Hudson - 5/8/2018

Hudson ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and ate three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate half of roast beef, ate whole wheat toast, probably half of roasted vegetables (carrots, potatoes, beets), and ate applesauce.  At breakfast I was busy putting butter on the muffins and cutting grapes and Hudson was jabbering in the background.  Finally he said, "Hey Gary! Whadda ya say?!" About what!?!  "About a bear with no teeth!!"  Haha!!  Oh yes, gummy bear!!  :)

Hudson and Avi had the pillows on their backs and Hudson said that was their "backpacks." Avilene said, "Got my backpack and I'm going to the airport."  She stopped in front of the mirror and Hudson asked, "Is this the airport?"  Avi said, "Yes."  Haha!

Here are some pictures from this morning's activities.  Hudson was admiring Svea's fingers in the first picture.  In the 2nd picture he was working hard on a fairly difficult puzzle.  (It has nine race cars on it.)  There are no pictures on the board and the shapes are all very close.  Well done Hudson.  In the 3rd picture the kids were coloring at Art Time.  Hudson and Atley were sharing a picture while Nora and Avi shared a picture.  The last picture represents a challenging scenario for everyone!  How do we pass each other on this narrow sidewalk!?!?  Well for starters it would help if we all went the same direction!  They actually do pretty well with this and listen well and the conflicts are very manageable!

Hudson - 5/7/2018

Hudson ate half of whole grain chex cereal and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate "Whole 30" (no beans) chili with meat, peppers, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.  He also ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so everyone was super busy all morning.  In the first picture Hudson was pushing the buttons on these cars and making them GO!   For some reason, Atley and Nora thought that was SO funny and they were cracking up!  Haha!  2nd picture; and of course a toy exchange means different puzzles!  They love their puzzles.

The highlight of the morning (maybe not for Nora) was the neighbors using a little backhoe to do the prep work for an egress window.  The next picture shows them unloading the tractor.  Hudson and Atley were excited, Avi wasn't here yet, and as you can see in the picture Nora is looking in a totally different direction!  Haha!  In the following picture; I let Hudson and Atley stand on the back of the couch (not usually acceptable) to watch out the window while the man dug a hole with the backhoe.

One of Lauralea's family stopped by to say goodbye before continuing on their trip.  She has a baby who is the same age as Linnea - within a month - so the baby played for about 20 minutes.  Hudson chatted with the Mommy for the entire 20 minutes.  Haha!  Hey, he's got a lot to say!  Next picture; While he was talking to her, he was also piling toys on the chair and calling it a "garbage pile."  He loves making these piles!!  Like I've mentioned before that is just fine as long as he doesn't have a fit when someone wants to play with a toy!!

Hudson - 5/4/2018

Hudson ate half of oatmeal and half of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate a large serving of everything; tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, green beans, and applesauce.  We had another episode of "Frosty the Snowman" at breakfast time!  I was flossing my teeth, Atley said; "Floss-teeth" except it's one word that sounds like this; "Frost-eeth."  Avi (and then Hudson chimed in) immediately said, "Frosty the Snowman!"  And Atley started singing it!  And they all started singing it!!  (This was a 're-run' from a few days ago.)  Hilarious kids!

Lauralea and her Aunt Dolores were here until about 9:30 this morning so that played a big part in the kid's behavior until they left!!  I'd been telling Aunt Dolores about Hudson's advanced language skills and so of course as soon as he saw her he started talking "baby talk!"  haha!  So stinking funny!  And that's how typical 2 - 3 olds operate!!  So I said, "Well it's not usually like this!"  :)  He did eventually start talking to her and asked; "What's your first name?"  Then, "What's your 2nd name?"  :)

First picture;  The kids were all on the couch waiting for me to gather up some books for Story Time and I'd told Hudson to "keep your hands to yourself" because he was poking at Atley and making her upset to the point of crying!  (Regardless of what she looks like in the picture!!  Ha!!)  So this was the result of my request; crossing his arms in front of him!  Ha!  Works for me!  At Story Time he asked the question I've mentioned several times; "Can you play that on the piano?"  But this time he added; "Are there any sharps or flats?"  (He remembered this from several days ago.)  Nope!  None at all and that's why I can bang it out with one hand!!  :)  My Sister is an awesome piano player, but she gave up trying to teach me ........ about 55 years ago!!  :)

Pictures from this morning;  Painting with their hands at art time.  Well everyone except for Nora and she's using a brush.  :)  Last picture; I can tell Hudson is working hard when his tongue is out!  :)

Hudson - 5/3/2018

Hudson ate whole wheat bagel serving and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate three servings of hamburger/sausage pizza with whole wheat pizza crust, tomato sauce, peppers, olives, pineapple, and mushrooms.  He ate a large serving of pineapple on the side.  At breakfast Hudson said, "Can I have some more mangoes?"  No.  "Can I have some more pears?"  No.  "Can I have some more peaches?"  Sure!!  :)

This is a picture from yesterday afternoon and it's kind of silly, but I thought it was also very cute, funny, and creative.  This little box was sitting on Avi's cubbie when Daddy Andy came to pick up the girls.  Kenzie and Riley had made it and sat it there.  (This project was NOT sanctioned by Little Treasures!  Haha!!)  The sign on the front says, "Bring back with toy in it." Haha!

I had Svea on the changing table and she was getting fussy.  Hudson said, "Hey Gary! This puppy will keep her happy for awhile!"  He held it up there and was saying, "ruff ruff, ruff ruff."  Thank you Hudson.

Next two pictures:  I love how all the kids can be jumping and rarely have conflict on the mattress.  I tell them all the time "the mattress is for everyone" and they really get it!  Look at those happy faces of Atley's and Avi's!!  Last picture; doing some stickers at Art Time.  When I took the picture Hudson was using some "eyeball" stickers and he likes putting them on the animals faces.

In this last picture Hudson has laid out the pillows in an attempt to box in Linnea.  This is one of his favorite games!!  He calls it making a "gate" for the baby!  More like a barricade than a gate!!  :)  By the way, Hudson has a pretty good scratch on his right cheek from Linnea's sharp little fingernails!

Hudson - 5/2/2018

Hudson ate most of whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate roast beef, most of whole grain tortilla, two servings of sweet potatoes, two servings of carrots, bite of potatoes, and a large serving of fruit salad.

Hudson asked, "Hey Gary!  What day is it?"  Haha!  Atley heard him and she raced across the room and pointed up at the calendar!  Very good Atley.  She's heard that conversation and made that connection!  :)  Then Hudson, Avi, and Atley were looking at a bruise/owie on the back of Atley's ankle.  (Maybe from her shoe?)  Pretty soon they're all comparing scars and battle wounds (real and imaginary) and Hudson said, "How'd you get it?!?  How'd you get it?!?"  Then they all started saying the same thing; "How'd you get it!?!  How'd you get it!?!"  Haha!  It was pretty cute.

I was changing Atley's diaper and I said, "Lift your legs high."  Hudson said, "To the sky."  (And he used the same tone and rhythm that I used.)  Pretty cute.  As we've mentioned many times He is ahead of the language curve and lately he's been having fun with rhyming words.  Most preschoolers from maybe ages 3 - 4 become able to participate in rhyming games.  :)

Shortly before lunch I told Hudson, "I haven't got any pictures of you this morning for your blog!"  (It was a busy morning!)  He said, "I can jump off the igloo!"  Haha!  Awesome!  Works for me. Let's do it!  Then he decided to have a little tug-of-war with Baby Linnea using a doll blanket.  :)

Hudson - 5/1/2018

Hudson ate toasted whole wheat english muffin and a bite of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken with stir fry vegetables, bites of brown rice, and a large serving of oranges.  Avi and Hudson were having a conversation at breakfast about being at each other's houses.  Hudson said, "Avi was at my house one time."  I repeated it (as a question) to see if I got it right; "Avi was at my house one time?"  Hudson said, "NO! MY house!!"  Haha!  Ok, I got it.

Bubba talking to Svea in this first picture.  I was a little concerned about how Avi would respond, but all I had to say was this; "Hey Avi, Baby Linnea is available; no one is talking to her!"  And Avilene took that opportunity to race over and play with Linnea.  Haha!  Hudson had this to say about Svea; "She's a nice baby."  Yes she is Hudson.  I couldn't agree more!!  :)

Next picture; Well we had a guest reader for stories this morning!  Haha!  Lauralea had a few extra minutes and the kids asked her to read.  Lauralea was sticking her finger in her mouth and doing a loud "pop" for something in the story and the kids, especially Avi and Nora, were cracking up!  Hudson thought it was funny too, but maybe not as much as the other two!  So she did it several times.  Thanks Lauralea for creating the fun moment!!  I like the picture because Avilene is almost standing up!

The last picture is Hudson playing with the magnetic toys.  He was telling Avilene that he could move three and four at the same time.  I notice Daddy Colin has the Denver shirt on Bubba today!! I'm thinking it's because Denver had a pretty good draft and that's certainly worth celebrating!  :)

Hudson - 4/30/2018

Hudson ate a large serving of cheerios and ate banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ground beef and whole grain pita bread, ate olives, bite of tomatoes, two bites of avocados, and a large serving of watermelon.  Nora has been a great example for her many many "thank you's!!"  She says "thank you" after everything!!  It's so cute!  All of the kids were saying "thank you" at breakfast and lunch!  Thank you Nora!  :)

At breakfast I asked Hudson about going to the lake this past weekend.  He said, "We cleaned up the beach."  Nice job.  Then he added, "Sophie and Nor  a were there."  Oh, that's awesome.  He continued; "Number 3; I went to sleep."  "And Number 4 I took a nap."  Haha.  That was so cute how he started listing things numerically.

Hudson STILL mentions Linnea sitting upright like it's the first time he's noticed!  Today he said, "She's sitting up!!"  Yes Bubba, she is.  For weeks now.  Everyday.  Several times a day!  :)  Then when I was feeding Linnea her morning bottle Hudson said, "I have to go potty."  I asked, "Ok, can you hold it?"  He started walking around saying, "hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it."  :)  Then randomly he started chanting, "What's wrong Baby Gar, what's wrong Baby Gar, What's wrong Baby Gar!?!"

Here are a couple pictures from the morning activities.  Avi said, "Hey!  You wanna do some snow-plowing!?!"  (That's what I call it when they plow around on the floor with their foreheads down.)  The funny part - Hudson and Atley immediately knew what she meant!  And down to the floor they went plowing their way around!!  :)  We did some coloring on coffee filters in the last picture and then sprayed them with water!