1/30/2015

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

I was fixing Mia's hair and Baby Sophie started fussing on the mattress.  (She was getting hungry.)  Mia said, "I'll help her!"  And as you can see from the picture Mia was doing a good job of helping.  She really has been an awesome helper lately.  I love posting these pictures!  It's so much easier to show you what the kids are doing (and then add some commentary) rather than just trying to tell you about it!

At Art Time I told the kids we were going to do "Free Draw."  Cooper asked, "What's that!?"  So I gave them some paper and said they could draw anything and then tell me about it too if they want.  So Cooper drew a perfect circle and said, "I'm drawing a square!"  Mia drew a perfect square and said, "I'm drawing a circle!"  However, Cooper recognized her's and said to Mia, "That a square!"  Mia was making a pretty good "M" and asked, "This my name?"  So I got out the dry erase boards (see the picture) and she practiced doing some "M's."  (Except in the picture she is at the "C's" for Cooper!)  She totally has the idea how to make her "M's."

Here's a picture of a game they played for 30 - 40 minutes.  They were taking turns laying on the toy shelf (under the changing table) and stuffing as many toys as they could manage around each other.  Speaking of games, it's amazing how many different games they can come up with that begin with the phrase, "You can't catch me!!"

Sometimes, I swear, Mia is the "Master of Randomness!"  She handed Cooper a blanket (they were "sleeping" on the block sidewalk they built) and said, "Happy Halloween!!"  What!?!  LOL

1/29/2015

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

I took this picture yesterday afternoon.  I was covering Sophie with a blanket and then whipping it off of her and she was loving it.  Mia, of course, wanted some of that action!  So she laid beside Sophie and we continued to play our game.  So the reason for Mia's messy hair -  the whipping of the blanket!  :)

Mia and Cooper were searching for Food Toys beside the cushion of the chair.  (They've been known to stash toys in there!)  They found a couple spoons, forks, and some veggies.  Mia said, "Been down there for a couple while!!"  Ha!

Mia and Cooper have been camping all week!  They were rounding up some food and Cooper said, "I got some soup!"  Mia said, "Get the chocolate steak!!"  So I took this picture so you can see what their chocolate steak looks like!  :)  I told Cooper to give Mia a bite of the steak, but as you can tell by the picture she wasn't going to cooperate with that idea!

I've been working with Cooper to take off his own (and dress-up) shoes and do a few things for himself.  All he has to do is hold up his foot and grunt and Mia comes running.  (Pretty much like another big sister!!)  :)

Elliott is walking all over the place now and Cooper was watching him like for the first time!  "Look! He's walking!!"  Yup!  Life continues to get a little more challenging Cooper!  :)  They were playing their usual morning game of "hiding" in the igloo from Elliott.  Mia was also thrilled because Elliott was clapping when we were singing "Happy and you know it...clap your hands."

1/28/2015

Mia ate whole wheat bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, mac-n-cheese, corn, and apple pieces.

I have a note from yesterday afternoon;  I guess Mia has Cooper convinced that the stuffed "Unicorn" in this toy set really belongs to her.  She loves it and always calls it "My Unicorn!"  Late yesterday when it was only Cooper and I here and we were picking up toys, Cooper brought the Unicorn to me and said, "Put it on Mia's Cubby!!" Ha!  That cracked me up!

This picture is Cooper and Mia going camping again.  They had a lot of stuff packed to take with them.  She said, "Going to the camp forest Coop, going to the camp forest!!"  Then I heard, "We gotta go night night Coop!   We are brave!!"

Cooper and Mia were wearing these Cowboy boots and trying to walk on the blocks.  Cooper crashed and Mia asked, "Are you ok, my Cowboy!?!"  Ha ha!  For about 15 minutes everyone was "Cowboy."  "Watch out Cowboy!!  Come on Cowboy!!"  And she said it to me as well.  She pooped, I wiped her, and she said, "Good job Cowboy!"  Now that's funny!

Mia went to sleep without her binky, but it wasn't easy for her.  She was crying and I went and laid with her for a few minutes.  She said, "I don't want any teeth in my mouth!!"  :)  I didn't laugh at the moment, but that's funny right there!!  I simply said to her, "Yes, I know it's not easy for you Sweetie." (In case that doesn't make sense to anyone Mia went to the Dentist yesterday and he (or she) suggested it was time to lose the binky for the sake of her teeth.)

1/27/2015

Mia ate two servings of waffles and ate pears for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of tuna, ate crackers, sweet potatoes, and mandarin oranges.  At breakfast Mia said, "Oh no!!  Look at Elliott!  He's eating LOTS again!!  He's got a mouth full!!"  Ha ha!  Now that's a classic case of the "pot calling the kettle black!"  No one eats faster and more vigorous than Mia!!!  Speaking of Elliott, I want to mention that today is his Birthday # 1 so that means I am starting his Journal today.  You may occasionally see a slight change in times of Journal posting, but I will try to have it about the same time!

Mia and Cooper moved their barn and barn animal operation into the big box to protect it all from Elliott interfering with them!  I like how Mia has her legs sticking through the barn!  :)

As soon as we were done reading Stories this morning Mia continued reading books to Cooper.  She also asked him if he wanted to sing with her.  It went like this; "Baa baa black sheep...wanna sing with me Coop......have you any wool?"  They also sang Old MacDonald and a couple more.

They were playing with the food toys and Cooper tossed one of them.  (Which I don't allow, but that's not what this story is about!  Ha!)  Mia yelled, "OW!!  Cooper!! You almost hit me!"  Then turning to me Mia continued; "Cooper hit me with some food!!"  So I responded, "Mia, I thought you said Almost!?"  "Uhhhh, Yah, almost!!" She said.  Ha ha!!

Yesterday after Snack Time Mia was kind of grumpy.  (Mainly because Cooper got up late and didn't want to immediately start playing.  He wakes up slow and likes to snuggle first.)  She was pouting about it all and said to me, "I wanna lax on my bed!"  Huh?  She repeated and it took a few seconds for me to realize she was meaning to say, "relax."  :)

1/26/2015

Mia ate chex cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of beef sandwich, sips of tomato soup, and a bite of lettuce salad.

Cooper wanted to wear the Lady Bug jacket and Mia managed to get the cow suit on by herself (except for the hat).  They are looking at the little stuffed cow.  Mia was bouncing from activity to activity and also wanting Cooper to "hide" so she could "find" him.  She said, "You hide and I'll find you! - 1 2 3 I'm coming to find you!!"  (That was basically just one sentence!  Actually waiting for Cooper to hide didn't seem too relevant to Mia's game!)  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Cooper was thrilled to see the legos farm animals and he immediately asked for the "barns."  So I went and got the barns and they very quickly had their barnyard all set up.  (I like how almost half of the barn is hanging off the table in the picture.)  Mia said, "We like the toy exchange Gary!"  When she first arrived this morning she said, "I've never seen these toys before Gary!"  Ha!

They also had their tent set up again and were doing some camping.  They had lots of food toys and the piece of steak had slipped between the big box and the wall.  Cooper was trying hard to reach it and kept saying, "steak steak steak.."  Mia started calling it a "chocolate steak!"  Ha!

We did singing, sign language, and then some stickers at Art Time.  I've been working with Cooper's self-help skills and doing the stickers for himself is a good example.  Mia said, "I'll help you Cooper!"  Well, her helping with his stickers basically means grabbing them and doing it for him.  And he is content to just let her!!  :)

1/23/2015

Mia ate several bites of oatmeal and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of hash brown casserole, bites of biscuit, and ate mandarin oranges.

The kids were going "camping" again so we fixed up a "tent" for them.  Which was fine until they started yelling for delivery of food, toys, etc.  Ha ha!  "Gary! Can you get us some food!?  We NEED coffee!!"  And that was after I'd already delivered two or three months supply of food!  Sorry - I'm going to help the babies and you'll have to think of another way to get your supplies!!  :)

And here was tent # 2!  They were playing with some more food, reading lots of books, and basically making tons of trips in and out of their tent!

Cooper and Mia were rocking Sophie's seat and singing, "Row row row your boat...."  Look at Cooper's mouth; he's really getting into it!  :)

Then they were doing something under her seat....what are you guys doing?  Cooper said, "Turn fireworks on! Turn fireworks on!!"  LOL  Oh really?  Where'd you see fireworks?  "Disneyland!"

I cut out some shapes and Cooper and Mia colored them at Art Time.  Then we glued them on some popsicle sticks and we'll use them during singing time as another way to learn the shapes.  Cooper knows lots of shapes and Mia is learning them as well and Mia loves to learn through singing and reading stories.

1/22/2015

Mia ate half of whole wheat bun and ate melon mix for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey, half of dinner roll, ate green beans, and ate mangoes.

Cooper's hair was sticking up while they were jumping and wrestling on the mattress.  I asked him what he was going to tell his Mom when it was time for a haircut.  Mia yells, "Buzz Cut!!"  Ha ha ha. Yup, she's heard it a few times too I guess.  (I always tell his Mom that every boy needs a buzz cut at least once!)  :)

Speaking of hair Cooper and Mia were having fun fixing each other's hair.  I like their arrangement in these pictures.  One is on the table bench and the other is sitting in the legos drawer.  Mia asked Cooper, "You want a braid or a ponytail!?"  He said, "Uhhh, ponytail."  Also notice the "knife" she's using on his hair!  :)

Mia said, "Ok, now you fix my hair!"  And they switched spots.  He just tossed down the "knife" and started using his hands and he was pulling her hair straight up.  But she apparently didn't care because she was laughing!  (She doesn't laugh when I accidentally pull it when I'm fixing it!!)  :)

They stayed real busy all morning and worked hard at some pretty elaborate creations with the legos. They were also camping, wrestling, filling the school buses with toys, more wrestling, brush painting at Art Time, read books, sing, sign language (which they both nailed), and more wrestling.  :)  We have this routine we do after Lunch (depending on when Baby Sophie needs to be fed) and today Mia asked, "Can I play with Cooper for a couple whiles?"  Basically a cross between "for awhile" and a "couple minutes."  :)

1/21/2015

Mia ate three servings of toast with Honey and ate mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, crackers, half of bean & bacon soup, half of strawberries.  Mia (with her mouth Jammed Full of food) told Cooper at the breakfast table, "Don't talk with your mouth full!  I can't hear you with your mouth full!!"  Ha ha ha!  I put some Honey on a teaspoon and ate it and told the kids I was just like Pooh Bear.  That triggered some memory for Cooper - "That was scary in there!"  He said.  (Pointing out the door!)  Where?  "Disneyland!"  :)

Mia and Cooper were loading their buses full of legos and hauling them around.  (Cooper was calling them his "dump trucks.")  In this picture Mia is sitting on the play table and building a tower.

I haven't mentioned this too much lately, but Mia has been a real good helper for me and she LOVES helping when I ask her.  And she does a good job.  This picture is somewhat "staged," but I wanted you to see one thing she did for me today.  I was sitting in the chair (background of picture) feeding Baby Sophie her bottle and Elliott was thirsty.  Mia followed my directions perfectly.  She's totally capable of doing "age-appropriate" jobs and she feels proud of what she can do.  (Sometimes she'll try to take it farther than I've asked her too do, but she listens when I set the boundary.)

I was reading stories to the kids and one book was about being grumpy; "What are you so grumpy about?"  I asked them if they were ever grumpy and Mia said, "I be grumpy when some people beat me up!!"  Silly girl!!  Who would do that?  She said, "Nobody and I'm not grumpy anymore."  She cracks me up with some of the things she comes up with!

Mia and Cooper were going "camping" again.  Mia said, "You; my friend!  Are you coming with me? Uhhh, are you coming with me!?!"  (Now that sounded threatening to me!!  Ha!)  So then he asked her to cover him with the blanket and she did.  She said, "Night night Sweetie Pie!!  Now don't say 'Cover Me Up' again!!"  :)

1/20/2015

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

I have to post a picture of the kids playing in the bath foam again.  Cooper was focused on watching Mia for the longest time and then he finally decided to play with his too.  (I must say it's kind of mesmerizing to watch her with the bath foam!)  And she was yelling encouragement to him the whole time as well; "do it on your face Coop!  That'll be awesome!!  Get it on your eyebrows Coop!!  I need some more bath foam!!"

Cooper was wanting Mia to immediately start playing when she arrived, but she was needing a few minutes to "adjust."  (She's a very routine oriented girl and she was the last one here today instead of the first one like usual!)  Anyhow, Cooper was saying, "Listen to my words!  Come play with me!"  It was only a couple minutes and they were working hard.  (They really are working hard at their play!) They each had a school bus full of "kids" and Mia was saying things like, "Get the children to school! and when you see them in trouble you call out; do you need some help!?!"  They started pushing their school buses against each other and Mia asked, "You give up!?!"  Ha!  Cooper would just grin and shake his head "NO!"  :)  Not a chance!

Mia immediately asked if Nora was going to be here again today.  When I told her Nora wouldn't be coming Mia said, "Awwww!!  She's not going to come visit us anymore!?!"  (Remember - these are the two girls who couldn't be more opposite in EVERY way and could not decide if they were friends or enemies!!)   :)

I was cleaning up breakfast and Mia came out complaining that, "Cooper's not letting me sing!!"  Ha ha! She was singing REALLY loud and Cooper kept saying, "too loud, too loud!"  And he kept saying it louder and louder.  She just wanted him to be quiet and enjoy the beautiful music!  :)

1/19/2015

Mia ate most of her bran cereal and ate her raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of cheese pizza, ate corn, and tropical fruit.

These top two pictures are from Friday afternoon, but I decided to include them anyhow.  Mia was having fun jumping and experimenting with different "techniques" of jumping off the igloo.

Nora's Pre-school is closed today so she is here.  We went outside again while the Babies were taking a morning nap and the kids had fun on the bikes, pushing the dump trucks up and down the sidewalk, and giving each other rides in the wagon.  In this first picture Mia is pulling Cooper and Nora (and pushing one of the yellow dump trucks at the same time) and she was going really fast.

Cooper took turns pulling the girls as well.  This picture was the first time and he promptly ran in the snow bank, but stayed on the sidewalk after that.  (He was getting lots of instructions from the passengers in the wagon !!)  :)

Nora wasn't too impressed (initially) with Cooper and Mia's "animal games!"  She told Cooper, "I don't like that Cooper!  People don't eat other people!!"  Ha ha!  But before long she was playing along with them and being a puppy too.

Cooper was playing down at the gate with a dump truck and Mia started telling Nora, "We gotta save Cooper, We gotta save Cooper!!"  So I asked her what they were going to save him from.  "The gate!!" She said.  :)  We headed inside when we heard Elliott waking up and Mia said to Nora (quite frantically I might add), "Let's go relax!!"  Whatever!!  :)

1/16/2015

Mia ate half of malt-o-meal cereal and ate her raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate several bites of ground beef, bites of elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, ate mixed fruit, and ate apple bites.

The kids were pretending to sleep and covering themselves up with all the blankets.  Cooper said, "Night night time!"  I had to be quick with the camera because Mia would only lay for a few seconds and she said, "Time to get up!  The sun's up!!"

Cooper was crawling out of the big box and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but he was howling. I think he may have gotten "high-centered" on the way out.  Ouch!  Mia was in the chair and had seen it so I asked her.  She said, "I don't know!  It's not my fault!!"  Ha ha ha!  (Now that's a first!  I guess she was happy this incident couldn't be pinned on her!)

This morning Mia said, "My baby Layla's going to come to your house Gary!!  Are you so excited!?! I'm so excited too!!"  (Of course she never gave me time to give my answer, but yes Mia, I'm excited too!)  She's been getting some practice being a big sister here with both Elliott and Sophie.  This morning she was standing in front of Elliott with her hands on her hips (with a very bossy demeanor) and saying things like, "Oh yeah!  Are you serious!?!  Is that cool or not!?!"  Ha ha ha!  And she's also been learning that certain activities are not allowed with the babies.  For example, she was running across the room at a high rate of speed and jumped right over the top of Sophie!!  Geez!!  I know I gasped pretty loud!  It happened so fast!  She easily cleared that "hurdle" Daddy, but we still had a discussion about what things we can jump over!!  :)

Every day this week about the same time - 4:30 - Mia has been "primping" in front of the mirror.  Yesterday she said, "I'm going to make myself pretty again!"  Pretending to put on make-up, using her hands like a wash cloth, doing things with her hair, etc.

1/15/2015

Mia ate a bite of whole wheat english muffin and ate blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her chicken, half of crackers, ate sweet potatoes, and cherries.  Just in case someone reading this might think Mia is eating a little less - she usually arrives at Daycare with food!  (Waffle, pancakes, etc.)   Her routine is to sit at the dining table and inquire about what Lauralea is eating for breakfast or fixing for her lunch.  Today she said, "What's that!?!"  Lauralea answered, "Tuna and avocado sandwich!"  Mia said, "Oooooo, I like that!!"  Ha ha ha!  I doubt if you've ate that Mia - I know I haven't!!  :)

We were doing the "Toddlerobics" book and Mia couldn't wait for her favorite part; "Bump Bottoms!"  I think I've previously posted a picture of this activity, but here's another one!  It's been several weeks since we've read this book, but as soon as I mentioned it Mia said, "Hey! Let's bump bottoms Coop!!"  You can see Elliott in the picture too.  He was pretty entertained by their antics.

Speaking of Elliott, Cooper and Mia were barricading themselves in the igloo by lining blocks up in front of the entrance to try to keep Elliott out.  They weren't real successful so Mia thought of another approach - put Elliott inside the igloo and block him in there!  Silly kids.  Although I thought her strategy would probably work!  :)  Earlier, Cooper was in the igloo and Mia was guarding the entrance and saying things like, "I never ever let anyone get Cooper away!  I promise!"

Before Art Time Cooper and Mia went downstairs with me to make copies of our dot painting paper. Mia was so proud of herself for getting the paint shirt on all by herself.  Good job Mia!

Little Sophie is so distractible when I'm feeding her and I have to work hard to just focus on her!  And of course Mia has a steady barrage of LOUD questions, comments, and demands.  So I was whispering to Mia while looking at the baby and Mia kept telling me to talk louder!  Ha ha!  Finally Mia was right beside me and I whispered, "I can't talk to you right now."  Mia responded, "OK!! FINE!!"  :)  Well I just roared and scared poor Sophie.  It was so funny the way Mia said it!

1/14/2015

Mia ate a bite of biscuit and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of baked beans, ate dinner roll, several bites of peas, and ate pineapple.

We went outside this morning while Elliott and Nora were taking morning naps and it worked perfect.  (I could listen to Elliott's monitor and watch Sophie through the window.)  The kids played on the bikes and gave each other rides up and down the sidewalk in the wagons.  Mia was a little demanding when she was the passenger; "Faster Coop, faster!!"  But Cooper responded accordingly!!

I went upstairs above the garage and brought down the next size larger bike.  It's not really noticeable in the picture that it's larger, but Mia was pretty happy to do some test runs on it!!  :)  And it fits her nicely.

And of course they needed some refreshments while we were outside.  So I got the ladder out of the garage and plucked some icicles off the rain gutter for them.  That sounds pretty disgusting!!  But look how clean and clear (hee hee) they appear to be and the kids were thrilled!!  :)

Whenever Cooper (or any of the kids) ask "Where my Mommy?" (or Daddy) I have always gave them the exact same answer.  "Mommy (or Daddy) is at work and they will come get you as soon as they are done.  Until then, Gary will take good care of you."  So near the end of lunch time today Cooper asked, "Where's my Mommy?"  Mia answered, "Gary's gonna take good care of you Coop!!"  How cute is that?!  Now for the punchline - Right after that Mia asked Coop, "Are you getting tired already!?!"  Ha ha ha!

Mia was wanting to look at my teeth again!  I have some gold crowns and she's pretty impressed with those!  This morning she asked, "Are those Treasures in there!?"  Ha ha ha!  Well Mia, if you saw the bill you might agree with me; yes they are treasures!!  For those who may not know; Pirates and Treasures are two of Mia's favorites!

1/13/2015

Mia ate two servings of breakfast: Waffles and hash browns.  For lunch she had a bite of chicken and cheese quesadilla, ate half of her carrots, and ate mandarin oranges.  At breakfast time everyone; Mia, Cooper, and Elliott started eating and it was MOMENTARILY very quiet.  Mia couldn't stand that!  She said, "You guys wanna talk!?!"  Ha ha ha!  (I was was kind of savoring the fleeting moment!!)

Cooper voice was pretty hoarse this morning - I think it got a little better by lunch.  Anyhow, Lauralea said, "Cooper, you're hoarse!"  Mia was somewhat offended!!  She grunted, "Hmmrrphh!!!"  And (while scowling) tipped her head back and started neighing and pawing the earth like a wild mustang!  Yes Mia, you're also horse!!  :)  For anyone who may not be aware of it, being an animal is VERY important to Mia!

Mia yelled, "Story Time Coop!!"  And she started reading him a book about "shapes."  (She knows the way to his heart!  The Boy loves his Shapes!!)  "What shape is this Cooper?" - "Triangle!" - "Good job!"  And so it went!  Good job Cooper and Mia.  It was very cute.  She knows soooo many of the stories and I love listening to her read them!  I especially like it when she changes a word or two!  For example (from this morning): "Rain rain go away, come back (again) another way(day)!"  Inside the parentheses is the "correct" way.  I think I prefer Mia's wording in this song!  :)

They had fun making some posters at Art Time.  We did some gluing, putting Tape on the poster, and doing their hand prints.  (I'm going to get some bigger ink pads and it will make that part easier!)

And here's a picture of Mia and Cooper loving on Sophie.  Geez - I wonder if Sophie gets enough attention around here!?!  Mia's hair was tickling Sophie's face and Sophie did manage to grab a few strands.

1/12/2015

Mia ate half of her cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of cheese sandwich, drank a large serving of tomato soup, and had bites of lettuce salad.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Cooper and Mia stayed pretty busy all morning playing with all three categories.  Frequently on the first day of Toy Exchange there is not too much to write about because the kids are totally engaged all morning just like you see in the picture.  I got out the "car garages" (picture) and I guess it's been a long time.  They were thrilled.  Cooper said, "Cool!"  Mia asked, "Where'd you get these?"  :)  There are two of them, but they played with the same one all morning.

They were hiding in the igloo from Elliott again.  Elliott thinks it's hilarious when they roar at him. Cooper was trying other techniques to get rid of Elliott.  He said, "Go get Sophie!  Go get Sophie!" Ha ha ha!  (Willing to sacrifice the youngest!)  Meanwhile, Mia was saying things like, "Don't let Elliott get me Coop!!"  Then to Elliott she said, "I'm not afraid of you silly rat!"  :)

Cooper was playing beside the big chair and Mia was playing a few feet away.  He was somewhat hidden behind the legos table, but the top of his head was definitely visible.  Mia said, "Well Hi Buddy!  Hey!  Where are you!?!  Hey!  Where's Cooper!?!"  :)  That always cracks me up!  Last week Cooper said, "Where's Elliott!?"  Uhhh...look three feet ahead slightly to your left.  :)

1/9/2015

Mia ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, a large serving of elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, ate peas, and a large serving of applesauce.

I've been finding simple little jobs for Mia to help me with and she's loves being a helper.  This morning I asked her, "Are you my big helper?"  She said, "Of course I am!  I'm not a baby helper!"  Ha ha.  Silly Mia.

Elliott was coughing and Lauralea said it sounded like he had a "frog."  Mia said, "He doesn't have a frog in his mouth!!"

Mia and Cooper were playing with Elliott at the big gate and sticking their head between his legs.  Elliott was loving it and especially when he realized he could just sit on them!  Earlier I'd told Mia that Sophie wasn't coming today.  Shortly after I took the picture below I put Elliott down for his morning nap. When I went back out to the Daycare room Mia said, "Sophie's not coming; is Elliott!?!"  Ha ha ha!  Uhhhhh...I think you were just playing with him and I have a picture to prove it!!  :)

Here's a picture of Cooper tickling Mia and they were having a blast digging at each other.  And tipping their heads back, they were laughing so hard.

 I call this "snowplowing."  The kids have been pushing toys around with their heads.  But this morning they started doing what you see in the picture.  And they were being pretty careful with each other and the person standing on the block practiced balancing.

Mia thought it was so funny (judging by her laughter) that Cooper pushed her with his head.  She used a little more conventional method when giving him a ride on the block.  Cooper was holding very still and concentrating hard.  I love watching them experiment with different ways to play with the toys.  Very creative.

1/8/2015

Mia ate whole wheat english muffin and two servings of blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of turkey sandwich, ate green beans, and strawberries.

Mia is still playing the game that Kenzie was doing with all of them last week; lining them up at the wall and checking to see who is tall enough to go on the rides.  (The Disneyland experience.)  Mia told Cooper, "Sorry; you can't go on a ride!  You're too little.  Sorry.  You can't go on the choo choo train!"  Well, at least she was sorry!  Earlier this week when Nora was here picking up Sophie she too was still playing that game.

Cooper and Mia were asking to hold Baby Sophie so here's a picture of what that looked like.  Cooper enjoyed it and it was so cute.  When it was Mia's turn she immediately started saying, "Gary!  Get her off me!  She's gonna puke on me!" Ha ha!  That cracked me up!  Take notice of Mia's body language in the picture.

Now this picture is more Mia's style with the Baby!  She was letting her hair hang on Sophie and sure enough, Sophie managed to get a handful!  (That's Cooper's arm you see hanging off the chair.)

Most of the games Mia likes to do with Cooper involve lots of Large Motor activities!  Running, running, and more running!  They were racing back-n-forth across the room and Mia told Cooper; "Do your very best Coop!"  Hmmm...I think I hear Daddy the Track Coach talking there.  :)  Then she was on the floor and said, "Coop!  Sit on my back and say Giddy-up Horsey!!"  So he did, but that was one wild horse; galloping, neighing, and bucking!  :)

1/7/2015

Mia ate three servings of jelly toast and ate half of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of beef & bean burrito, ate sweet potatoes, and tropical fruit.  After she was done eating at lunch she wiped her brow and said, "Whewwww!  I was hungry!"  LOL  Also at lunch Cooper dropped a piece of fruit and scooted under the table to retrieve it.  Mia said, "Don't drop it again; I don't want to see that again!!"  Silly kid!

We decided to use the climber ramp for the cars today instead of bringing in the one from the patio.  You really don't need to change things up very much to keep this age group busy and occupied!  Mia and Cooper were being silly with the cars and Mia said, "You crack me up Coop!"  I think it's so cute when she shortens his name to Coop.

Mia asked me if I'd help them build a house.  So I just started the bottom section with a few pieces and backed away while they continued to work hard at it for a long time.  Sometimes I will start working or playing with something (and not say anything) and they will soon join in and then it becomes their project.  I love how both of them are concentrating on this.

Those two were playing in the igloo and Elliott was peeking in the opening.  They were all laughing and Cooper said it was a "T-Rex!"  It was all fun and games until Elliott got a handful of Cooper's hair and the howling started!  Stinking T-Rex!!  :)

We did some art and read lots of books.  Mia will frequently read to Cooper after we are done with story time.  And it cute because they will pick the ones they liked best and re-read them.

1/6/2015

Mia ate two servings of apple muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  (Both kids loved those muffins!)  For lunch she ate several bites of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and cheese combo; ate half of waffle, and ate melon.

I decided we'd change up the painting approach today!  :)  They had a blast in the paint and especially when it started to get a bit slippery!  (I hadn't considered the "slippery" aspect!  hee hee)

And just in case you wanted proof of the fun they were having I took this picture right after they got started.  They both pretty much giggled all the way through.  :)

Then we got the ramp and some cars from the patio and the kids had lots of fun with these too.

Cooper and Mia were chanting, "I win the trophy, I win the trophy!"  It was gradually picking up momentum and getting more contentious; along with Mia pushing him!  So I intervened and she went to the kitchen with me while I was cleaning up breakfast.  As soon as we walked back into the Daycare room Cooper started again; "I win the trophy, I win the trophy!"  :)  We also read books, sang some songs, and did some sign language.

1/5/2015

Happy New Year everyone and welcome back to Cooper's Daycare Journal!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  We had a nice time with family, but getting back into the routine is fun as well. My carpal tunnel surgery went well and I am very grateful Lauralea was able to help out at Daycare.

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

I asked Mia; "Did Daddy say Go Cowboys! during the football game last night?"  This was her answer; "No; he said, go get the ball!"  I thought that was a pretty good answer!  :)

I believe Mia and Cooper are also happy to be back into their routine.  They ran hard, played hard, and pretty much had a blast all morning.  Even before Cooper arrived Mia said, "It's a wonderful day!"  :)  She tried to play "animals" all morning and Cooper pretty much just went with it.

I took a picture of the steps going up to the little balance beam.  I turned it upside-down and so it's just a slide and they were thrilled.  It was like a whole new toy!  They were taking turns laying on it and "pulling" each other to the top.  Speaking of animal play, Mia was stretched out on the slide and extended her hand to Cooper and said, "Take my paw!"

We read lots of books, did "golf ball art" (using a different kind of ball this time), played chase, and pretty much wore them out by lunch time.  As soon as they were done eating Mia said, "Now can we go to bed!?!"  :)