3/29/13

Aaron came out and looked at the maltomeal and raisins and said he wanted to play, so he didn't eat breakfast here. At lunch he ate all of his meaty spaghetti sauce, most of his mixed fruit and a couple bites of salad with ranch dressing -- no noodles that I saw.

Thomas was leaning on the window sill with his feet up on the igloo today, making a bridge with his legs. Aaron watched for a little, then started trying to get Thomas to move so he could have a turn. Thomas was determined to stay their until Aaron moved away so he thought Aaron didn't want to do it anymore. They sure know how to push each other's buttons. As soon as Thomas got down, Aaron was right there to take his place! He stayed there for serval minutes, enjoying his newly found success!

Aaron really enjoyed his turn using my iPad to make his Doodle Buddy picture. He also really watched while Rae and his other friends were doing theirs.

Aaron asked Kenzie to help him "make a train" with the Duplos in the back room today. It was great because they worked together at it for about 15 minutes and managed to build a long tall and very creative train. I was in the middle of feeding Noah his bottle so I couldn't get a picture, but it was great!

3/28/13

Aaron ate all of his blueberries and a taste of his cinnamon raisin English muffin at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his canned cherries, a bite of sweet potatoes and taste of saltine and chicken.

Aaron was standing on the edge of the climber/balance beam and said, "1-3-5 blast-off!" then jumping of onto the mattress.

Aaron came up to me just chuckling. He told me, "I 'ave 'ick-ups". Sure enough, he had the hick-ups really hard. He obviously reacts to them differently than I do. They frustrate me like crazy!

Aaron and Thomas were spinning for minutes on end today, only stopping when they were so dizzy that they fell over and had to stop momentarily to regroup.

Aaron accidentally rolled off of the mattress and bonked his head on the carpet pretty hard. I played it up, saying BONK... loudly to help him not cry. It ended up being ekind of a mistake on my part because all of kiddos thought it was funny, then started rolling off and bonking their heads also. Silly kiddos!

3/27/13

Aaron ate a nibble of his biscuit and all of his peaches at breakfast. At lunch he ate most of his peas, bites of his dinner roll, a couple bites of pineapple and a taste of baked beans.

Aaron was drumming on the igloo when Kenzie and Emily were inside. He would pause long enough to peek inside, then go back to drum some more.

Aaron was standing at the edge of the climber/balance beam in the big room, saying randomness numbers before jumping off. It was pretty cute!

Emily and Kenzie were doing Riley and each other's hair today. Aaron watched for a while then went over and sat in front of Kenzie to get his hair cut also! He decided it wasn't nearly as fun as it looked after just a couple minutes, but it was still adorable!

Aaron saw Riley jumping on the mattress and went over to join her. She just lit up and started chuckling when he joined her. They jumped and laughed for several minutes. It almost looked like they were competing to see who could jump the highest, but it really didn't matter because they were enjoying it regardless.

Aaron, Kenzie and Joslyn were all driving their "trains" along the big block tracks again today. There are three sections between the interlocking bumps, so it worked great for each of them to each have their own "track" to run their trains on.

3/25/13

Aaron ate most of both his raisins and his Cheerios at breakfast. At lunch he ate his apple bits, a drink of tomato soup and a nibble of his cheese sandwich.

All of the kiddos were really burning some energy off this morning, jumping on the mattress. There was seven of then on it at once for most of about 5 minutes.

Joslyn was laying on her back and hooking one of the cake pans onto her toe and dangling it precariously over her head. When it would fall off and hit her in the face, both she and Aaron cracked up.

In the back room Aaron was lining up the square big interlocking blocks until he had 16 in a line. When someone bumped one of them and got it out of line he was right there fixing it.

3/22/12

Aaron ate over half of his craisins and a bite of oatmeal at breakfast. At lunch she ate all of his applesauce and his lean ground beef, most of the cheese out of his pasta and peas with cheese, and a bite of both pasta and peas.

Aaron and Emily were playing under chair and on mattress together for most of the time before breakfast and a lot of the big room play time afterwards also. They love to use the chair as a peek-a-boo tool. They do it under and over, behind and around it, just chuckling like crazy most of the time.

Aaron loves to pretend to be a puppy. Whenever he starts crawling around panting or barking, Emily always comes over and asks him if he will be her puppy. He always tells her "okay", but, if anyone else asks, he usually tells them no (except Riley, but he does ask -- just starts leading him around). : )

Aaron was in the corner behind the igloo and kept popping up and saying "Hi!" at Emily, Rae, Mia and Nora. The walking babies LOVED it and started to initiate it themselves.

3/21/13

Aaron ate all of his blueberries and a bite of blueberry waffles at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his green beans, about half of his kiwi and no turkey burger sandwich.

Aaron and Riley were rolling across the rowdy side of the big room floor. That side is always clear of hard toys because we keep them on the other side so they don't accidentally jump or fall onto them when they are jumping off of the climber/balance beam.

Aaron was lining toys up along the picnic table bench then knocking them off and doing it again. Riley thought it looked like a good idea and started helping with both the lining and knocking.

Aaron searched until he found all of the Duplo flower pieces and stacked them together into a flower tower! He was very excited and brought them over to show me after showing Riley, Kenzie and Joslyn first.

I smacked my hand on the changing table when I was reaching down to get his diaper out to change him today and he just cracked up! He thinks things like that are so funny! We have had so many kiddos that had that slap-stick type of humor. Even little Noah is showing signs of it! : )

3/20/13

Aaron came out for breakfast, but didn't eat any of his jelly toast or his dried mangoes. At lunch he ate all of his beef and bean burrito, a couple bites of tropical fruit and a taste of sweet potatoes.

Kenzie, Aaron and Emily were playing puppy tag this morning, at Kenzie's leading. She was being the puppy and chasing the other two around. When she caught Emily, she told her she was the puppy now. Emily then crawled around after them until she caught Aaron and so forth. They did it for about 15 minutes.

Aaron started spinning when I turned on the music and did it literally for minutes. Occasionally he would get too dizzy and fall over. As soon as he could, he would get right back up and start spinning again.

Riley got very dozy about 11:00 and was laying against the arm of the swivel rocker in the back room. Aaron came up and was gently pushing her around and around, which she liked.

Aaron has been doing so great about answering us when we ask him questions. It is awesome!

3/19/13

Aaron ate most of his plums and a bite of cinnamon roll at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his cantaloup, several bites of hashbrowns and a bite of both scrambled eggs and waffles.

Aaron was being a puppy today, so Emily adopted him and he was 'hers' for about 20 minutes. She was pretending she had a bouncy ball to play with him with, was feeding him, taking him for walks and petting him. Kenzie tried to adopt him also, but he made it clear that he wanted to just be Emily's.

Kenzie asked if we could "do the blue thingies today?" The "blue thingies" are the magna doodles. We did do them and Aaron was very engaged. He scribbled for a quite a while. Kenzie asked to have her name written on hers so she could try to trace it. Aaron had to have his written too. I wrote it then showed him how to trace around it. As soon as I quit helping him, he went back to scribbling over the top of it. : )

Aaron and Emily were putting bowls over their mouths then singing loudly together. They obviously liked the magnified/distorted sound it made.

3/18/13

Aaron ate a couple bites of Kix cereal and at least one bite of mixed fruit (pears) at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his mandarin oranges, most of his peas but only a taste of his ham sandwich.

Riley and Aaron were playing a kind of mild form of chase around the picnic table. That isn't really the rowdy side of the room, but they were
being pretty calm about it, so I didn't move them to the other side.

Aaron spent quite a bit of time looking at the books out with this toy exchange. He especially liked one that had a wheel to turn to choose different feelings.

As soon as I put on some dance (rowdier) music, Aaron moved over to the rowdy side of the big room and started spinning and dancing. One of the moves he was making was big, exaggerated steps back and forth, side to side.

One of the songs that came on was 'If you're happy and you know it'. Aaron immediately started clapping when it said to clap. He also did the other movements alongside of Thomas, laughing with him as he did it.

When we went to the back room, the kiddos wanted me to build them a 'sidewalk' so I did. Aaron had a lot of fun walking back and forth on it, especially going up and down the step in it.

3/15/13

Aaron ate all of his raisins but no rice at breakfast. At lunch he all of his meatloaf, several bites of carrots and a tasting bite of both French bread and dried apricots. He, then, asked for seconds on meatloaf, which he just doesn't do much here. Since he had done a great job with his tasting bites, we gave him the seconds and he ate all of it too. We usually don't give seconds on something unless they have eaten the rest of their food, but we do occasionally make exceptions, obviously!

After breakfast, Aaron wanted to play n the "rowdy" side of the room. When RaeAhnna came out after she was done he invited her over to play with him, motioning to his side and saying, "Rae, Rae". It was very cute!

Our furnace didn't turn on this morning and it was a little chilly after breakfast. We put jackets n the kiddos who were cold. We were all thankful when the furnace guy, Randy came over and got it going again.

Kenzie and Joslyn were using the balance beam/climber deal for their serving counter in the big room today. They were giving out chicken nuggets. Aaron kept going back over to them and asking for "more".

Aaron makes cars out of anything, or uses other toys as cars. Today he put two different kinds of Duplos together and was driving them on the floor, making car sounds as he did it.

3/13/13 & 3/14/13

Aaron ate almost all of his cinnamon toast and grapes at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his cherries and his potatoes, and bites of both dinner roll and chicken strips.

Yesterday at breakfast Aaron didn't want to eat lunch. Riley didn't want to eat breakfast either so they were out in the big room with me for quite a while by themselves they were crawling around after each other, running back and forth on the rowdy side and laughing at and with each other.

After Riley abandoned him, Emily joined him and they jumped on the mattress and off of the climber - balance beam, having a lot of fun. It is fun to watch thos two because they like to do a lot of the same things and play at the same level a lot. There is a lot of imitation of and showing off for each other. One of the things they love to do is make "snow angels" on the mattress.

Aaron was having a lot of fun building and playing with both the big interlocking blocks and with the Duplos. He made a creation with the Duplos then started spinning with it around and around. I tried to get a picture, but it (and he) was just a blur.

3/12/13

Aaron came out to eat breakfast, but didn't even get sat down before saying "no eat, play". At lunch he ate all of his orange slices, most of his saltines and at least a bite of both tuna and of sweet potatoes.

Aaron was fishing with the poles again today. After he gets a fish positioned on the pole, he is very careful as he walks around to make sure he doesn't knock it off.

Kenzie, Riley, Thomas, Joslyn, and Aaron were all squished into the little corner behind the igloo. Kenzie told them it was their car and they were going shopping at Costco.

There were a couple times today when RaeAhnna was a little rough with him, so I had to help her be gentle and give him a love. It is probable a good thing that Aaron is my kiddo when we are in our primary care groups and she is Gary's. That gives them some time apart.

When we switched to the back room the big interlocking blocks were built so that they looked kind of like a counter. Obviously Kenzie thought the same thing because she called Riley and Aaron over to get their "chicken nuggets and fries". Aaron obviously liked the idea because he 'ate' them, then went over to the counter and asked "more nuggets".

3/11/13

Aaron ate a taste of his fruit salad and about half of his Chex at breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his apples, about half of his tomato soup and several bites of his roast beef sandwich.

Christina and Matthew had an old mattress that they were getting rid of that was way more springy than our jumping mattress, so we traded and the kiddos are all having a lot of fun jumping higher than with the other one.

Aaron was putting together the Velcro fruits and vegetables then cutting them apart with the play knives. Kenzie also asked him if he wanted to go sit at the table so she could bring him food. He did and she brought him one little section of cucumber, saying " We're just having a little snack!" He looked at her so funny!

Aaron came over to get or give loves several times today. He probably is just needing a little extra attention since he has an addition both here and at home -- wants to make sure he is still special too. He is so sweet and I love him so much!

3/7/13

Aaron did come out to breakfast with much coaxing, but only had tastes and no more. At lunch he ate all of his dried mangoes, about half of her crescent roll and a bite of both squash and turkey slice.

When Riley was done with breakfast she came out and immediately headed into the igloo looking back to make sure Aaron was following her. They love playing those types of chase games.

Riley has been jumping on the floor now quite a bit instead of just on the mattress. Today Aaron was cheering for her while she was doing it, which she really loved.

Aaron was experimenting with not just crawling again, but army crawling. I am wondering if it has to do with the fact that Noah is army crawling now. It was very deliberate.

Aaron and Joslyn were hanging out under the picnic table, examining the underneath with their binoculars. Kenzie and Riley saw what they were doing and went over to start peeking in the hold and sticking the play knives through it. All of them were having a great time!

Joslyn was walking on the big block and both Aaron and Riley has to follow her. I was holding my breath, hoping there wouldn't be a major crash!

3/4/13 & 3/5/13

Aaron didn't eat breakfast. At lunch he ate all of his applesauce, some of the shredded cheese off of the pasta and peas, and a nibble of tilapia.

Aaron was having a blast racing around the rowdy side of the big room with Kenzie and Emily. Kenzie was pretending to be a puppy and chasing them around for a while and Aaron was laughing so hard. I love his laugh! You can't help but chuckle, or at least smile when you listen to him!

It is so cute how well a love fixes things when he falls or bonks into something. It doesn't even really matter if it is me that hugs him or one of his friends.

Aaron was catching fish today, in a whole new way. He left the pole on the ground and was manually putting the fish on the hook! After he got the fish on the hook, he was walking around with it dangling on his pole until he knocked it off on something.

Riley and Aaron are always glad to see each other. It is amazing how much they play either together or alongside of each other.

Aaron and Emily were also playing together, peaking around and into the igloo then racing around like something was going to get them!

3/1/13

Aaron didn't want to eat breakfast (raisins and malt-o-meal). At lunch he ate most of his fruit and all of his meaty spaghetti sauce, at least a couple noodles and a taste of chopped salad with ranch.

Aaron joined Riley under the table for some play time this morning. Emily and Kenzie were up at the top and sticking the little spoons down through the umbrella hole, which made Aaron crack up.

Aaron, Emily and Kenzie were having a lot of fun burying the stuffed animals behind the igloo. He was the sitting on the pile of them, then one of the girls was pulling out the animal directly underneath him so he plopped down on the next one. He thought that was hilarious and was laughing so hard!

I am not sure why in the world it happened, but Emily bit Aaron's back this morning. It was very strange for several reasons. First of all, she is never aggressive and has never bit before that I am aware of. Secondly, they were not in conflict -- just sitting by each other on the edge of the jumping mattress. I immediately snuggled him and put a cold cloth on it while Gary very firmly reprimanded Emily and had her take a break. Kenzie was super concerned and gave him lots of hugs. She checked in with him to see how he was feeling multiple times throughout the rest of the morning, also. She kept asking Aaron if she could lift up his shirt to see if it was "getting better". He let her the first five or six times, then got tired of that and told her No! She listened to his words great and was extra sweet to him the rest of the day. I think she decided that if his buddy, Emily, was going to do that, she had better make it up to him.

Aaron was building with the Duplos in the back room alongside Riley today. It was super cute because they were showing each other what they were doing and waiting for a response (word, sound, head nod, smile) before working on it some more.