10/9/2014

Mia ate three servings of breakfast: Cinnamon toast and grapes.  For lunch she ate half of her chicken, half of dinner roll, ate hash browns, and cherries.

Yesterday afternoon we were playing outside and Baby Elliott was behind Mia and grabbed a handful of hair and started pulling.  He managed to pull those hairs out of the ponytail holder I'd just put in. Mia was not impressed!!  She yelled, "OWWW!!  WHAT WAS THAT!?!?"  I told her it was Baby Elliott and that babies will grab whatever they can reach.  Mia said, "NO!! I don't like babies do that!!"  LOL  I told her she could keep her hair out of baby's reach too, but she couldn't hear that part. She was focused on the fact that "I don't like that!"  :)

Mia was playing on the floor and I almost stepped on her, BUT I didn't!  She yelled, "Watch out where you're going Gary!!"  LOL

I thought it was cute how Mia was playing with this "Shape-sorter truck."  She had it jammed full of dinosaurs!  That one sticking his head out the window doesn't look real happy about it!!

Cooper was at a Doctor appointment until after breakfast and Mia was very engaged with toys and books.  I was at the changing table and I could hear her "growling" like a puppy, but I couldn't see her.  I peeked over the edge and took this picture.  There is a little mirror on the end of the dress-up rack and she was watching herself "growl."  :)

With these warm afternoons this week we've seen quite a few bugs outside.  Yesterday Cooper kept saying, "bug on climber, bug on climber."  And every time it was just a little fly.  He was not impressed and was telling Mia all about the bug!  I said, "You two are way bigger than those little bugs!"  I asked Cooper, "Who is bigger; Mia or the bug?"  Cooper said, "GARY!"  LOL  Later, Lauralea and I were visiting with my daughter in Louisiana and talking about bugs.  "Cooper, be thankful you are not there!!"  Spiders, cockroaches, lizards, and various other bugs were on the list that had found their way into the house!!  Even the occasional tree frog!

10/8/2014

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

Mia has been doing so much "animal play" lately.  She's usually a "puppy" or "horsey."  :)  One day she was really growling and said she was a "wolf!"  Lauralea put this headband on her this morning so I took a picture of a Hippy Animal!

Cooper and Mia were playing in the igloo and bouncing hard and crazy on the mattress. Baby Elliott crawled to the igloo entrance and watched them and then he watched their wild play on the mattress as well.  Mia also read lots of books and played with the dolls.  Here's a picture of her give her "babies" a "bath."

I took this pictures of the kids with the stickers and tape they did at Art Time.  You can see their art work on the wall when you pick them up.  The art on their cubby is from several weeks ago that has been displayed on the wall.  They love having it there and talk about it frequently during meals.

I told you about Mia running to the fence trying to get anyone with a dog to stop so she can pet it.  Yesterday afternoon there was a woman (alone) walking on the sidewalk and Mia yelled at her; "HEY! You got any dogs?!?!"  LOL  So she talked to Mia for a minute and walked on.  Mia yelled again; "HEY!  Where you going?!?!"

I'm sure you remember me talking about the logic of a two year old.  (Brain development in this age range happens to be a favorite topic of mine!)  So you have to forgive me for using this example again, but here goes!  For about 15 years I've been asking 1 - 3 year olds this question; "What does an anteater eat?"  I've never had one child in our Program answer that correctly!  You can easily teach a child the correct answer, but that is not the point here!  I was reading an alphabet book to Mia and Cooper yesterday which had a picture of an anteater (with an ant crawling on it's back) and I asked the question; "What does an anteater eat?"  Mia yells, "POPCORN!!"  :)  Love it!  Thought you might like that!  Keeping this in mind helps me have realistic expectations when dealing with this age group.

10/7/2014

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

I took this very cute picture of Kenzie and Mia this morning when we noticed they were wearing the same shirts!  I took three pictures in quick succession and Kenzie's positioning and expression were identical in all three pictures.  In contrast, Mia was looking in three different directions!  :)

I peeked around the corner and Cooper was sitting on Elliott!  (Elliott was totally fine with it and not even whimpering!  BUT I was instantly thinking about when Baby Sophie comes and later when Baby Larson arrives.)  "Uhh, sitting on the baby will hurt him!" I said.  Cooper said, "Just Mia."  Yes, occasionally sitting on Mia is alright.  LOL  Those two (Cooper and Mia) are quite hilarious together!

Cooper and Mia have frequently been serving ice cream.  And they always specify the flavor or color. "Blue" is the most popular.  This morning Cooper randomly walks up and hands me some and said, "Black ice cream!"  That was a first!  I asked him what black ice cream tastes like.  Mia answered for him, "Brown!"  (And does the sign language for "brown!")  :)  The kids contined getting me lots more ice cream and lots of different colors and each time they went to the alphabet picture poster to get it.  The picture for "I" on the poster is ice cream!

Every time someone is walking by the yard with a dog or dogs on a leash Mia sprints to the fence and is yelling for them to "stop!!" so she can "pet the doggy!!"  She was so excited and came to tell me all about it (and said it backwards); "I pet puppy and I did not lick his hand!!"  :)  Well good girl!!

10/6/2014

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

Mia keeps me laughing with some of the cute and funny things she comes up with!  At the breakfast table she randomly said, "I'm not big enough; I'm little enough!"  (She was trying to tell Cooper she was a little girl, not a big girl.)  Prior to breakfast she'd been gazing longingly at Lauralea's breakfast and said, "I like bagel and cream cheese!"  Which, of course, is what Lauralea was eating!  Then she stuck her face in Lauralea's yogurt and said (with a long and wistful sigh),  "Ahhhhh...I haven't had yogurt this year; just ice cream!!"  LOL

Cooper always recognizes the Dr. Seuss logo on the books.  One of the books in this exchange is "There's a Wocket in my Pocket."  I asked them; "What is this book?"  Cooper said, "Dr. Seuss."  Mia said, "There's a wallet in my pocket!"  LOL

There are lots of different creatures in this toy exchange so I got out the "fish tank" and set it on the sinks for the kids to examine.  The lights, bubbles, and changing colors make it fun to watch and the three fish actually look pretty realistic.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and there are lots of toys in this set!  I also got out a bag of dinosaurs that been "missing" and Cooper and Mia were thrilled with those.  One of the dinosaurs is biting Cooper's finger in this picture.

There are some combs in this toy set and Mia asked Cooper, "You want a pony?"  "Yah," he said, without much enthusiasm.  (But he was totally content to let her mess with his hair for several minutes.)  She asked, "What color do you want?"  :)  I like how she has a comb in each hand; kind of a dual threat!  Later, Cooper was combing Baby Elliott's hair.

10/3/2014

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

Mia was waiting at the window to wave to Mommy and I sat Elliott on her shoulders.  (Just a little bit of his weight.)  Mia said, "I don't want that thing!!"  LOL

Mia and Cooper played with the legos, food toys, and read lots of books again.  Mia was asking him questions out of the book; "Are you my bear?"  "No."  And after every answer he gave she was saying, "Good!"  They were also making "slides" for the animals and having the different animals slide down.  Cooper kept saying, "Wheee wheee!"   Then Mia was jabbering on the phone to "Mommy" and several other people whose names I did not recognize!  She said, "It good talk to you!!"  :)

I took this picture of Mia when she and Cooper were doing lots of running.  I love the look of delight on her face.  She's such a fun-loving little girl with tons of energy!

Here she is at Art Time with the bath foam and Cooper is just watching and laughing like crazy!  And then he was inspired to play with it in basically the same way!

Cooper decided it was Story Time and went around and picked up my three pillows.  He then arranged them on the chair and started saying, "read stories, read stories..."  Then he sat and looked at me like; "Well, what are you waiting for !?"  One of the books ("One Little Penguin and His Friends") asks questions and then a picture "pops out."  Example: "Who lives in his icy home (igloo)?"  And the little guy pops out and says, "Me!"  Soooo I read "me!"  And now Mia and Cooper always answer "Gary!!"  Cooper answered "YOU!!"  :)

10/2/2014

Mia ate two servings of cinnamon sandwich thins and ate mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey, several bites of dinner roll, ate green bean s, and cantaloupe.

Mia was watching Cooper climb up on the balance beam (you can see him in the mirror) and jump on the mattress.  She got one of the pillows, put it behind her, and was just leaning back giving Cooper instructions!

Cooper and Mia were at peak performance running and spinning this morning.  Mia was saying, "Come on Cooper! Run with me!!  Isn't this fun!?!"  And Cooper responded, "Yah!"  He was sweating like usual and his hair was matted to his head.  :)  Then Mia said, "Let's do some spinning Cooper!!  I'm spinning in circles!"  Cooper was spinning enough that he started getting dizzy.  He laid down beside Baby Elliott and was talking to him and Mia yelled, "Hey guys!! Spin with me!!"  LOL That cracked me up - "hey guys!"  (gotta include the baby!)

In the middle of their running and spinning Cooper was whimpering because he'd hit the climber and he was pointing an accusatory finger at Mia and saying, "Mia, Mia!"  I asked Mia if Cooper hit his "foot."  (It never works to just ask them "what happened?")  Her answer; "No!  JUST his head!!"  Oh good!  I was concerned it might be serious!  Silly Mia!  :)

Mia has been "bossy" at times lately so I've been reminding her who is in "charge."  I heard her repeating this to herself; "Gary's in charge!  Gary's in charge!  Gary's in charge!"  Then she said, "I understand that!!"  LOL  Oh man I roared!  That was so funny!

10/1/2014

Mia ate whole wheat toast and two servings of mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of ham, ate crackers, most of bean & bacon soup, and half of strawberries.

Baby Elliott frequently spits up after he gets fed.  And it's the "norm" for all of us around here!  He burped after I fed him and I asked Mia, "Did he puke?"  She said, "Not yet!!"  :)  And she was right! It wasn't too long before he did!

They did lots of jumping on the mattress and it was fun to listen to them.  Mia said, "You jump and I'll watch you!!  Is that good enough!?!"  "Ready Set Jump!!"  (Constant chattering!)  Maybe Cooper was getting tired of her bossing him around because he finally said, "You jump!"  :) Then shortly after that Cooper was upset about something and Mia asked me, "Did he hit his head or his elbow!?!"  :)

At Story Time we read a large stack of books and about five minutes later I took this picture.  Mia said, "Cooper!   It's book time!!"  I heard her announce that at least three times this morning!  And Cooper went to listen every time!

We did some play dough at Art Time, but that's not really Mia's favorite activity.  (She does like tasting it though!!)  While we were sitting there I sneezed really loud and Mia asked, "Are you ok!?!" She almost always asks that!  (And it always makes me laugh!)  Very cute!