5/31/13

Aaron didn't want to eat oatmeal and prunes at breakfast.  At lunch he ate all of his mandarin oranges, most of his hashbrown casserole and a bite of his biscuit.  

Aaron was dancing to the music this morning and ran into the igloo.  He came over wanting a love.  When I asked him what happened, he told me "hurt igloo".  He is answering very informative questions like that so well. 

Aaron said all of the sounds for "help" several times today when he asked "help me" for various things.  It was totally clear!  

Several of the kiddos decided, on their own that it was time to read books and headed over to the book area.  Aaron was all for that and joined them, being the last one to quit reading. 

Regardless of what one of the kiddos tells me, Aaron always comes running over me tells me he has done it too.  Today it was, "visit preschool" because Joslyn had gone to visit hers this morning for a few minutes.  Also Kenzie mentioned that she had gone to the circus (a couple weeks ago, I think) and Aaron came racing over saying, "I go circus".   It's pretty cute!  

Aaron was very proud of of the long "train" he made in the back room with the duplos today.  He showed it to me repeatedly until I realized that he wanted me to take a picture of him with it was great!

5/30/13

Aaron ate all of his melon and a bite of his French bread at breakfast.  At lunch he ate all of his dried mango and crescent roll, bites of his sliced turkey and no squash.  

Aaron brought over this one little stuffed animal (a little orange M & M guy) and asked who it was.  When I told him, he imitated it perfectly, with very strong "Mmmm" sounds.  

Aaron is now almost always wanting to play with one or some of the kiddos rather than playing by himself.  The only thing he likes to do by himself is spinning.  Then he doesn't one anyone to touch or even be close to him.  

He typically chooses Emily and/or Kenzie to try to join into play with.  Usually they include him in some role or another.  Wen he tries to play with either Joslyn or Thomas, it is a fifty-fifty percent chance of success.  They aren't as congenial about it at time or as creative in their play to make a new role for him.  

Aaron also hangs out and plays with or alongside of both Riley and Rae at times.  With Riley, it is usually when we are in our small group in the back rooms.  They both LOVE building with the Duplos, so spend time doing that, then showing each other what they have made.  

5/29/13

Aaron ate did want to come out for breakfast and neither did Emily so they played together while the rest ate.  At lunch he ate all of his saltines, ham, mandarin oranges and even a couple bites of bean soup.  Wow!  It is unusual that he eats that much at a meal here!  

Aaron had to immediately go to the rowdy side and join Kenzie and Emily in their play when he got here.  They asked him if he wanted to be their puppy and he dropped onto all fours to comply.  

After breakfast they all again played together and were pretending to "oh oo erk" (go to work).  Their car to go to work was the balance beam.  They sat on it facing the wall.  One of them would announce "We're here!" and they would all jump down and go to different areas of the rowdy side to work.  It was pretty cute.  

Kenzie and Emily were in the igloo and Aaron, all on his own, banged on the top of it, peeked inside and said loudly asked "anyone home?"  All three of them were enjoying it and laughing about it.  

I asked each of the older kiddos what song they wanted to sing and Aaron immediately told me he wanted "twinkle little star".  I didn't understand him immediately, but he stuck with it until I got it!  We were right in the middle of doing our sign language and singing when Kari came today and he still jumped up and went right over to her and the gate to go to the back room for their session.  It was cute!  

He needed quite a bit of cuddling after mom left after his session today.  He asked "where mommy?" and said he wanted mommy multiple times.  He never actually cried, but was pretty close a couple times.  Changes in routine are difficult for most of the kiddos, and he is no exception!  

5/28/13

Aaron didn't eat breakfast (bran flakes and craisins) this morning.  At lunch he ate no tropical fruit, a couple bites of corn and all of his cheese pizza.

Aaron was a puppy most of the morning.  First he was Rae's puppy, then Emily's then Kenzie and Riley's.  I guess he was trying to find just the right owner!  

Aaron was pretty sensitive this morning -- getting upset over things that generally wouldn't bother him.  He self-regulated by moving away and just watching when things started getting to him too much, which was great.  

Kenzie was "fixing" Thomas' hair and Aaron and Riley decided to join the event.  Aaron was sitting behind Kenzie and every time he touched her hair, she whirled around to look at him, which made him crack up! Kenzie loves making him (or anyone) laugh, so did it over and over.  

Aaron was thrilled with the CD I chose to play in the back room and

was marching and spinning like crazy, clapping when each song was over and being very attentive.  

Aaron worked and worked to get three of the rain sticks stacked and finally did it.  He was so proud of himself! 

5/24/13

Aaron ate his raisins at breakfast -- no malt-o-meal at breakfast.  At lunch he ate all of the meaty spaghetti sauce, a few noodles, bite of salad with ranch and no mixed fruit.  

Aaron went over and sat on Gary's back pillows that kept trying to get Gary's attention so he would "get" him!  He was just grinning, eyes sparkling and chuckling in anticipation!  

Aaron was carrying around both of the stuffed cat in the hats for

most of the time he was on the rowdy side of the big room.  One of them has a mouth that kind of opens.  He was putting his finger into the mouth opening and then saying "ow-ow-ow" like it was biting him, then laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.  He shared one of them with Rae and they put them on their shoulders like they were giving them a shoulder ride.  

Joslyn was trying to get her "puppy" Aaron to follower her.  He wasn't being very cooperative and Joslyn said," my puppy just won't listen to me!"  Aaron then told her, laughingly, "No!  I not a puppy!"  No wonder!  : )

Outside Aaron was pulling one of the wagons with Mia following along behind either pushing it or just holding on to it.  They had gone all the way around the yard that way and were going down the sidewalk to start round two.  At the same time Thomas was heading up the sidewalk on a bike.  Aaron was trying to steer the wagon around him but Mia was pushing a little too hard s he turned around to her and said, "No!  Go roun' Thomas!"  It was awesome!  We frequently remind them to "go around" each other and he was helping us out!  

5/23/13

Aaron didn't want to eat blueberries or blueberry English muffin at breakfast.  At lunch he ate all of his canned cherries and his saltine crackers, a taste of chicken and no sweet potatoes (even though Emily was trying to persuade them that they were good).  

Aaron was very wound up this morning and just wanted to race around, squealing and be loud.  It took almost constant reminders for the first while to keep his running on the rowdy side and his voice at an acceptable inside level.  

Aaron and Emily were buddies again today, of course.  As they were playing Emily fell with a pretty good flop on the floor and Aaron just cracked up and said, "you fell down!" That made Emily (who had been about to cry) start laughing, which made Aaron laugh even harder.  

Aaron kept coming over to me and saying, "wipe my nose" before breakfast, which I did despite the fact that I didn't see anything to wipe.  He must be just feeling it inside of his nose.  About 10 minutes after we were done with breakfast it did start running and he came over asking me to wipe it about every 5 minutes or so, many times AFTER he had already wiped it on him sleeve.  

Joslyn decided she wanted to stack the stacking blocks in the back room today, but didn't have the concept of putting them in order from biggest to smallest.  I was trying to help her by giving I her some prompting questions to get her to look at their sizes closer.  When that didn't work, I just started telling her which color to look for next.  Aaron was intently watching and listening to the whole thing and as soon as I said a color, he was right there with the correct one, helping her out. 

5/22/13

Aaron ate most of his peaches and no biscuit at breakfast.  At lunch he ate most of his peas a bite of his dinner roll and baked beans, and no pineapple.  

I was doing three of the girls' hair this morning and looked over at the step to the climber-balance beam.  There was Aaron sitting on the upper step with Thomas sitting in front of him.  Aaron was being the barber and obviously Thomas was the client.  Even though Thomas' hair is pretty short, he was managing to get ahold of some of it.

Aaron and Emily played together most of large group time.  One of the times Emily was holding one of the Disney characters and said, "I'm the mom!"  Aaron immediately said, "I'n dad!"  It was cute!  A little later Emily and he each had matching little Donald ducks for their "babies" and Emily announced "We gotta go home.  Come on."  Aaron jumped right up and followed her across the big room into the igloo.  

When his speech therapist came this morning, Aaron grinned all over and immediately headed over to her and the gate, ready to go to the back room where they have been working.  He is already in the routine.  

They were done right about the time we transitioned outside, which worked great because he loves outside time.  He is such a flexible and sweet little boy.  As you know, I love him so much!  

5/20/13

Aaron ate all of his Cheerios but no banana at breakfast.  At lunch he ate the cheese out of his sandwich, most of his apple slices and no tomato soup.  

Aaron latched on to the little Clifford stuffed animal out with this set and hand it in his hand the whole time he was on the rowdy side of the big room.  

Aaron was making Noah laugh so hard today.  Noah was at the edge of the black chair and Aaron was underneath and behind it.  He was sticking the Clifford guy up between the seat and back of the chair then popping it back out, like a for of peek-a-boo with it.  Noah loved it and Aaron was laughing almost as hard as Noah.  

Noah really likes Aaron and frequently follows him around.  Most of the time it is for good reason, because Aaron is doing something that Noah thinks is funny.  Aaron also is very sweet to him and will talk to him or give him loves.  

Aaron was having fun making one of the Sesame Street musical pop-up toys right after another sing.  Sometimes he would even interrupt it right in the middle of it.  Joslyn was watching what he was doing and trying to play the same ones music.  It ended up sounding kind of like a chaotic sesame street character round.  They both thought it was Great though!  

5/17/13

Aaron came out and ate a few craisins at breakfast, but no oatmeal.  At lunch he ate all of his applesauce, the shredded cheese off of the pasta and peas dish and a couple bites of lean ground beef.

I decided to forego kids music today and put on some good old wholesome country tunes.  I played some of my favorites and was dancing with them, which isn't a very pretty sight, I'm sure.  When a slower song came on I got down on my knees and did some slow dancing with any of the kiddos who wanted to.  Aaron didn't want to do it, but did watch with a pretty amused look and big smile on his face, enjoying it from a distance!

Due to the rain at outside time we decided to get down the tunnels for a change of pace.  The kiddos had a blast with it and did it over and over.  We had to remind the older ones to slow down a little to give the younger ones a chance for their turns because they were so excited.  After they had grown tired of crawling through it, Gary put it over any of the kiddos who wanted him to, so it was like they were in a tube.  That was the part Aaron liked best.  He just cracked up, both when Gary put it over him and when it did it to the others too.

Aaron was so happy that his beloved Duplo train was mostly in tact when we went to the back room.  He immediately started driving it around the hardwood, then adding to it.

For about a week now, Aaron has been cracking me up when I lay him down to change his diaper.  He has been wiggling his fingers at me as if he is trying to cast a spell on me (probably trying to make me disappear).  : )  It just cracks me up. He loves it when I do the same motion back at him and then he is the one cracking up!  What a fun little guy our Aaron is!  

5/15&16/13

Aaron came out and drank his milk at breakfast, but didn't eat any blueberries or cinnamon raisin English muffins.  At lunch he ate about half of both his kiwi and his green beans, kissing his turkey burger sandwich goodbye.  

The Speech therapist was pretty surprised that Aaron would willingly go back to the back room with her and start there without insisting on coming back out to join his friends yesterday.  She said he did really well on what they were working on also. 

Aaron was standing in front of the igloo when several of the the kiddos were inside, trying to be the door and not let anyone in or out.  That didn't make his friend on the inside or outside very happy with him!  : )

Yesterday we did sidewalk chalk for art outside for the first time this spring.  The first time they are always so excited about it and engaged with it for long time (about 20-25 minutes this time).

Aaron was pretty cuddly with me several times.  Most off the time he came over and stood right by me until I asked him if he wanted a love, then just flopped himself against me and cuddled anywhere from a few seconds to minutes.  

Aaron was so excited then I build them a big block train and he got to sit right in the front of it.  Kenzie and Joslyn both tried to convince him to relinquish his position so they could sit there, but he held firm!  As soon as the kiddos quit trying to oust him from his engineer position, he moved over to the Duplos and made his own train.

5/14/13

Aaron ate a bite of jelly toast and bites of his dried mangoes at breakfast.    At lunch he ate most of his beef and bean burrito, about half of his tropical fruit and no sweet potatoes.  

Today, almost as soon as Aaron came, Emily came over to him and asked, "Can I go run with you?"  He answered enthusiastically and started taking off his shoes so he could go to the other side and run with her.  Thomas and Joslyn also followed and they raced around like little wild things for about five minutes.  

When they had completed their laps, Thomas and Aaron started stacking the stuffed rabbits onto the black chair, knocking them off with lots of laughter then stacking them again!  

Later Aaron was lying on the couch with his head hanging over the edge of the couch and his feet stuck into the crack of the couch between the seat and the back then calling out, "Help!"  Thomas would then go over and "help" him get back up.  They then reversed roles.  They were both laughing so hard.  From there it went to flipping off of the couch by continuing to scoot back until their heads were on the floor. 

Aaron had a much better day today.  He still came over and told me, "wipe my nose" many times but usually wasn't fussing when he said it.  He also was much nicer to his friends today.  He still wasn't quite his bubbly little self, but moving in the right direction.  

5/13/13

Aaron didn't eat breakfast (Kix and mixed fruit).  At lunch he ate all of his mandarin oranges, bites of his peas and no ham sandwich.  

Aaron moved from one toy or child to another non-stop until breakfast.  It was as if his little brain was flying around and he couldn't settle on just one thing.  He usually engages so thoroughly that it was just a pretty big contrast.  He probably picking up on mom's stress over her final.  We see it so often in students kiddos during midterms or finals or even non-students when there is just something different going on that is on mom and dads minds or stressing them. 

Aaron was squatted down like a puppy on the climber-balance beam then jumping off like from that position.  It was very funny and he loved it when I laughed at him.  

Aaron has been very out of sorts today!  He only wanted toys that someone else had, didn't want anyone to look at him, let alone get to close to him or, Heaven forbid, touch him!  I also think his runny nose is bothering him because he came over to me whining repeatedly saying, "wipe my nose!"  Poor sweetie!  He was also asleep immediately at nap time, so was obviously tired.  

5/10/13

Aaron ate a couple raisins and that was all at breakfast.  At lunch he ate a couple bites of his meatloaf, a carrot and a couple bites of his French bread - no dried apricots.  

Aaron has been one of our best helpers in keeping the toys out of the "rowdy side" lately.  He spots it when one of the babies is bringing something over and immediately ones over to tell me, "Oh, oh!  Side!"  He then will wait until they drop them or put them down before grabbing them up and taking them where they are supposed to be.  : )

Aaron has really not been enjoyed it when the walking babies (except Riley) or Noah grab or even come close to him.  Since they are still pretty unstable (especially Noah), they often use the bigger kiddos as handholds on the way by.  He always acts like they have injured him, rather than just grabbed his clothes or invaded his space.  

Aaron was tickling Rae while she was sitting on the couch.  They were both really laughing.  Aaron is so sweet in how he enjoys it when others are having fun and laughing as much as if he is the one directly involved. 

Aaron pushed one of the dump trucks basically all of outside time.  When he would let go of one he would get very upset if some one else took a turn or even touched or looked at it!  

5/9/13

Aaron ate over half of his grapes and no toast at breakfast.  At lunch he ate all of his cherries, about half of his potatoes but no chicken or dinner roll.  

Aaron has been so much more smiley and active this morning -- more laughing and busy-ness.  So glad he seems to be feeling better.  He still was very ready to lay down and go to sleep at nap time though.  

Aaron was so funny today when he was trying to get one of the transparent scarves to lay down flat.  He was determined to to it without a single wrinkle and it was frustrating him because he couldn't quite get it.  He finally brought it over to me and said, "help".  I helped him lay it out and he lay down on it for a couple minutes.  When he was done, he hopped up and said "I wake!"  It was so cute!

Aaron and Rae sat together at the table playing with the food stuff for quite a while.  They really don't play together that much here, so it was interesting to watch them interact.  They were mostly playing alongside of each other, but did talk to each other about what they were doing now and then.  

Aaron was very engaged sitting at the table looking at books.  He did that for a while then started verbalizing (ether singing or talking) as he looked.  He was really "reading" them and so focused. 

When we first got outside, Aaron came racing up enthusiastically trying to tell me something.  When I got it figured it, what he was trying to tell me was that he had found a dandelion.  Gary has declared war on the "stinkin' dandelions" (as he calls them) in our yard and the kiddos have picked up on it and love to show him when they spot one before he does.    It is usually Emily, Kenzie or Riley that spots them. This was the first time Aaron has done it! 

5/7&8/13

Yesterday Aaron drank basically all of his milk at breakfast and a bite of pear then started coughing and vomited it all back up, I think.  At lunch he ate most of his oranges and one of his two crackers.  

In spite of his morning vomiting episode he actually played pretty well.  He especially liked it when Emily went over and began to play alongside of him.  They eventually started driving the mixers around the picnic table bench.  

We did some dry erase art and he was very interested in both the drawing and the erasing of the board when we were done!  

Aaron started getting very tired by a little before 11:00 and just went over and sat on the bench until lunch.  He was watching everything the kiddos were doing and chuckling once in a while at something.

Today Aaron ate a nibble of peach and drank milk at breakfast.  At lunch he ate a couple bites of corn, a nibble of macaroni and cheese and no ham or salad.  

Aaron had a quadruple teacher morning.  There was Gary and I plus his CDC person and his speech therapist.  Both of them were here for about 45 minutes, I think.  The CDC worker mostly just observed and asked us a few questions about what we have observed and how we feel he is doing and progressing.  The speech therapist observed some, but did more direct interaction with him (and the other kiddos at times).  He seemed to like it that they were here and played pretty typically.  

5/6/13

Aaron ate several bites of his Chex cereal at breakfast and no mixed fruit. At lunch he ate nothing, but did drink some milk. He just wanted to lay down.

Aaron mostly wanted to either cuddle with me or sit and watch the activities during inside time. He coughed a lot and his breathing was pretty raspy, like three of the other kiddos. This is a pretty gnarly respiratory virus!

Aaron did play with the wagons and trucks a little bit when we went outside, but kept coming over to either tell me what was wrong or just get a love or cuddle.

He was very easily frustrated all morning. He did more screaming, stomping and tantruming than he has for a long time. I am sure it all is just because he isn't feeling well, or sleeping well. He went right to sleep at nap time. Poor little sweetie!

5/3/13

Aaron didn't want to eat breakfast, though he came out and looked at it for a while! : ) At lunch he ate all of his mandarin oranges, a taste of his biscuit and almost all of the meat out of the hashbrown casserole.

Aaron and Emily were playing together again great today. They really enjoy many of the same types of things. They were both spinning around and around for minutes on end. They fall down and think that is the funnies thing ever!

They also both really like music, whether it is on the iPod or actually singing. They both especially like the books that are to songs, both when we read them to the kiddos and just looking at them and singing the songs themselves.

When we are in our small groups, usually Aaron either plays independently or with or alongside of Riley. They both really like the Duplos, which is one of our small group rooms. That makes it nice because they build along side of each other. They also love it when things tip over so they are frequently knocking over their building and cracking up!

5/2/13

Aaron ate all of his cantaloupe at breakfast and a taste of his French bread. At lunch he ate all of his dried mango and his crescent roll, a bite of turkey and a lick of his fresh pineapple (subbed for squash).

Gary was stand at the changing table with his feet apart. The kiddos always take instant advantage of the impromptu tunnel to crawl under when he stands like that. After he was done and he moved away, Aaron watched him leave and said, "uuuuuuhhhhhhhh" disappointedly.

Aaron and Rae were taking turns sitting on each other's laps and laughing like crazy. Aaron especially thought it was funny when Rae would plop down on his lap a little forcefully.

Aaron made a great train with the Duplo blocks today. After he was done he put it on the floor and was tooting and driving it all over. Noah was trying to follow him, but obviously isn't as quick as Aaron, although Aaron did have to pick up speed a couple times to get away from him.

5/1/13

Aaron didn't come out for breakfast this morning. At lunch he ate all of his saltines and ham, a taste of kiwi, at Emily's encouraging and no bean soup.

Emily didn't want to eat breakfast either, so the two of them played together while the rest of the kiddos ate. Almost all of breakfast time they were driving the mixers around the benches of the picnic table in the big room like they were their cars.

After that Aaron took several books over to the big yellowish chair and sat and read for almost half an hour. He was very engaged in looking at each picture and was talking to himself about some of the pages.

Aaron was tipping over backward while sitting on the couch then yelling "Help!" until Thomas would come over and help him up. They did it repeatedly and thought it was so funny!

Kenzie, Joslyn, Riley and Aaron were playing their own form of musical chairs without the music with the "train" they made out of the big interlocking blocks. One of them would get up for some reason and they all would shift seats.