Mia ate whole wheat english muffin and blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken and crackers, hash browns, and cherries.

Mia was playing and crawling behind the block wall again.  (The picture in yesterday's blog.)  I could see her "whale spout" moving around.  :)  That was cute.  The block wall was pushed up against the
back room wall and Mia wanted behind there.  So she just starts sliding it away from the wall.  It didn't matter that Thomas was sitting on top of it.  Tough little critter!  :)

She was sitting in the chair and Nora was behind the chair.  They were peeking around at each other and giggling and squealing.

Then she was sitting in the swivel-rocker and riding solo while Thomas and Emily were pushing and spinning it.  Then Emily said to Thomas, "Now it's your turn!"  Except Mia didn't understand that part!    "I'm here! You guys just keep pushing!"  :)  So I watched to see what would happen.  They got bored with it and soon wandered off and Mia just kept sitting there.  :)

In the big room we have the food toys, etc.. on one side and the mattress and jumping area on the other side.  We keep the toys away from the mattress so the kids don't get hurt and roll on the hard toys.  Anyhow Mia is at the age where we start having them keep the toys on one side.  And she is totally getting what we want!  Nora is just starting to get it.  I'll say, "Keep the toy on that side Mia" (the changing table is the divider) and she'll head right back with it.  (It also helps that all the "older" kids keep them picked up too.  They're totally programmed!)  Except when she starts to get tired and doesn't want to.  I said that once today and she glared at me.  It was hard not to laugh!

Mia ate biscuit and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked beans, dinner roll, peas, and pineapple.

About the first picture: This chair in the back room is a swivel-rocker.  Kenzie and Emily were spinning it and running in circles.  It's one of their favorite games.  So Thomas and Mia were getting the free ride.

About this next picture: Nora and Mia were playing behind this 'block wall' and they were squatting down and "hiding."  (Except in this picture it's actually Emily with Mia.)  I didn't know how to depict that in the picture so here she is sitting against the wall.  :)  I thought about posting a picture of the block wall and say, "They are behind the wall!"

Mia's shoe was off and little Riley was trying hard to get it back on Mia's foot.  Mia was just watching her with a very puzzled look on her face.  Don't you wish you knew what she was thinking?

I think I may have mentioned this previously, but Mia gets a bit concerned (especially in the morning) when someone else is sitting on my lap.  Today it was Riley.  As soon as Mia noticed it she started whimpering and came smoking across the room with her arms held high.  And then she is fine as long as she gets some loving too.  :)

Mia ate two servings of waffle and ate hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her shrimp, a couple bites of brown rice, bites of red peppers, and ate oranges.

Here a classic story of how Mia operates and I know you can relate to this.  :)  I heard Lauralea talking to Riley and asking her, "Where's your binkie Riley?"  So I turn around to help look for the binkie and there is Mia standing there with her "Crap! I'm busted!!" look on her face.  And of course she's vigorously sucking on Riley's binkie.  :)   I think it's funny how she looks at us when she knows it's a 'sketchy move' and she's going to get called on it.  But she keep doing it until you notice.  :)

Mia and Nora were still in their highchairs and finishing up breakfast when they started echoing each other's sounds.  One would squawk and the other would squawk right back.  And then they'd change to another sound.

Mia played in the igloo, read books in the big chair, played with some legos, and was leading a "crawling parade" around and around the table.  Thomas and Aaron got down and were following her and they were all giggling.  Nothing beats the sound of children laughing!  :)

Mia was playing with the cameras and came up and was holding one up to her face and saying, "cheese!"  So I did it back to her and she was doing it over and over.

Mia ate most of her cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate cheese sandwich, drank half of her tomato soup, and ate apple pieces.

I had to be quick to get this picture because I knew that hat wouldn't be there for long.  :)  But she had put it on by herself and I thought that was cool.  She was also trying to put the swim goggles on.  They ended up in some hilarious positions.

And here's a picture of Nora and Mia in the back room playing with the xylo-pianos.  (That's what we call them because they are like a xylophone without the mallet.)  :)  The story preceding the picture; Mia was sitting at the table playing her's and Nora tried to take it, some yelling and screaming ensued, so I got another one and don't they look so sweet (and innocent) playing side-by-side.  :)

She'd wadded up her blanket before breakfast and was using it as a pillow, laying her head on the play table, while standing up.  :)

She played with her usual bowl and spoon, looked at lots of books, and got in lots of 'phone time.'  And various combinations of those.  She was looking at books and talking on the phone at the same time.  She can probably multi-task better than me already.  :)

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

I have some cute 'language' stories about this morning.  Mia was at the window waving big and saying, "Hi!" loud.  There was a girl walking down the sidewalk on her way to school.

Our phone was ringing and she said, "hello!" without the "L" sound.  But it was definitely a nice big hello.  She's learning expressive language at a fast pace now.  This is one of my favorite developmental steps.  :)

She was playing with the cameras so I picked one up and pointed it at her and said, "Cheese!"  And she copied that too with a "cheese."  She was also doing my name again (which I love) and she did it for Christina too.  Coral, Coral's mom, and Christina were all impressed with how well she says, "Gary" with distinct "G" and "R" sounds.

She did play with toys too.  :)  She played with her usual spoon and bowl, the cameras like I mentioned, looked at books, and was even trying to put some legos together and not just tearing them apart.  I was putting my hands over her hands so she could feel what it was like when they snapped (not really a snap, but I couldn't think of another word) into place.

Mia does the cutest little routine after lunch every day.  After I'm done washing her I will tell her to go to her crib for nap time.  She has to stop and wave and say, "night" to everyone along the way.  It's super cute.  She loves it when they respond.

Mia ate cinnamon roll and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of turkey burger, bun, and green beans; she ate her kiwi.

Here's a picture of Mia (joined by Riley) playing under the table.  She loves playing on, around, at, and under the table.  Shortly before I took this picture she was sitting on top of the table reading a book.  Notice she has her favorite spoon and cup from this food set.

Here's a picture I took yesterday afternoon.  She brought these swim goggles to me and wanted them on.  And she left them on for a minute.  I was 'chasing' her around snapping several pictures and I liked this one because she grabbed a book and started reading.  I told Lauralea these were her new reading glasses.  :)

Mia was crawling on the floor and Kenzie was crawling behind her 'chasing' her.  Mia loves that game and she was laughing and squealing.  Kenzie invited Thomas to join them and he did.  She asked him, "Shall we chase her?!"  :)

Mia was so affectionate this morning and it was sweet.  :)  She was wanting extra loves.  Two different times she noticed me snuggling or giving someone loves.  She came smoking across the room with her arms held high as if to say; "Don't forget about me! I want loves too!"

Mia ate whole wheat toast and two servings of dried mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of beef & bean burrito, ate sweet potatoes, and bites of tropical fruit.  At breakfast I asked her if she wanted more mangoes.  She shook her head 'no' and opened her mouth.  :)

Mia was kind of stretched back and leaning on Joslyn and I had to be quick to try to get a picture.  She's about ready to take off, but it was cute while it lasted.  Notice Joslyn has her arm around Mia.

Here's another 'Mia with a book' picture.  I thought it was cute because she had the book standing upright and then how close she was standing to her book.  :)  She's really examining the cow in the picture.

Mia basically played with a little bowl and spoon for almost an hour; from when she got here until breakfast time.  She'd mess with something else and go right back to the bowl and spoon.  :)  Then after breakfast that was the first thing she grabbed.  It makes journal writing pretty short and sweet.  :)

We've been doing some "testing" for our developmental check lists (and then parent meetings).  Kenzie said, "Hi Mia! You wanna do some tests?"  Mia looked at her and wandered off.  Kenzie said, "We'll do Mia later!"  :)

Mia ate most of her breakfast: kix cereal and mixed fruit.  For lunch she ate about half of her ham sandwich, bites of peas, and half of her mandarin oranges.

Mia had brought the sun glasses over for me to put on her and then I just had to take a picture.  I'd removed her binkie and that's why her hand is by her mouth.  :)  You just can't have a binkie in your mouth when you're trying to look cool!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so she was very busy checking everything out. There are ice cream toys in this food set, so there are lots of spoons and little bowls for Mia.  "Yes!  My favorite!"  :)  Riley was even allowing Mia to "feed" her.

Baby Noah had scooted over by where Mia was playing and he reached up and grabbed Mia's pants.  And was hanging on tight.  She looked at him like he was nuts and then looked at me for HELP!  "What is he doing?!"  He turned loose and she decided to stay and was holding the phone up to his ear.

I told Thomas to say bye to his mom and Mia said, "ah ah bye!!"  Thomas liked that and grinned all over.  Earlier Mia had went to the windrow to wave bye at Mark, Emily's dad.

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

Here's a picture of what Mia played with this morning and every other morning of this toy exchange.  She was holding the spoon under the faucet and then carrying these food toys to the table and playing there for a few minutes.

Mia made it into the big box again.  And of course she's immediately distressed because she's sure she's stuck forever!  :)

She was watching Nora and Riley playing in the igloo and they were making it sound like lots of fun and she had to go join them.  She was peeking in at Nora and they were giggling.

Mia played with the phones and then she was holding it up to her ear talking.  Then she was holding it up to Nora's ear, Emily's ear, my ear......and anyone else she could get close to.

Mia played with the legos; crawling in the legos drawer, on the legos table, and pulling apart lots of pieces that others had put together.  She loves doing that.

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

I was putting grapes on her tray for breakfast and she was 'chasing' after them, which she found to be quite entertaining.

She does the exact same thing whenever I come at her with a wash cloth or wet paper towel; extends her left arm for me to wash that hand and turns her face to the right away from me.  I think it's cute how she does it the same way after every meal.

We've been noticing lately that when she shakes her head 'no' it means yes.  (Almost all kids go through that phase.  So you don't need to Google it!)  :)  It was getting close to lunch time and she was ready to eat and starting to fuss a little.  Do you want your binky?  Vigorously shakes head no!  :)

She crawled up beside me on the couch and snuggled close.  I started tickling her under her chin and she was laughing.  Then she'd stick her chin out for me to do it again.

A couple days ago I journaled how focused she was heading down the hall for lunch time.  Well today when we were going the other direction (to the back rooms) she was headed down the hall and had to stop and explore everything along the way.  Peek in the kitchen, peek down the stairs (through the gate), peek in the bathroom, mess with the crib mattress that's leaning against the hallway wall, etc.  :)

Mia ate whole wheat bagel and peaches for breakfast.  She ate about half of her lunch; ham, mac-n-cheese, lettuce salad, and corn.

About the first picture; Mia had been sitting in the chair by herself reading a book.  Then Riley crawled up there to join her.  Thomas spotted them and was just waiting for Riley to get down.  As soon as she did he crawled up and he was laying his head on Mia's shoulder giving her loves.  Mia is giving him the "ok, are you done yet?" look.

Mia was playing with the food toys and I thought I'd take a picture of her playing at the sinks.  She likes to put toys in the sinks and shuffle them around.  It makes cool noises!

She was happy to see baby Reid and was patting him on his belly.  (He was laying on the floor.)  That kind of evolved into her using his belly like a bongo drum.  "Gentle touches!"  :)

Mia was watching and listening to me get on Nora's case for squealing-screaming so loud.  She immediately made the exact same sound; same pitch, volume, everything.  :)  Silly Mia!

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

Here are a couple of pictures of Mia doing some coloring with the markers at art time.  This was the first time we've tried her with the markers and she did really well.  It's about this age where we start doing this and I only had to remind her a couple of times that we draw with the markers rather than eat them.  :)  At first I was going to delete the second picture, but hey it shows what a speedy artist she is.  What she lacks in finesse she makes up for in speed!

Speaking of speed, Daddy would be impressed with how fast his little track star made it from the back room to the lunch room at meal time today.  She just zoomed down the hall as fast as her little legs could go and boy was she focused.  "Here I come and and I'm in a hurry!"

We had a lady come this morning who is a monitor for the 'food program.'  (She monitored our breakfast meal and checked to see that our paperwork was in order.)  Mia sure doesn't have any stranger anxiety.  She walked up to her and studied her very thoroughly from close-up.  :)

Mia was saying a new word ("more") this morning over and over.  (and over and over)  :)  She was pretend feeding with the food toys with Lauralea using her bowl and spoon that she packs around.  (Mia packs them around, not Lauralea)  :)   Lauralea would give her a bite and Mia would say, "moah."

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

She actually played pretty well this morning even though her eyes show that she doesn't feel the best.  She took a little morning nap and is sleeping again as I write this.

Mia played with the food toys and especially the bowls which have lids.  She likes putting the lids on and taking them off.  She had to grab a lid and put it on one of the bowls that Nora was playing with.

I put some milk in her cup during breakfast while she was eating her cereal.  She was excited to see her cup, held out her hand, and said, "mil."  (two or three times)  She also said, "nigh" to Lauralea when she was going down for her afternoon nap.  :)

I've mentioned before that I frequently change diapers on the floor in the back rooms.  Mia saw me lay down the changing mat and she starts cheering!  And immediately comes over and lays on it.  :)  Hey, these are exciting events!  She really does like routine and doing the familiar thing.

She also looked at lots of books and was sitting on the yellow bench reading.  Then in the back room she was looking at and playing with the small board books.

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

Well I don't have a lot to write about Mia today.  She played a little bit before breakfast, took a nap right after breakfast, and played a little bit before lunch.  She wanted to snuggle a lot and was not her usual self at all.  We're sure she's feeling the effects from her shots yesterday.  She never let loose of her blankie or binkie until breakfast time.

Nora was playing with the dolls and then she was carrying one of the dolls around.  Mia grabbed the doll, immediately whirled around and took off!  Nora yelled, then pursued, caught Mia from behind and took her down with a pretty impressive open-field tackle.  :)  Yes, I know Matt, she would have never caught Mia in the open field like that if Mia was feeling 100%.  :)

After her morning nap she did play a little bit in the back rooms.  She packed the little board books around and played with the legos.

When I change diapers in the back room I'll frequently just do it on the floor on the changing mat.  Mia stands there and watches and as soon as I lay down that mat she's flopping down and getting into position.  It's pretty cute.

During lunch this morning Lauralea said, "You know Mia's not feeling well when Nora is louder and rowdier than her!"  :)  I agree!

Mia arrived here shortly before 10:00 after her doctor appointment.  She ate about half of her lunch: turkey slices, crescent roll, green beans, and dried mangoes.

Darcy, you mentioned that Mia was tired when you dropped her off.  Well she must have caught her 'second wind' or something because she started playing hard and she was super happy the rest of the morning.  So she did not have a morning nap.  The first thing she did was go to the mattress and try to bounce up and down with everyone.  :)

Then she was getting in one of her favorite spots behind the climber where she frequently gets 'stuck.'  Except this time she dropped her binky and because it's a tight spot she couldn't even bend over to pick it up.  "Hey, I need some help over here!"

Her 'nose blowing thing' always makes me laugh.  Partly because of the way she wrinkles up her face and partly because she does it whenever she sees a tissue.  And it doesn't matter if she has her binky in her mouth or not.  :)  She's very young to be able to blow her nose and it's SO nice when they can do that.  We've had children leave our program and go to pre-school who still couldn't blow their nose.

Emily was sharing her barn with Mia which was nice because Mia would play there for a minute sticking her hands and arms in the doors and windows and then strolling off.  And back to play again for another minute....  She also looked at the small board books and was playing with the phone.  She was really "talking" on the phone several times and holding it up to her ear.  It sounded like a cross between chanting and singing.

Mia ate whole wheat toast and mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ham, most of her crackers, ate bean & bacon soup, and ate kiwi.  

I know we've talked about this before, but I wanted to keep a list this morning and see what Mia played with and what she TRIED to get her hands on.  :)  As you know we have toys, books, stuffed animals, etc... everywhere, but she has her eyes and ears tuned into anything that may be a bit different.  Everything is an opportunity!!  Here's what I observed:

    She hears one of the gates open up and she's right there!  (fast!)

    Lauralea is fixing ponytails and she spots the ponytail holders in their box; she's right there!

    She sees tissues (for wiping noses) in Lauralea's pocket and she's right there!

    The phone rang, I looked at caller ID to see if it was a daycare parent. I set the phone down.  She's                

    immediately there ready to grab the phone!

    I take notes to write these journals; I set down the notes and/or pen, bam, she's there!

    I use a back pillow when I'm sitting, I stand up and yup, the pillow disappears!

    Lauralea does her notes on her iPad and Miss Curiosity REALLY wants to touch that thing!

    Lauralea's jacket pocket, a baby left unattended for 3.5 seconds, and the list goes on!  Wow! Pretty      

    impressive Mia!  She doesn't miss a thing!!  :)

We have some cowboy boots with these dress-up clothes and she was trying hard to pull on one of the boots.  And she had it going in the right direction.  

She and Nora were playing in the igloo again and then Thomas and Aaron joined them.  Thomas likes peeking in at them because they'll usually squeal and he gets the desired response.  She also played with the legos and she was disassembling them again.  That is something that will occupy her attention for quite awhile: taking apart the legos.

Mia ate whole wheat bagel and dried apricots for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, bites of elbow noodles with peas, and ate applesauce.  I fed her the tilapia and applesauce mixed together and she loved it.

Do you know how long it took me to get this first picture?  She was playing with the bowl this way and I thought it was so cute!  So I grabbed the camera and of course she was off to do something else in the 13 seconds it took me to get ready!  So I gave her the bowl and eventually got her to re-enact the scene.  So the look on her face says, "Now tell me again why you want me to do this!?!"  :)

Then Mia and Riley were sitting on the floor facing each other and Riley had a bowl (like the one in the above picture) and had it sitting on her head.  Then she'd tip her head forward and the bowl would fall off and Mia would laugh.  They went through that sequence several times.

Nora and Joslyn (who you can see a little bit of if you look close in the back of the igloo) were playing in and around the igloo.  Mia joined them and I love how they are both peeking in at the same time.  And they are squealing and laughing.

Mia was being silly, tipping her head back, and trying to go in circles.  And falling on the floor.  However, she got a laugh out of the performance so she repeated it several times.  :)

Mia ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she had two servings of cheese pizza, ate steamed broccoli/cauliflower/carrot blend, and ate tropical fruit.

Hey, look at this picture.  I found another time when Mia is not moving so I can get a picture of her!!  :)  She does real good sitting still while Lauralea does her hair.  I think it helps for her to watch all the other girls getting their hair fixed too.  And it's funny becasuse she'll come back for "2nd's" and want Lauralea to fix it again!  Uhhh, she already did that Mia.

Mia was coughing and Kenzie said, "Mia! No coughing in my face!"  Just one slight detail; Mia was at least six feet away from her.  Silly kids!

Little Riley found one of Mia's shoes behind the igloo where she'd been 'stuck.'  Riley handed it to me and then sat down and started tugging at Mia's other shoe to pull it off.  I guess she figured Mia needed to get that one off too.  Mia gets up and runs away!  :)

We did a toy and book exchange and Mia explored all the new stuff.  She played with the food toys and especially liked the bowls she was showing mommy this morning.  She also like the barns and barn animals in the back room.  She's at the stage where she loves to empty the toy shelves and that's her way of playing with the toys; putting them on the floor.  She was slinging the legos across the room and a couple bounced off the door.  Yes, you have a strong arm Mia, but here's how you put them down gentle.  :)

Mia ate malt-o-meal cereal and a few raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef with spaghetti sauce, whole wheat elbow noodles, bite of snap peas, and ate mixed fruit.  We'd cut those snap peas into little pieces, but I don't think she liked the texture.

I was thinking about your comment about her being so tired early in the evening and maybe her naps have not been as restful with her not feeling the best.  (With her runny nose, etc.  However, I haven't had to wipe it yet today.)  She took a nice nap this morning and she's asleep again now with her afternoon nap.

Two times this morning I saw her go over to where Nora was sitting on the floor and examine her pony tail.  (Which is on top of her head and basically sticks straight up and we call it her 'whale spout.')  Then she patted Nora's head, but resisted the temptation to grab the ponytail.  At least that's my interpretation of what I observed.  :)

Then later she was sitting beside Nora on the floor and she reached over and lifted up Nora's dress.  She looked around and then put it back down.  :)

We were listening to some kid's music on the CD and we frequently "cheer" at the end of each song.  I saw her walking around and when the song ended she started cheering and clapping.  That's the first time I've seen her do that.

She played with the animal toy pushing buttons that makes animal sounds.  She was also putting the shaker rings on her arm again and disassembling the legos.  She loved grabbing a tower that Emily had built and abandoned.  Mia had it leveled in a few seconds.  :)