Reid - 11/30/2015

Reid ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate homemade canadian bacon pizza, two servings of corn, and two servings of tropical fruit.  Here are some mealtime quotes:  The boys were talking about the "weather" and Cooper said, "Not all the way cold - just kinda cold!"  I asked the boys, "What'd you do this past weekend?"  I wasn't sure what Reid was saying, but I got this much; "got Daddy legos and little Boy legos!"  Here are Cooper's two answers; "Uhhh, watched a show.  That's all I did."  Really?  "And ate superhero cereal with marshmallows."

Reid and Cooper played with lots of toys, jumped on the mattress, did some stickers at Art Time, and we read lots of books.  Reid also did lots of legos.  He was tired about 10:00 and sat on the chair covered with his blanket. Cooper said, "Hey!  Come out from there."  (Picture below)

And here's another picture of what helped Reid "come back to life!"  Cooper was yelling, "I made a J for my Mom!!"  And Reid just HAD to come out from under the blanket and see what he was talking about.  Sure enough, he caught his second wind and finished the morning strong!!  :)

This note is not about Reid, but I think you'll like it anyhow!  We were reading the "I Spy" book and it has LOTS of stuff for the kids to identify and Cooper and Reid both like the "I Spy" books.  I pointed at a harmonica and Cooper called it a "boat."  I asked him, "Cooper, do you know what a harmonica is?"  He said, "Yes."  Ok, what is it?  "A type of boat."  And that's my final answer!  :)

Reid - 11/24/2015

Reid was here for lunch and ate his chicken quesadilla (without the cheese), taste of carrots, and two servings of mandarin oranges.  I'd sat Baby Hudson in the stroller by the table at Lunch and Reid put his foot on the stroller and moved it back-n-forth for a long time!  (Without me asking him to.)  It was actually VERY helpful and kept the Baby happy.  Thank you Reid.

This was a pretty sweet set-up the boys had going on this morning.  The car ramp shooting the cars off into the legos drawer.

This isn't about Reid, but he was here and I thought you'd enjoy it!  Ha!  Yesterday Kenzie was talking about dominoes and Cooper tried to say the word with LOTS of instructions from Kenzie.  "Don-i-moes."  Nope!  "Dom-noes."  Nope!  By this time Kenzie is yelling, "DOM-I-NOES!"  LOL  You've got one more shot Cooper; "Don-a-moes."  Nope!  :)

"I don't think I posted this, but it happened a few days ago and I wrote it down because I thought it was very cute and sweet.  Reid randomly said, "Come to our house and sleep for Christmas; sleep on couch."  Lauralea and Me?  "Yes."  Well, considering how close I live to you I think I'll just sleep in my own bed.  Ha!  Reid said, "Bring bed to my house."  :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone and the Blog will be back on Monday, November 30th.

Reid - 11/23/2015

Reid ate half of cheerios and two servings of banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of peanut butter & jelly sandwich (substitute for cheese sandwich), no tomato soup, and ate lettuce salad.  At breakfast I asked the boys what they did this weekend; Reid said, "I don't know."  Cooper said, "I don't know what I did."  Well who could I ask?  Cooper said, "Lauralea."  Then after thinking about that answer for several seconds he changed it to "Mom."  :)

I'm not sure if I showed you these pictures from last Friday, but I'll post them regardless!  Tate lugged his Tuba to our house after school and wanted to play for everyone.  So here's what a one-boy-band-concert looked like at Little Treasures on Friday.  Notice where Kenzie is sitting in this picture.  Also, I'm not sure if Reid had intentionally covered his ear(s) or if he was simply leaning on his arms.  :)

Here's another picture from the concert and it was so cute because Tate asked Kenzie if she'd hold the music for him.  And she was all business about doing a great job.  :)

Reid and Cooper had a good time together this morning - when they weren't squabbling!!  They asked if they could play under the big blanket again.  As soon as I covered them up they were asking questions like, "Can you see us now?"  "Can you see my face now."  Cooper came out and said, "I can't see where I'm going under there!!"  :)

Reid was looking across the street (across Briggs Street so it was quite a distance) and said, "Hmmm, that look like Bode."  Well it was a gray-haired "Grandma Lady."  Lauralea was still here and we were laughing so he explained himself - "Him have red coat."  Oh, ok.  That explains the mistaken identity.  :)

Reid - 11/20/2015

We were done with Breakfast by the time Reid arrived and he said he had eggs and toast at home.  I could easily have fed the 5,000 with what he ate for Lunch!  :)  Large servings of ground beef, a large BOWL of whole wheat elbow noodles, large serving of peas, and a large serving of applesauce.  Here's a couple of Cooper comments from meal times today that I think you'll enjoy: "Reid doesn't eat cheese because it hurts his belly."  (That was at breakfast before Reid arrived.)  Thanks for the reminder Coop.  Then at Lunch;  He was rubbing his arms and said, "I'm getting icky from playing a lot."  (He and Reid were both sweating profusely by Lunch Time!)  What's on your arms?  "Goosebumps."  Hahahaa!!  (Maybe he was cooling off!)  Then while walking to the sink to wash after eating he said, "My feet gets good grip on the water."  (Traveling barefoot of course.)

I LOVE these first two pictures!!  When Reid walked in he reminded me of a movie out of the past: "Blues Brothers!!"  So I had them shake hands when I took this picture and here's a little something from the "Early Years" of "Dan" and "John" from the movie.

Reid was the one who initiated putting the hat on Cooper.  He sat it on Cooper's head and I suggested he put the glasses on Cooper as well!  They both were getting a huge kick out of this!

Reid asked me if I'd bring the "blanket" out for them to play and cover them up.  They probably played under there for 15 minutes and were having a blast.  "Hey Gary! Can you see us!?!"  Well, I can see the blanket moving around!  Reid started chanting; "I farted again, I farted again!"  Cooper started to say it too, but FIRST said, "I farted ONE time, I farted again, I farted again!"  :)  Details and accuracy are important!  :)  They were jumping and being crazy and I told Reid; "You're being super loud!"  He said, "I'm sweating!"  Haha!  Well that's normal, now use a smaller voice!!

Reid - 11/19/2015

Reid arrived before Lunch:  He ate turkey slices, sandwich thin, half of green beans, and two servings of strawberries.  When TJ called to let me know Reid was coming Cooper was happy too!  He said, "Oh Goody!" when I told him.  Very cute.  He truly loves having Reid here to play with him!  :)

Hudson was pretty fussy around Lunch Time and I told him, "Oh Hudson, you're fine."  Well Reid immediately picked right up on that and said, "blow my mind!" LOL!!  So here's the explanation!!  It all started with a song from the past and I can't even tell you what the name of the song is.  But Lauralea has a cousin named Nikki and I would sing that song to her, "Nikki Nikki you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind...."  In recent years years I sing it to all the kids, but use each child's name.  So Reid has heard me sing it many times;  "Hudson Hudson you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind!  Yah Hudson!!"  :)

The boys had fun at art time using markers on coffee filters and then I sprayed water on the finished product and they watch the colors run.  And it actually looks pretty cool when it all dries.  After art time the boys were asking for me to get out the Panda Bear and Big Bear.  Sophie knew just what they wanted and she was pointing and asking too.  "Bay-a, Bay-a"

Reid - 11/18/2015

Reid ate tropical fruit for lunch.  He wasn't wanting to try the beef & bean burrito or the sweet potatoes so that's all he had.  I'm sure he'll be hungry at Snack Time!  This Blog will be short because he arrived a bit after 10:30, so he played almost an hour before it was Lunch Time.

We were all glad to hear that Reid was coming this morning.  When he arrived he brought this book of Ninja Turtle stickers.  Reid and Cooper discussed every page thoroughly.  Which led to them flexing their muscles for "show and tell" and talking about Super Heroes, etc.  Reid expounded on the Hulk and Captain America and Cooper did some Ninja moves.  Boy Stuff!  :)

Cooper and Reid were in the igloo and Sophie could hear them being silly in there.  The boys had fun playing under the blanket and we also had it draped over the house we made with the big blocks.

Reid - 11/16/2015

Reid ate most of breakfast: kix cereal and mixed fruit.  For lunch he had three servings of ham sandwich, ate two servings of peas, and ate mandarin oranges.  So I asked my usual questions at breakfast;  "What'd you do this weekend?"  Coop said, "Nothing."  Ha ha!  He was basically copying Reid who'd just said, "I didn't do nothing!"  Cooper said, "I'm going to dino-land."  Where at?  "It's part of the city."  :)  He also reminded me at lunch after looking at the ham sandwich; "Remember; Reid can't eat cheese, but I can."  Thank you for the reminder Cooper.  And his next question;  "Is there any cheese in this sandwich?"  Nope.

Tate and Bode were both right there to greet Baby Hudson this morning!  So cute.  I loved it because it was the first time Bode asked if he could hold him too.  Tate, of course, is right there close by being the expert supervisor and offering a steady stream of advice!!  :)

I took this next picture when the boys were looking at the alphabet posters, finding "their letters" (that's their words) and talking about them.  They spot "their letters" everywhere there are words.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and Cooper found some dinosaur puzzles to play with and talk about.  He was telling Reid all about the dinosaurs and said, "I like dinosaurs cause they're green."  Reid said, "I like blue dinosaurs."  Cooper, of course, said, "There aren't any!"  Reid said, "I saw one!"  So I asked him "where?"  He was pointing down the road; "You have to drive up here, turn here, and over there."  :)

Little boys invariably use ANYTHING for their weapons.  I usually guide them into something different - depending on where that play is leading.  And it's a safe bet that it's into rowdiness!  Today it was the carrots in the food toys.  They are pretty long and made perfect swords!  :)  (And the Kabobs as well!!)

Reid - 11/13/2015

Reid ate meat loaf, pita bread (Costco flat bread which all the boys loved), carrots, and half of apricots.  Tate loved my meat loaf - "This is REALLY good meatloaf!"

Bode brought a book that Cooper LOVED!  "Star Wars Character Encyclopedia."  And of course Bode probably knows most of the book and he was explaining it all to Cooper!  I think Bode also loved having a super interested partner!

Then Bode was playing a game on the Tablet he brought.  He was doing his own sound effects and look at Reid and Cooper's faces.  They were roaring with laughter.  Over and over. During the time these boys were looking at books and tablets Tate was on the play mattress trying to entice everyone into some wrestling competition.  Which they eventually started of course!

Tate loved talking to Baby Hudson and playing with him.  He said, "I think Hudson is learning some manners!"  Why do you say that Tate?  "He was wiping his mouth with his burp rag!"  Ha ha!  That was a good one Tate!  I've said it before many times - he is such a natural with the babies!!

Later, Tate was regaling us with some "frog gigging" adventures in Missouri from this past summer.  And of course eating frog legs!  (It's never dull to have relatives in Missouri!) I pretty sure I enjoyed the Tate stories more than the little boys did!!  :)

Reid - 11/12/2015

Reid ate cinnamon toast and two large servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate baked chicken, dinner roll, bite or two of hash browns, and ate cherries.

The first thing the boys did this morning was look at Cooper's Alphabet Book with lots of animals.  Actually I think Reid was more excited when he saw some food!  :)  "Grapes, bananas, blueberries, and chocolate."  I think the "chocolate" was actually some kind of a nut growing on a bush, but they kept calling it chocolate which was fine with me!!  I would be in favor of chocolate growing on bushes or trees.  :)

Cooper and Reid were taking turns diving on the Panda Bear.  Except it was "mud."  "We're diving in the mud!!"  They also played hide-n-seek again today and were taking turns hiding in the same spot. "My turn to hide in there!"  Then Cooper was helping Reid "hide" under the Big Bear.  :)  Then they started building "race cars" with the big blocks.  Cooper asked, "How do you build a race car Gary?" It became an airplane which Reid called "airplane race car."  Cooper said, "It's a dinosaur race car."

Reid saw a picture of a waterfall and brought it over to show me.  It was a picture of Upper (or Lower Ha!) Falls in Yellowstone Park.  I told him I'd been to Yellowstone Park and he said he was too!  Then he added, "We just missed you there!"  Ha ha!  So cute.

Reid - 11/5/2015

Reid ate two servings of toast (whole wheat sandwich thins) and ate three servings of melon mix for breakfast.  For lunch he ate three servings of turkey slices, ate dinner roll, green beans, and mangoes.

Reid made a major announcement this morning: (except I'm not convinced!!)  He said, "Hey Gary!!"  What Reid?  "I like the dark!!"  :) Really?  These past several days the boys and Kenzie have been hiding in the igloo, and other various places while using the Big Bears to stuff in behind them.  That makes it pretty dark and so far Reid has not been very impressed!

A short time later he said to Cooper, "Let's play hide-n-seek!"  Cooper said, "Yeah, I'll hide in here!" Cooper opens the door to the stairs in the changing table.  (It's become quite the popular "hiding" spot!)  So Reid promptly went over and opened the door and Cooper said, "How it's your turn to hide!"  Cooper then stood there and watched Reid "hide" in the igloo!  Ha!  Reid hides his face and yells, "I'm ready!!"  Ha ha!

Here's a picture of how Reid started his day - foot massage from Lauralea.  He was totally enjoying it and switched feet when she asked him if he wanted his other foot massaged!  :)  His feet are actually quite ticklish, so I was a little surprised he liked this.  Poor Reid; he sure has it tough here!!  (I see in the picture that Cooper is about to grab Reid's toes!)

Lauralea also let the kids play on her iPad ( I think the Program is called "doodle buddy."

Cooper asked me to get out these other cars ramps and it's been awhile since we had them out.  He LOVES playing with them.  Reid was tired of them after 15 - 20 minutes, but not Cooper.  He played and played and played with them.  :)

Reid - 11/3/2015

Reid ate two servings of whole wheat bagel and ate apricots for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, three servings of elbow noodles, ate peas, and applesauce.  Our meal routine: I get Sophie in her highchair (eating something), dish up the boy's plates, and then call the boys to come get their bibs and wash.  They came out and said, "We were hiding."  Oh, from whom were you hiding?  "Sophie and Hophie."  (They both answered. Cooper first - then Reid.  Ha!)  Well, you were successful; especially considering she's been eating for the past five minutes!  At lunch Reid said, "My Mom said not to leave Blue Blanket on the floor."  Cooper said, "My Mom said I can get my blankie dirty!"  :)

We'd built a different shape with the blocks so they each had a section.  Cooper identified it as a "Z." Maybe not quite, but great identification.  This was their "fort."  Reid said, "I make a home!"  And promptly lay down using Big Bear as his pillow.  :)  He has it figured out what to do in his home!!!

We have lots of different kinds of toy fruits and vegetables in this toy exchange.  They velcro together and the kids can find the right match.  So, there are also "knives" in this set.  (To pry the velcro apart.) Reid was wielding the knives above his head.  (Boys will use just about anything for a "weapon" to play with. )  I always have them play with the toys appropriately, but if you have any concerns about this let me know.  I listened closely and asked questions too.  Cooper was telling me how his worked.  "You load paint into them and they fly into the mirror."  Reid's was an "arrow."  "Shoot the sky and it bounce right back."  At this age that is totally appropriate play.

This picture shows one of Reid's favorite ways to sit in the chair.  Then Cooper was spinning the chair (it's a swivel/rocker) and by the look on Reid's face I think it was all ok.

Reid - 11/2/2015

Reid ate raisin bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of canadian bacon pizza (homemade - no cheese), ate corn, and two servings of tropical fruit.  Breakfast conversation: "What'd you guys do this weekend?"  Reid; "We got eating!!  Then we came here!"  :)  Cooper: "Show about Oly-Poly at our house!"  Next question: "Do you know who's not here today?"  Reid; "Nope...Hudson!!"  "Cooper, do you know who's missing?"  Cooper: "Uhhh, Kenzo!?"  :)

I have a stool that I cut the legs very short for boys to stand on to pee.  Cooper wanted to pee like Reid - without the stool.  He said, "I'll show you I can do it without the stool."  So, standing on tiptoes,  he fired into the water and said, "Ta-da!!"  :)

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend.  I also got out some cars and the little ramps for them to play with.  There are three of the ramps, but Cooper and Reid played together with just one and did great.  And Cooper shared the little cars and car hauler he brought too.

I thought this was a cute picture.  Sophie had rolled over to where the boys were playing and thumped Reid on the head.."Hey, don't forget about me over here!"

Here's a picture of boys being boys!!  (I know you never get to see that!!  Ha!)  Here's a sample of what I was hearing most of the morning: "I got you, I got you." "You took me down."   "We tackle!"  And I really like this one from Cooper; "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!"  Of course Reid had Coop by the ankles, but he said, "Ok"  and turned loose of Coop's ankles so he could breathe.  Ha!