Hudson - 7/31/2017

Hudson ate bites of whole grain chex cereal and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate hamburger on bun, bite of lettuce and tomato, ate avocado, and oranges.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Hudson was very busy checking it all out. (And that is why we were slow getting to the window Daddy Colin and you didn't see Bubba waving this morning!!  I kept telling him, but by the time he made it to the window you were probably on 39th or Brooks or whatever route you take!)  He brought me a "viewfinder" toy - I don't know what they're called, but they look like a camera, you hold them up to your eyes, and there are lots of pictures to see.  He asked, "How this work Gary?"  So I looked through it and saw a polar bear.  I said, "polar bear."  Then I clicked 2 or 3 more times and looked at other animals.  I found a Gorilla and held it up to Hudson's eye; "What's that Hudson?"  He said, "Polar Bear!"  Oh man, I was laughing so hard!!!  So I clicked it again and it was a Tiger.  What's this Hudson?  Bubba said, "Toy."  (now I'm dying)  Ok, let's try again.  Another click and it's a Kangaroo.  What's this Hudson?  "Rabbit."  Hey, you're getting closer! So I showed it to Reid and he said, "Look like a deer pooping."  I looked again and hey, it kind of did!!  LOL!  Oh man, I guess you had to be there to really know how funny it all was!!  :)

Sophie came today and announced that as a 3 year old (birthday yesterday) she could now jump off the igloo.  And she did which prompted Hudson and Avilene to immediately think they were ready to do the same.   I told Avilene and Bubba they needed to start by jumping off the blue balance beam first!  Haha!

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities!  Hudson and Avi were playing with the dress-up hats and then Hudson eventually had on 3 of them.  We did bubbles outside and the kids played on the climbers too.

Hudson - 7/28/2017

Hudson ate oatmeal and bites of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, green beans, and two servings of applesauce.

Hudson was playing with the "skillet" when I took this picture.  There is a "flipper" on this skillet for flipping pancakes and Hudson is making it "snap" with his right thumb.  And he's obviously listening to the sound.  Right before I took the picture he was waxing eloquently about riding in the airplane and telling Lauralea all about his trip to Denver.  He was listing everything he packed; "binky, lovey, backpack...."  Then he said the name of what he watched on the iPad to survive all the time in an airport!!

In this picture Hudson was stacking these toys and said, "setting this up for my Mommy!"  However, as soon as he grew bored with it and wandered off, Atley moved in to tip it over!!  Ha!  These pictures represent one of the harder "rules" at Gary's house that is not easy for this age group to grasp!  When you move away from a toy, then someone else can play with it.  They usually think all the toys are their's regardless; and especially so if they've invested some effort into it like Hudson did with his little stack in the picture.  In this case, Atley moved in for the destruction, completed the task and moved on before anyone (primarily Hudson) saw what had happened!  :)  And he was done with it because he never noticed it was gone!

Reid, Hudson, and the others were so ready to go outside and as soon as we were ready it started to rain.  So we watched it rain from the window inside!  And it poured hard for several minutes - enough that we listened to it hitting the metal roof.  We read books, sang some songs and looked at the Bear Cam in Katmai Park Alaska.  We could see LOTS of fish jumping and the bears catching them, and it's fun to listen to the water at the falls too.

Hudson - 7/27/2017

Hudson ate toasted whole wheat bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate hamburger/sausage pizza on whole wheat pizza crust with olives, mushrooms, peppers, pineapple, tomato sauce, and he ate 2 servings of crushed pineapple as well.

Yesterday and today Bode has been here when they are dropping off Reid and Bubba has been so happy to see Bode.  He stills loves his Bode friend and Bode responds so sweetly and positively to Hudson.  It's all very cute and sweet.

These 4 children in the picture below (Atley, Hudson, Avi, and Nora) were all playing at the legos table at the same time.  I always think it's sweet when this age group can play side-by-side and not be grabbing toys from the other children's hands!!  They are in the early stages of learning some social skills - which I think is one of the major benefits of a Childcare setting.

Here's another "group" picture.  These 3 were having fun watching food items pop out of the toaster. In the picture there is a pancake and an egg in midair.  (The white egg with yellow yolk is directly in front of Bubba's forehead.)  Shortly after I took this picture the song about "Nora" came on and Hudson yelled, "Nora's Song!"  It was pretty cute because they hadn't started singing the words when he recognized the tune.  (Which made me think he'd have been a great contestant on an old game show titled "Name that Tune."  Except he was born about 50 years too late!  Ha!)  Every time Nora heard her name in the song she was grinning hugely!

Avilene and Bubba had been riding their bikes on the sidewalk and they were saying, "Bye Gary, Bye Gary."  I thought this was a cute picture with them sitting side-by-side and both looking down.

Hudson - 7/26/2017

Hudson ate most of whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bite of pork roast, ate whole grain tortillas, vegetables (half of carrots, ate potatoes, bite of brussel sprouts), and ate most of fruit salad.  It was very fun to see Hudson today and have him back at Little Treasures.  He did so well - especially after listening to Daddy talk about the short night of sleep Hudson had.  I was bracing for some struggles, but no meltdowns until almost Lunch Time.  Nice job Hudson!!  However, he did go right to sleep!!  :)

Hudson started off playing with the toaster first thing and was asking; "How this work, how this work!?!"  Then he promptly sticks both pieces of bread into it and made it work just fine!!  (I caught the bread in mid-air to prove it!)  In the 2nd picture Hudson was in the igloo playing when Reid decided to peek inside.

 

Sophie was glad to see Bubba and he immediately joined her in some dramatic play.  She definitely missed that when he was gone.  She loves her dramatic play and Hudson is such a willing participant!  In the next picture he was taking her combs and she said, "Thank you Momma."  She said, "You wanna go to the park with me?"  He said, "Bonner Park?"  So they went to the park and she was pretending to be in a swing.  "You wanna push me?"  He said, "Swing."  He totally gets what she's wanting to do.  Very cute.

These last 2 pictures are obviously when we were outside and they were playing with the lawnmowers and then looking for apples that fall off the neighbor's tree for Reid to pitch back over the fence.  :)

Hudson - 7/17/2017

Hi Everyone!

Just want to let you all know that my laptop is in the shop and they are backed up with repairs for several days.  So there will be no Blogs this week and I will let you all know as soon as I get it back!  

Gary

Hudson - 7/14/2017

Hudson ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch he ate hamburger stew (ground beef with green beans, carrots, potatoes, and brussel sprouts), ate whole wheat dinner roll, and ate his apricots.

Nora was looking around at the ceiling this morning and then I noticed Hudson doing the same thing and he asked, "What Nora see!?!"  Haha!  He decided it was a "bee."  :)  I remembered to put some cream on Nora's arm and Hudson noticed that as well.  (These kids don't miss much!)  He was quizzing me incessantly from every angle!  "What you put on Nora?  What it for?  Why?  Cream, cream, you put on cream!!??"  "Yes, Hudson, like I said for the 14th time I put on cream."  Haha!  (Ok, so it was only 4 times, but it felt like more!)

In this first picture Hudson found a way to build his tower taller.  Good problem solving Bubba!  Avi was keeping a close eye on his project and then at the opportune time she gave it a big push and over it went!  "I didn't like that!!" Bubba yelled!  (And that's what I've been working with him to say!  Rather than screaming!)  Good job Hudson.  However, he followed that up with a big shove and knocked Avi over, which now had her screaming!  Not a good job Bubba - so now you're 1 for 2!  As for Avi's part - it's just hard to remember the rules - "the one who builds the tower gets to push over the tower!!"  :)  Sometimes life is just not fair!!  However, 37 seconds later they are buddies again and on to the next adventure.   In the 2nd picture Hudson joined Avi on the mattress and although they had doll blankets over their heads they managed to not crash into each other.

We played outside before it got too hot and I thought it was cute when these 2 were sitting side-by-side on the scooters.  Look at that cute Avi smile.  Love it.  They also played with the wagons, balls, on the climbers, and ran up and down the sidewalk!  I remind them to run in the grass, but the sidewalk is more fun I guess - until the inevitable crash!!

Hudson - 7/13/2017

Hudson ate toasted rye bread and a bite or two of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of pulled pork sandwich, ate peas, and cantaloupe.

In this first picture Hudson and Avi were having quite the conversation about something (probably issues with their parents - ha!) and it was so cute.

Reid is here today so there was more activity than the past 3 days.  (combined!  Haha!!)  He will be here on Thursdays and Fridays for the summer and then off to PreSchool in September.  The rest of the kids were seemingly amused watching Reid play and wrestle Hudson, but he's so big that I monitor that very closely.  Hudson was loving every moment of it!  This next picture shows what it looks like.  Speaking of Reid, he was trying to tell some "knock knock" jokes and Bubba was satisfied just chanting "Knock knock, who's there, knock knock who's there..."  Reid said, "Hey Bubba, that's not how you play knock knock!"  Ha!

We played with the bubbles outside and Hudson had lots of fun chasing them and I like how he positioned his cap backwards so he could see what is going on!!

Hudson - 7/12/2017

Hudson ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate everything as well: hamburger with marinara sauce, whole wheat spaghetti noodles, squash, and fruit salad.

We rarely look at anything on the computer as a group, but there is one web site that I like for the kids and that is explore.org.  It features many web cams set up around the country and other parts of the world as well.  My favorite at this time of year is the big brown bears feeding on salmon at a place called Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska.  We looked at them for a few minutes and the kids loved it; especially Hudson and Avilene.  (Ok, I admit, I probably loved it the most!  Haha!)  There were several times this morning you could spot 10 - 12 fish trying to jump up the falls at the same time.

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon outside.  All 4 kids were jammed in the small space in this play house, but it was hard to get a good angle for a picture.  But you get the idea!  This age group - if one person is there, they all want to be there!  :)  We played outside this morning as well and they played with the balls and wagons the most.  The 2nd picture is also from yesterday afternoon, but Hudson was working on the same thing this morning.  He said he was building a tower and he worked hard at it.  He told a couple of parents "bye" from across the room rather than come to the gate.  (Proof how engaged he was!!  Ha!)

Hudson and Avi were sitting on the blue balance beam and Hudson said, "Going on airplane."  Then he got some pillows and said, "This our backpacks."  I love how the dramatic play gets passed on from child to child.  Sophie always has Bubba involved in some kind of creative play and even though she's not here today he continues to do it with Avi.  In the last picture he decided to use the "backpacks" for pillows.  Ha!

Hudson - 7/11/2017

Hudson ate whole wheat bagel and lots of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate shrimp, two big servings of brown rice, half of stir fry vegetables, and a tasted of mixed berries.

I have a story from this morning when we were outside, but it's slightly gross for you more sensitive ones!  :)  It's one of those "you had to be there" stories, but I'll try to set it up!  We were on the patio and there was a moth on the concrete floor.  So I grabbed the camera because the kids (including Nora) were starting to gather around it and I wanted a photo of them examining the bug.  I was ready to snap the picture and just then Atley marched through the middle of the circle and squished the moth.  She didn't have clue it was there, but stomped directly on it and flattened it.  Oh man, for some reason that hit my funny bone!  Ok, so much for our bug lesson of the morning!  :)  The kids just wandered off while I scooped up the mess.

I took this picture yesterday afternoon while we were playing outside.  Avi and Bubba were looking through the little holes in the climber.

In this next picture Nora and Atley were pitching the legos out of the drawer and Hudson was putting legos into the drawer.  He said, "I cleaning up!!"  Haha!  Good luck Hudson!  And in the last picture everyone was playing and jumping on the mattress.

Hudson - 7/10/2017

Hudson ate some bran cereal and a bite or two of raisins for breakfast.  For lunch we had chicken salad (lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, olives) with the chicken and olives on the side.  He ate his chicken, pita bread, about half of salad mixture, ate olives, and two servings of pears.

Sophie and Reid are gone today so here are the 4 kids playing on the mattress at the same time.  This was their first activity after all of them arrived.  Close together and getting reacquainted after the weekend!  Ha!  Atley is a very comfortable part of our Daycare now and we love her.  Last Friday Sophie said, "Atley our new friend."  So Sweet.

In these next pictures Hudson had been arranging the doll blankets and piling pillows on the couch.  Avi joined him and even cooperated with his instructions!  Ha!  "Need a pillow?'.... "Lay down.".... "All done." .... "Nap time."  About this same time Hudson got the hiccups and said, "My tummy burping." Haha!  Never heard that one before!!

Here are a couple more Bubbaisms from this morning!!  He was singing his rendition of "One Two Buckle my Shoe..."  And I loved it.  "One, two, three. buckle my shoes."  (over and over)  So cute. Then Atley was doing some of her loud noises and she can be loud!!  Hudson said, "Pipe down."  And just in case some of you may not be aware of this - he did NOT learn that phrase at Daycare! Regardless of what Hudson says!  Haha!

Hudson - 7/7/2017

Hudson ate malt-o-meal cereal and one dried plum for breakfast.  For lunch we had roasted "beef kabobs" with zucchini, red peppers, and pineapple.  He ate half of his meat, bites of vegetables, ate pineapple, and ate his whole wheat elbow noodles.

I just want to make note of the fact that we're playing outside every morning and enjoying the fresh air before it gets too hot in the afternoon.  When the afternoon temperature in the shade is close to 100 degrees like it's been this week I've just been keeping the kids indoors.  We had lots of fun chasing bubbles this morning.  Reid was ready to go in by lunch time and said, "I'm burning up!" Ha!

Ok Mommy Maddy I've got an up to date report on Hudson's "color-blindness" or more accurately the lack thereof!!  I can say with certainty he's totally NOT colorblind!  I'd say he's obviously just not interested in colors yet and that's fine.  Lauralea and I talked about it last night and came up with a very simple way to check and I took a picture to show you.  First, and maybe most importantly, I did NOT make this a color game!  Hudson likes games so I put 4 different colored legos in a pile and set one yellow, red, green, and blue legos around the pile.  Then I just picked up the red one and said, "Can you find one that looks like this and put it here?"  Repeated the same with every color and he did it easily with NO hesitation!  I never said the actual color of any of them!  (No extra charge for this test!  Haha!!)

Hudson crawled up on the blue balance beam and acted like he was going to really jump off - "watch out people, watch out!!"  Then he simply crawled off.  Ha!  Pretty cute.  He crawled over to where Atley was laying and found her to be a nice pillow!  If you zoom in on the picture you'll see her eyes smiling and also her cute dimple.  :)

Hudson - 7/6/2017

Hudson ate lots of waffle and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch he ate most of shepard's pie: hamburger, potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  He ate toasted rye bread and a bite of cherries.

Hudson was telling me something this morning and I never could figure out what he was saying.  That rarely happens with him because he speaks so clearly!!  I finally said, "I'm sorry.  I can't understand what you're saying."  He asked, "You're sorry?"  Haha!  Yes.  (For some reason that hit my funny bone!!)  By the time I was done laughing he'd completely forgot what he was trying to tell me!  :)

Well you may not be able to see him, but Hudson is definitely in this first picture!!  He was covering himself with the "Griz Pillows" and then started asking Reid to cover him some more!  "Reid! On me, on me!"  Reid was more than happy to start piling stuffed animals on Bubba.  :)

All 6 children are here today so it's been a busy morning.  (During the summer Reid will be here on Thursdays and Fridays.)  Here's a picture when Baby Nora arrived and Sophie and Hudson were vying for her attention!  In the following picture the kids were playing a Toddler version of "Hide-n-Seek."  Sophie was telling everyone where to "hide" and then she'd count a few numbers and "look" for them.  And in the last picture Lauralea stopped by here about 10:30 and the kids went to the window to wave bye to her.  Sophie was slapping at the window and Lauralea would pretend to stumble backwards.  They (especially Sophie) were laughing SO hard.  It was pretty cute.  Lauralea was working her way back-n-forth to each one at the window.

Hudson - 7/5/2017

The funnest part about coming home from vacation is always the greeting from the Daycare children!!  (Hudson was snuggly first thing this morning!  Aww...very sweet!  I loved it!!)  So many loves and everyone is happy to be back into their routines!  We had an awesome vacation and I thank everyone again for allowing this to happen!  We made it to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, saw some old friends, went on many walks, and did lots of reading!!  Here's a picture of the sign entering NT.

One note from the breakfast table that is more about Sophie than Hudson, but she directed a question to him that was cute.  (She was excited when she realized her Crocs and Avi's Croc's matched.)  "We're matching Gary, we're matching!!"  Turning to Bubba she added; "Is that amazing Bubba!?!?"  Ha.  (He didn't seem convinced!)  Here's a picture of the kids playing on the "sidewalk" we built.

In these next 2 pictures Hudson was carefully laying out his doll blankets and putting the dolls in them.  Then when Avi walked by he decided to wrap them around her shoulders.  She liked it and kept backing up to him indicating that she wanted him "to do it again."  :)

 

The kids are picking up little apples that drop off the neighbor's tree in this picture.  They think it's lots of fun!  I never like it much because I always worry how much those fallen apples attract the bees!  So I have a standing agreement with the neighbor that I can trim back the branches that hang over our yard so the apples only fall in his yard!  So that's one chore I need to get after this week!