with her baby and feeding it with an ice cream cone.  She was singing, Hush little baby, don't say a word..."  Nora was in the other end of the box and she started crying.  Mia said to Cooper, "Don't ever push Nora in the box ever again!"  Cooper was actually innocent (this time!) and Nora had just stumbled in the box.  But he was in the vicinity and I guess his prior record came back to haunt him!!

6/17/2014

Mia had a bite of cinnamon toast and ate prunes for breakfast.  She'd just finished eating the pancakes she brought so she wasn't very hungry.  I did think it was interesting that she ate the prunes first though.   At lunch she ate half of her scrambled eggs, hash browns, and cheese combo; ate a large serving of waffles, and ate half of her blueberries.

I had a follow-up Doctor's appointment after breakfast this morning and Lauralea covered for me.  Some of the blog entries today occurred when I was gone.  Lauralea had her iPhone and the auto corrector was saying the Kid's names; "Riley, Nora, Mia, Cooper" and of course they wanted her to do it over and over.  What started all that was Lauralea showing us how the auto-corrector pronounces "Lauralea."  (And that was entertaining!)  Lauralea was thinking aloud and said, "I'll try to get it to do Mia."  Riley said, "Do M-I-A."  (And spelled it for her.)  LOL  We do it with song all the time, but Lauralea was a bit shocked that Riley knew how to spell Mia's name!  :)

Then when I got home everyone was busy doing puzzles so I took this picture.

I don't think I've mentioned this to you Darcy (and I've not seen you yet this week), but Mia has not been wearing a diaper at nap time for several days and no accidents yet so that is awesome!  I forgot to put a diaper on her one day and that was the beginning!  Good job Mia!  (And good job of forgetting the diaper Gary! - that worked good!)

Everyone was feeding Lauralea food that was "hot."  Riley started it and was saying, "My ice cream hot, Lauralea!!"  So Nora also started feeding Lauralea "Hot Ice Cream!"  :)   Then Mia was feeding "Hot Ice Cream!"  Cooper actually started the "feeding frenzy!"  He was feeding Laurlea and saying, "Num num, num num..."  :)

6/16/2014

Mia ate a bite of kix cereal and ate bites of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham sandwich, a large serving of peas, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  So I think she's feeling a little better Darcy if her appetite is any indication.  She ate a great lunch.  And she also played well and really had a nice CALM morning.  (That doesn't sound like Mia!!  Maybe she's not feeling well!!  Just kidding!)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this morning and Mia got out every book from the book rack and made a tall stack on the chair and looked at them all!

We played with the bath foam at art time and Mia always enjoys spreading it around.  She has it pretty thick on her arm in the picture and you can also see a remnant on her upper lip.  Cooper never touched his (he kind of has an aversion to a mess on his hands), but he wasn't real thrilled to share it with Mia either.  :)

Here's a picture of Mia and Nora looking at animals through the viewfinders of these toys.  (I'm not sure what they are called.)  Anyhow, this activity was driving Cooper a bit nuts this morning!  Nora and Mia would yell "deer" or "bear" (Mia also said, "Panda Bear Gary!") or whatever and he'd go to the window and look around and see nothing.  I felt bad for him, but at the same time it was pretty hilarious.  So I was trying to help him look through one, but that wasn't working yet.  (By the way, Mia is the one on the right in case anyone wasn't sure!)

6/13/2014

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

At the breakfast table Mia was going through the names in her Family and asked me, "What your dog name?"  :)  Cracked me up!  So in the "discussion" that followed she identified the Daycare as my home, but couldn't identify where I could possibly have hidden a dog from her for this long!!

Mia and Nora were the only ones here this morning (and will be the only ones here this afternoon).  Jamie took Cooper and Riley to the Doctor and He confirmed the kids have croup.  So even though croup is quite contagious I'm hoping Mia and Nora can skip this one!!

Here's another picture of Mia reading!  :)  I like how she frequently reads to her Baby.  She was just finishing the "Baby Beluga" book and sang lots of it.  Nora was listening to Mia read also.

Mia and Nora played together pretty well this morning.  They said to each other, "Let's watch a movie!"  So they went into the igloo and watched something about "crocodiles" they said.  They also played LOTS of "Mommy and Baby" and were fixing each other's hair.  Nora asked Mia, "Want two ponies?"  They played with food toys; "Dinner ready!"  They rode bikes, played on climbers, and played with the wagons.

6/12/2014

Mia ate two servings of cinnamon toast and ate her grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken, bite of dinner roll, ate hash browns, and cherries.  Mia did some hiccups after lunch and said, "I got Momma's hiccups!!"  :)

We had (she just left) an unannounced State Childcare Inspector here today; which is just fine, but it does disrupt most everything.  And I'll probably be slower getting the blogs done today!  Thankfully, Riley had just gone to sleep when the Inspector arrived so she'll be sleeping through the entire process!!  And also, thankfully, I have all my records, files, etc., in order.  (I was well trained by Lauralea!!)  :)  Mia immediately started talking to the inspector about TyTy and asking the inspector, "What's your dog's name?"  She assumes everyone has a doggy!

Mia was laying with her baby and they were pretending to take a nap.  I grabbed the camera and Mia was right in the middle of a yawn.  LOL  Perfect timing.  This is not on her nap mat, just in case some of you are wondering.  This picture was taken before breakfast; about 8:50!  :)  Nap time is not for another 3 plus hours!

I took this picture of Mia and Cooper being silly.  Mia was hanging over the edge and kept saying over and over; "Hey Cooper!! Are you down there!?!...Hey Cooper!! Are you down there!?!"  :)  He was pushing up on the bottom of the chair with his feet.

I had to take this picture of Riley studying Mia's hat.  (I love the amused look on Riley's face.)  Mia is actually wearing it "inside-out" in this picture, but she brought it from home and has been wearing it most of the morning.  Riley was pretty convinced that is was Mia's panties!!  LOL  She asked me, "Why did she take those off!?!"  Oh man, I roared!  So Mia was lifting up her little dress to show Riley that she had her panties on!

6/11/2014

Mia ate two servings of whole wheat bagel and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of her ham, mac-n-cheese, several bites of lettuce salad, and ate her corn.  Mia knew we were having salad today for lunch and she kept saying, "I don't like salad, I don't like salad...."  Ok, fine.  Then it was, "I don't like salad; Riley like salad; Cooper like salad; Mia don't like salad."  Ok ok, I get the point.  So at lunch I put some ranch dressing on her salad and she said (AGAIN), "I don't like salad." Then she immediately took a bite and immediately said, "I do like salad!!"  Silly Mia!!

My daughter Christina stopped by for a few minutes this morning and they were all saying, "Get me, get me, get me!" and running from her across the yard.  Of course it was Mia leading the chant; "Get me, get me, get me!!"  Then they all started riding their bikes around and around the patio so I had to take a picture.

There is a neighbor fellow that walks his dog "Buddy" past the Daycare and this morning Mia saw him coming and went running down the sidewalk yelling, "Puppy puppy puppy!"  They went and petted Buddy and as soon as he was gone Mia and Nora were playing "Puppy!"  Nora was petting Mia and saying, "Good boy, good boy!"

This morning Mia kept saying something about "TyTy!"  So I told her to tell Lauralea who she was talking about.  Mia was trying to say, "My dog's name is TyTy."  And it came out like this; "My name is TyTy Dog!"  :)

Mia and Nora were playing their game of going "Bye bye."  So where are you going?  Mia said, "Tennessee!"  (She got that from Nora and Nora's family said they weren't sure where Nora got it from.)  So I asked Mia who she went with to Tennessee.  "Mom and TyTy!"  And what did you do there?  "Play with maca maca maca (harmonica), Mommy, Daddy, Lauralea, and Gary!"  :)

6/10/2014

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

I took this picture yesterday afternoon before we went outside while Riley and Cooper were still napping.  Mia and Nora started picking up the blocks getting ready for snack and outside time.  I didn't even go to that side of the room until they were done and this is what I found.  I was very impressed with how well they got the blocks all stacked so nicely on the toy shelves.  Good job Mia and Nora!!  They worked very hard and stayed right on task!

This picture of Mia in the wagon was also taken after nap yesterday.  Nora was pulling Mia up and down the sidewalk and Mia was going through all kinds of different antics and positions.  If you look close at her face you'll see she's having lots of fun.  :)

This is another picture of Mia in one of her usual morning activities.  Look at that stack of books.  Several trips to make a tall stack and then crawl up to read.

Darcy; I'm assuming Mia had her dinosaurs in the car with her today.  When she was waving bye to you at the window she was saying, "Bye dinosaurs!"  LOL  As parents, we always think their waving bye to us and begin so sweet!!  :)

We sang songs together, did sign language, dot painting, and played outside.  She tried to get Nora to pull her in the wagon again, like the picture above, but Nora wasn't interested.  Mia kept saying, "Pull me Mommy, pull me mommy."  Didn't work.  So she begged Riley for awhile, but that didn't work either.  So she moved on to Cooper and coaxed him into pulling her!  LOL

6/9/2014

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

I took this picture to show you what a rough life Mia has at Little Treasures!  She is always the first one here, so she gets lots of snuggle time with Gary and Lauralea.  Lauralea is singing to her and she is keeping an eye on what I am doing!

We played outside for a little while and Riley was laying on two of the big red balls while Mia was pulling the wagon.  Mia's Grandma (and a friend) arrived shortly after I took this picture and visited with Mia for a few minutes.  It's always fun to have friends and family stop by and see the kids.  Mia also rode the bikes and played on the climbers.

I sat up two of the stuffed birds (Pelicans) on the arm of the chair.  Mia came over and sat on the floor in front of them and said (over and over and over), "Hi Duckies!  I'm Mia!  What's your name?"  LOL So very cute!!  And that's pretty much the same way she is with any stranger that is walking by the Daycare.  "Hi! I'm Mia! What's your name?"

She had a stack of books in the big box and was busy reading them this morning.  I could pretty much tell what every book was just by listening to her.

6/6/2014

Mia ate oatmeal and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of hash brown casserole, half of her biscuit, and ate mandarin oranges.

Cooper was playing with the microphone and Mia started complaining about how loud he was being!!  LOL!  Now that's a classic case of the "Pot calling the Kettle black!"  or however that saying goes!!  :)  Mia said, "Too loud!!  Hurt my ears!!"  She hears that occasionally!!  It's usually at Story Time when we're all on the big chair and her mouth is only a few inches from my ears.  Not when she's across the room like Cooper was!  Ha!  Then she said, "I don't like that game anymore!"  Mia, you crack me up!

Here's a picture of everyone working with their play dough.  We have pizza cutters, rollers, forks, cookie cutters, etc.  (Kenzie, Riley and Cooper's sister was here this morning and she is the one on the far right.) Kenzie was cutting her play dough and said, "Cookies for the Little Ones!!"  Mia used lots of the tools as well for playing with her dough.

Speaking of loud volume, Kenzie and Riley were singing a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner this morning.  (It was very nicely done I might add!)  The volume of their singing was only exceeded by the length of the song!  :)   It went on and on and on and on.  So if you think you hear Mia singing our National Anthem, you're probably right!  I also have it on my iPod so the kids hear it frequently!

We played with bubbles outside this morning and the kids chased them around the yard.  Mia also rode the bikes and was happy to show Kenzie her pedaling skills.  Also, a cloud passed in front of the sun and Mia asked, "What happened to the light?"  :)

6/5/2014

Mia ate french bread and three servings of cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey, two servings of crescent roll (I added cinnamon when I cooked them), ate green beans, and two servings of mangoes.

Mia was asking for something at the lunch table (I can't remember what it was - maybe another napkin) and I said, "Oh, you're fine!"  And she asked, "I'm fine??"  LOL  Her response made me laugh! "Yup, you're fine."  

Here's a picture of the kids watching the City workers this morning.  They were doing some scheduled maintenance work on the septic system.  They were completely done and were gone by the time we were ready to go outside, but I took the kids out early so they could watch for a few minutes.  The pump was very loud and the kids kept asking, "What's that noise?"

I posted these next two pictures when Nora was being the "baby" and then they'd sometimes switch to Mia being the "baby."  I love how Mia was reading to her when I took this picture.  And Mia was also "feeding" Nora and then Riley joined to do some feeding too.  Cooper also tried, but Nora was not at all appreciative of his efforts!  :)

Here's Nora covering up her baby.  I like how Mia's legs are up the wall!  Soon after this picture Mia tried covering Nora's face and Nora said, "Not my face!!!"  :)

Mia was doing a great job of answering questions about the story we were reading at Story Time.  The book is titled "Somewhere in the Ocean."  I'd point and ask, "What's this?"  If they didn't know I'd tell them to listen as we sang the four lines for each page.  Mia would listen and identify every time.  The octopus was the only one I had to repeat - I think I did it three times and she got it.  Good job Mia.

Darcy; Mia is doing awesome with going potty today and she's been dry all morning.  When you pick her up today I'll try to remind you to bring some panties and pants for tomorrow.  She hasn't had a poopy diaper for two weeks so let's give it another try at Day Care.

6/4/2014

Mia ate whole wheat toast and most of her mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, bites of crackers, ate a large serving of bean & bacon soup, and had a bite of canned prunes.

Here's a picture of Mia holding herself up and she said, "I'm being a monkey!!"  :)  Earlier I stuck a piece of packing tape on her (I was repairing one of our books).  She put it on her forehead and kind of over her eye.  She said, "I'm a pirate!"  :)

I took this picture of a bird on our feeder this morning.  We're starting to see them more often and once or twice today they continued to feed even after the kids had moved to the big window.  The girls are always quick to alert us when there is a bird feeding.  Lots of feed gets spilled to the ground so the birds are frequently feeding there as well.

Mia was singing, "Baby Beluga" which is in this book exchange.  You might ask her to sing that song for you; she does it quite impressively!  All three girls love it and we sing it together - Loudly, I might add!!  :)

A little girl (about 4 or 5) and her Mommy were walking down the sidewalk while we were outside this morning.  They started talking to the kids outside and then the girl would run down the sidewalk and the Daycare kids would follow her down the fence line (inside) to the big gate.  Then she'd race back to the big gate and repeat over and over.  The kids love that game!!

Mia was playing with one of the dolls and was covering it with doll blankets.  She said, "My baby sleeping - I say prayer!"  I couldn't hear everything, but what I did hear went something like this; "Bless Nora, bless Cooper, bless Riley, bless Gary, bless Lauralea - Jesus, God, Amen!!"  :)  And I was feeling pretty Blessed!!  :)

6/3/2014

Mia ate two servings of whole wheat bagel and ate apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, most of her elbow noodles, ate half of her peas, and most of her applesauce.

Mia had one of the combs in this toy set and was in front of the mirror and said, "I gotta comb my hair!"  She quickly whipped the comb through her hair ONE time and said, "There!  That's better!"

I took this picture yesterday afternoon of the kids talking to a police officer.  He was driving by fairly slow and had his window open.  He heard someone yelling, "Hi Hi Hi Hi!"  so he stopped, backed up, and pulled over.  Does anyone want to guess who was yelling?  :)  Ok, it was Mia.  So I asked him if he'd sit there for a minute while I grabbed the camera.  :)

Today Mia was looking at this picture of the zebras and she said, "Look look! Deer!!"  Riley said, "No!!! Giraffe!"  LOL  Then Mia started calling them "reindeer!"  (Lauralea actually took the picture of the zebras at the San Diego zoo and we had it enlarged.  We have a laminating machine to protect the pictures.)

Riley was being such a sweetheart and letting both Nora and Mia comb her hair.  Here's a picture of them lined up combing each other's hair.  I haven't seen them do that for a long time.  I no doubt posted a picture the last time!!  :)  I like how Mia has Nora's ponytail straight up!

Riley and Nora have been so sweet to cheer for Mia when she has success pooping on the potty.  Yesterday Mia came out yelling about her success and they both clapped their hands and cheered.  I also want to mention how well everyone has been doing when we pick up the toys in the afternoon. Mia always puts the books in the book rack and if she finishes before we're done with the rest of the toys she'll dive right in and help.

6/2/2014

Mia ate most of her breakfast: bran cereal and dried cranberries.  For lunch she ate most of her cheese pizza, ate corn, and tropical fruit.  At the breakfast table I was writing today's date on the top of a piece of paper (keeping notes for these journals).  I said (mostly to myself), "Today is ....."  And Mia yells, "Monday!!"  LOL  Thank you Mia!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange and Mia started playing with the food toys first thing this morning before anyone else arrived.  She had the eggs and was making toast in the pop-up toaster. She said, "I make breakfast for Riley and Cooper!"  :)  And they were not even here yet.  Very cute!

Mia brought me this head-band (at least that's what I call it!) and wanted me to help her put it on.  Then she went and got the wrap-around thing (Ha! that's what I call it!) made of the same material.  I thought it looked adorable and in this picture she kind of looks like a little hippy from the 60's!

Mia LOVED looking at the books in this toy exchange.  And she was thrilled the "Baby Beluga" book was out again!  (Mommy heard us singing it this morning.)  Like I told Darcy, I have 8 toy exchanges and they are out for 2 weeks at a time.  So the kids haven't seen these books for at least 16 weeks.  When we had Story Time I asked about several of the books and they remember LOTS of them.  When I asked, "What's this book about?" for "There's a Wocket in My Pocket" by Dr. Seuss, Mia said, "Pocket Pocket!"  Wow!  Good job Mia!

Mia has been enjoying the dress-up clothes a lot lately.  She put on these one-piece pajamas and then Lauralea put the head band on too.  So I had the camera ready when she headed for the mirror.  :)