Hudson - 8/21/2017

Hudson ate cheerios and two servings of banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate taco salad; hamburger, olives, half of lettuce and tomatoes, ate pita bread, and cantaloupe.  Reid was doing some kind of "informal survey" at Lunch time and asked everyone; "Do you guys normally get up at 2 AM!?"  Haha!  That made me laugh!  So I said, "no, do you?"  He said, "We do!  But not today.  We got up at 7:00 AM."  :)  His Mom told me this morning that Reid has been sleeping in and so today they were transitioning to get ready for the school year.  So maybe he meant 2 PM!  Ha!

Nora Hansen is still at Flathead Lake and will be back tomorrow.  I showed a video to Reid and Hudson that the Hansen Family sent me.  Nora was slashing in the water and Daddy Ryan was holding her.  Hudson didn't say anything about Nora, but said, "That Ryan!"  Haha!!  I told them Nora was playing at Flathead Lake and Reid said, "Well it's not that flat!  See the waves!"  I love their observations and it's rarely what I think it's going to be!!

As we were going outside Reid made another proclamation!  "Hey everybody!!  It smells like bacon out here!!"  LOL!!  That did make the smoke seem more pleasant!!  Isn't this next picture cute.  This is "circle time" at Little Treasures!  Avi is also sitting on a ball although you can't see it in the picture. They all wanted to do bubbles, but we were waiting until Sophie arrived!  In the last picture you can see Sophie obviously made it!!  Avi had been on the teeter-totter with Hudson and Sophie, but as soon as she got off, Reid got on and they continued to have lots of fun!

Hudson - 8/17/2017

Hudson ate most of his breakfast: whole wheat english muffin and oranges.  For lunch he ate turkey burger, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and two servings of applesauce.  I was teasing Hudson and I said, "Hudson, you never hear a word you won't mimic!"  He said, "Mimic!?!"  Haha!  Yes, mimic.  I rest my case.  :)

This next note isn't about Hudson, but I think you'll like it!  I told Reid that I was sure going to miss having him in my Daycare.  At lunch he asked me if I had any potato chips.  "No, I never eat potato chips and we never serve potato chips!"  Reid said, "Well it is my last day.  (Actually his last day is the 31st.)  LOL  Nice try Reid!  Not to be deterred he then asked if we could have "elbow noodles every day until he leaves!"  Haha!  Reid is obviously here after a two week road trip to Kansas City. Hudson followed him around this morning asking him questions and jabbering at him.  :)

I took this first picture of Hudson making faces at himself in the mirror.  I then showed him the picture and he laughed so I asked him what he was doing.  Hudson said, "I look in mirror and say, Hi Tutu!"  Haha!  When he's stumped for an answer "Tutu" is his default answer!!

I took this picture of a picture on the Daycare wall of Lauralea and I from several years ago!  (One of our old Daycare families had this done for us.)  Every day this week Hudson has looked at this picture and asked me the same question: "Is Lauralea sitting on your lap!?"  Haha!  As a side note I want to mention that we'll frequently pick up some toys before going outside in the afternoon and Hudson has been an awesome helper.

Hudson - 8/16/2017

Hudson ate most of french toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate most of Paleo Stew with turkey burger, green beans, carrots, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts.  He ate crackers and tropical fruit.  He picked up a little brussel sprout and called it a "ball."  But he bravely tried it and then ate all of it.  I was very proud of him for giving it a try and then he liked it!  Very cool.

Nora joined Hudson on the legos table while he was building with the legos.  Nora began pitching his legos back into the drawer.  Uhhh...that's not helpful Nora!  Entertaining for Gary?... yes, helpful for Hudson? .... no.  :)  Hudson is actually pretty patient and tolerant of Baby Nora.  A few minutes later Nora was at the window and Hudson was petting Nora's hair.  He said, "Your hair is soft."  Then he noticed I was watching them and he said, "I was petting her."  Haha!  "Yes; and it was very cute and very sweet."

Hudson was playing with the binoculars that have animal pictures in them.  Similar to the "viewfinder cameras" from the last play set.  However, these binoculars are much easier for the kids to use.  Hudson said, "What's this Gary?"  I told him it was "a moose standing in the water."  Avi came running over to have a look and it amused me how she was trying to have a look too!  "I wanna see!  I wanna see!!"

I primarily took this next picture because 3 of the kids were playing with the same toy!  Sometimes it does work to have multiples of the same toy!  We also read books, played outside, and tried some more Art today.  I gave them markers (I like washable markers more than crayons) but out of the 4 kids here today Hudson was the only one to make lots of marks on his paper.  The others were more interested in coloring their hands and sucking on the markers!  Ha!  So we'll try finger painting next! Hudson was very intentional with his marking this morning and is starting to do "representational drawing."  Example: This morning he said, "This is a letter I doing."

Hudson - 8/15/2017

Hudson ate bite of waffle and some grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate baked chicken, whole grain tortillas, no roasted cabbage, and ate baked cinnamon apples.

Hudson, Avilene, and Atley were all waving bye to Daddy Colin this morning and when Colin drove off Avi kept waving for a couple of moments.  Hudson was watching her closely and said, "That NOT you Dad!"  Haha!  She totally knows that Hudson!  I wonder how many times I've heard Kids say that phrase!!??!! ..... "That's not your Dad!  That's not your Mom!"

I took this first picture of Hudson and Avilene examining the little stuffed monkey with the white bottom.  Hudson said, "Oh No!!  He's got a tooth skin on his butt!!"  Haha!  What did you say?  He repeated it about 3 times for me, but I couldn't really figure out what he was saying and that's what it sounded like!!  He did point to the white tag hanging from it's butt.

The kids were watching the street sweeper this morning and Hudson said, "He's sweeping the water! (Well they did spray water on the street first!)  And in the last picture ... We don't do Art Time very often during the summer months, but enjoy going outside when we can.  However, we decided this was a good day to do some dot painting and the kids enjoy did a LOT!  I frequently moved Hudson's paper around so he didn't make a hole in his paper by pounding his paint directly on one spot!

Hudson - 8/14/2017

Hudson ate bites of breakfast: kix cereal and mixed fruit.  For lunch he ate half of turkey burger, ate hamburger bun, bites of lettuce and tomato, ate avocado, and maybe a bite of cherries.  Hudson always says, "I'm done" when he really is done eating.  Avilene was mimicking him this morning and kept saying, "I done" while continuing to shovel food in her mouth.

Our morning was somewhat interrupted when the County Health Nurse came to check my records and see if I had all the children's immunization records up to date.  Everything was good so thank you parents for remembering to bring your child's records after their regularly scheduled immunizations.  The Nurse was preparing to leave when the Food Program Sponsor also made a bi-annual visit to make sure all those records were in order as well!  Two weeks ago the State Licensor from DPHHS was here doing a yearly inspection!!  No deficiencies from any of them so all is good!!  :)  It's not a huge deal if they find something wrong; I just have to come up with a correction plan.  Unless it's something serious of course and that would be a HUGE deal.  Thank goodness it's never happened!!  (For example, I'm not allowed to store the nap mats together and have their bedding touch!  Maybe they don't realize the kids chew on the same toys!  Ha!)  Anyhow, I'm glad that's all over for a year!  It cut into our morning activities a bit, but not too bad BECAUSE:

We did a Toy, book, and Puzzle exchange this weekend and that keeps the kids engaged!  So it was kind of the perfect day for disruptions!!  :)  Avi, Nora, and Hudson were wearing some animal masks so I took this first picture when Hudson put on the "lion mask."  Cute little lion.  By the way, I should have mentioned this in the last paragraph, but when the Health Nurse walked in I told Hudson her name is "Coleen."  He started saying, "Avilene, Avilene, Avilene."  So I'm assuming that was because they sound alike and we repeated them together several times.  I shouldn't be surprised, but rhyming rarely starts this early, usually after the age of 3, so as we've mentioned many times his language development is very impressive.  Usually kids are starting to rhyme when they are leaving Little Treasures.  Nicely done Hudson!!

In this last picture Hudson and Avi appear to be having a conversation and I'm thinking maybe they're discussing the traffic during the daily commute!  "I could barely get my bike through that busy spot!!"  :)

Hudson - 8/11/2017

Hudson ate oatmeal and baked apples with cinnamon for breakfast.  For lunch he ate hamburger stew with green beans, carrots, and tomatoes.  He also ate dinner roll and apricots.  We were talking about his name being Bubba and Hudson.  He said, "My other name is Hudson Boyle."  Haha!  Yup it is!

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon when Hudson and Avi were playing on the teeter-totter.  They were so funny; laughing and giggling.  It primarily started when Avi decided to start diving off head-first, similar to what Hudson is doing in the picture.  Then it evolved to Hudson diving off and Avi trying to stand up while he was jumping off!  Good plan Avilene!!  :)

I LOVE this picture of  Hudson hugging Avilene!  Haha!!  She was barely willing to tolerate it - look at that face - just "hurry up Bubba and get it over with!!!  I need to keep moving!!"  That was very sweet of you to let him hug you Avi!  Hudson said, "I gave Avi a hug!"  All proud of himself!

Hudson loves to build with the legos, blocks, etc.  He was doing his building on the legos table and Nora was determined to terrorize him!  Ha!  So I put her on the floor and she was back up there SO fast!  Hudson was yelling and I told him to simply move his "tower" to the sink area and Nora couldn't reach it.  I took the last picture after he got it set up in a different spot.  Look out world!  Nora is getting super mobile and she has a plan!!  Haha!  We've been teaching this age group for many years and it always sounds like this: "When the little ones try to grab your toys, just move away, or ask for help!!"  :)  So my point is this; Nora is just helping Hudson with his development!!  And it won't be long until someone else is doing the same for Nora!!

Hudson - 8/10/2017

Hudson ate french toast and half of his dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch he ate pulled pork sandwich, most of peas, and most of cantaloupe.  At breakfast Sophie said, "Hey Gary, is this Snack?"  No, this is breakfast.  Why?  She pointed at Hudson and Avilene and said, "These guys said it was snack."  Haha!  I guess they could be considered an unreliable source.  Ha!

The following note is just an FYI for the Daycare Families.  Things were a bit hectic right after breakfast (actually during breakfast) because Atley puked in her breakfast tray and that needed to be cleaned and also call her Mom and Dad to come get her.  So that took some time and I'm only sharing this because if it's a stomach bug then others may have been exposed.  The State Regulations are concerned about confidentiality, but in a Family Daycare Home that is hardly possible.  I could tell you that a child had to be sent home with an illness, but it's not hard to figure out who it is!!  :)  And I feel it's important to let the Parents know when their child has been exposed.  Atley had laid her head on the chair before breakfast and started crying.  She RARELY cries and it kind of surprised Hudson. He said, "Atley pretend to cry."  It only lasted a few moments, but she was obviously not feeling good.

Hudson asked if we could "look at bear in creek."  Ok, we'll look and see if the Big Bears are still feeding on salmon.  One kept sticking it's face under the water looking for a fish.  Hudson thought that was very funny.  He said, "He's looking for a fish under there."  Later, I'd forgotten about the bear and we were singing "The Bear Went Over the Mountain..."  I asked Hudson, "What did the Bear see when he went over the Mountain?"  Hudson said, "Another fish."  LOL  That made me laugh!

Look at this picture - so cute - sometimes you bicker, sometimes you don't!!  30 seconds before the picture they were bickering!!  Moments after this picture Sophie said, "Bubba!  Your neck is sweaty!"  Haha!  Then Sophie added, "Don't hit me, ok!?!"  Hudson said or actually asked; "Are you very gentle?"  Haha!  What a pair!  :)  By the way, Sophie essentially ignored his question!  Ha!