Reid - 3/29/2016

Just a quick note about the Blog glitch.  It all stemmed from the fact that we set up this account almost 10 years ago and it was under one of Lauralea's two email accounts and her password, etc.  So, finally got that solved and here we go!  I simply could not get access to it!  (And it's not just blogger.com - the account is through Google and that further complicated it.)  Also, I'm going to post a couple things from yesterday.

Reid ate three servings of waffles and two servings of pears for breakfast.  For lunch he ate tuna & crackers, sweet potatoes, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  Today's breakfast conversation had to do with names for Hudson.  Cooper and Reid were talking about; "Bubba, Hudson, Puke Monster, and Puke-a-saur" and a few more silly made-up words.  Yesterday at lunch Cooper was talking about the beets and he said, "They taste like rotten crackers."  I told him I'd never tasted rotten crackers - what do rotten crackers taste like?  He said, "They taste like beets!"  LOL!!!  (It's called "circular logic.")  Ha!  Yesterday at breakfast Reid finished the bowl of mixed fruit and then drank the juice.  He said, "Now that's how I like to finish it!!"

I decided not to post a couple of pictures from today when I was allowing the boys to engage in some wrestling.  However, it was major entertaining and they were having a TON of fun!!  They were expending LOTS of energy and after 5 - 6 minutes they wanted water!  I heard Cooper say, "I'm a ninja!"  Then moments later, "Hey, that's not nice!"  They had pillows and were charging each other and Cooper quickly realized another strategy was necessary and he was ducking under Reid's charge.

This first picture is from yesterday right after Reid awoke from his nap.  I love the look on his face and Baby Avi's face as well.  So precious.

These next two pictures are from this morning.  Reid has the phones all hooked together and he was proud of his accomplishment.  Then they were playing with the food toys and they asked "What's this?" See Reid's hand.  Celery.  They also played with the legos, blocks, jumping on mattress, stacking everything, and did I mention some serious wrestling!?!

Reid - 3/23/2016

Reid ate two servings of toast and two servings of mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham, two servings of crackers, ate bean & bacon soup, and two servings of strawberries.  The last two weeks Cooper has made an addition to his standard answer when I ask what he and Reid did "last night."  He's been saying, "I found my special little blanket in Mom & Dad's bed and I played at Kenzie's school!"  More breakfast conversation; Reid said, "It's really honey (sunny) out!"  Cooper said, "Gary will need to get his sunglasses when we go outside!"

Then at the lunch table they were talking about dinosaurs and Cooper talked about the "dinosaur museum and it's in Bozeman!"  Then he added; "I was really excited!  There was a T-Rex outside!" Reid said, "You mean a big dragonfly!?"  Cooper thought and answered, "Uhhmm, no."  :)  I LOVE listening to their conversations - super entertaining, but very enlightening into the world of young children!  That's always been a favorite part of my work.

Reid has been doing lots of stacking lately; big blocks, legos, and the shapes you see in the pictures below.  He worked VERY hard this morning and after many attempts he got the number up to 16 high.  Good job Reid.  I guess the 2nd picture is basically self-explanatory!  :)

Then Cooper initiated "pick up the garbage everyone!"  The yellow tub you see in the picture below was the garbage truck and the big pockets on both sides of the swivel/rocker served as a place to dump the garbage.  Cooper, Reid, and even Sophie got in on the garbage pick-up!

Reid - 3/22/2016

Reid ate blueberry bagel and three servings of apricots for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, three servings of elbow noodles, ate most of peas, and three servings of applesauce.  At the breakfast table the boys were talking about "going backwards on slides."  Cooper said, "I land on my Face!  When we go outside I'll show you!!"  Ha!  Reid said, "I go backwards, but that not really good for me!" :)
After breakfast Reid said, "Why do I always have to wash!?!"  Ha!

Sophie has been saying lots of words and I have no idea what she's saying.  She said, "nop nop" and Reid said, "Who's there?!?"  Ha!  That made me laugh.

Speaking of "landing on my face" yesterday afternoon the kids started going off the climber and doing "face-plants" on the mattress.  They were calling them "Face-first Elliott Flops!"  I guess that's the legacy Elliott left behind!  It's interesting that's what they remember and the fact that Elliott has been gone for over 6 months.  (It really was hilarious!!)  At the breakfast table Reid asked, "Why did you take down Elliott's picture!?!"

Cooper and Reid built the structure you see in the picture below with the blocks and said, "It's a ship-house!"  In the first picture you can see Cooper curled up to the left of Reid.  They were getting ready to go to "sleep."  I have 2 observations; 1.  I think Reid got the Master Bedroom!  Cooper's space looks pretty small!  2.) The full container of Star Wars goodies fell off the red block just as I was taking the picture and you can see it landing on Cooper's head!  Cooper said, "That didn't hurt!"  Reid said, "Let's do it again!!"  Ha!  I took the second picture to show that Sophie made it (with help from Reid and Gary) into the "ship-house" even though Cooper said it was for "Boys Only!!"  Although she was relegated to the stern of the ship!  :)  I love the look on Reid's face when he was looking at Sophie and inviting her in.  Such a sweet boy.

Reid - 3/21/2016

Reid ate raisin bran cereal and two servings of dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate canadian bacon pizza (no cheese), ate corn, and three servings of tropical fruit.  At breakfast Reid said, "I'm a Chief fan!"  So I asked, "Dog fan?"  :)  He said, "Nooooooo, football Chief!"  Cooper said, "Hey Reid!  The Bobcats are stinky!  They stink up the whole world!"
Then at the Lunch table they were talking about their bellies.  Cooper said, "Last night my belly got full!"  Reid said, "Last night my belly got fat!"  Cooper said, "Last night my belly got sick!"  Then Cooper paused and asked, "How fat did it get?"  Reid (extending his arms wide to the side) said, "Fat, fat, and fatter!"  :)

In Sophie's Journal today I posted a picture of Sophie showing her shirt to Reid.  She's been doing this a lot lately - putting on some piece of dress-up clothes and then racing over to show the boys; especially Reid.  She asked for help with this piece and just as soon as I got it on her, she took off.  I noticed she gave the mirror a sideways glance on the way by, but showing Reid was way more important.

I took this picture when Reid had his blanket and was relaxing on the mattress.  (He was probably almost worn-out!  This was before Breakfast!!  Ha!  Cooper climbed onto the igloo and said he wanted to jump!  Reid just laid there looking at him and Cooper informed him again two or three times - "I want to jump." - and (pointing at Cooper) Reid said, "I don't know what you're talking about!"  Ha ha!  Uhhh, I think you probably do!

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend, but Cooper really didn't even notice until Reid got here.  Coop was pretty engaged in his Star Wars and regaling me with some lofty tales.  Reid got the two carrots you see in the picture below and said, "Hey Cooper!  Let's fight with these!"  Ha.  "Well, how about we get some more food together and put in on the barbecue?"  (There are some kabobs in this toy group that go great with the toy barbecue you guys donated to Little Treasures!)  And they managed to play with them for a while without turning it all into weapons!  :

Reid - 3/17/2016

Reid arrived at 10:00 and for lunch he ate chicken, two servings of crackers, ate sweet potatoes, and two servings of canned cherries.  When Cooper saw the cherries he asked, "Are these the kind we like?"  I said, "You always like my food!"  "But not when they're rotten!!" He said.  LOL  Ok, but I usually try not to serve rotten things too often!!  They really didn't care for those fresh cherries that I froze and I guess it made a lasting impression!!  Then Cooper asked, "Uhhh Gary, can you wash my shirt at nap time?"  (It had two small spots of cherry juice.)  Nope.  I think you'll survive!  :)  Earlier Cooper had smelled Hudson's shirt and said, "His shirt smells like green apples."  One more note from the lunch table.  Reid was talking about how his Grandpa and Grandmas live a "long way."  Cooper said, "I still remember when Grandpa and Grandma went to my house!"  Reid said, "Your house?!?  That's a long way!!"  LOL

This is the cutest note from Yesterday!!  Sophie was saying "Reido" over and over and every single time he'd say, "What?"  I finally started counting and she said it between 25 and 30 times.  "Reido!" "What?"  "Reido!"  "What?".............  Also from yesterday, in the afternoon Reid asked me, "Did I feep for a long time?"  What'd you say; did you say something about your feet!?"  Ha!  Oh, I get it!  Yes, you did sleep for a long time; you took a good nap!

When Reid arrived he had a little "pokey ball" that looks like it has spikes all over it.  Cooper said, "I have a big one just like that at home with pokey things!"  Reid said, "Can you give it to me on Thanksgiving!?!"  :)  So Cooper answered, "Yes, and can you give me that little one on Thanksgiving?"  Ha!

Reid and Cooper had this " pen" where they were keeping their "pig" according to Cooper.  Cooper said, "I got my pig in a pen!"  They filled it full of animals and said it was full of "mud."

Reid - 3/16/2016

Reid arrived about 10:30 and for Lunch he ate baked beans, dinner roll, most of peas, and ate pineapple.  The Blog will be fairly short today because of him only being here a short time before I start his journal.

When Reid did arrive Cooper looked at his socks and said, "That's my favorite color!"  (Green socks of course.)  Then he asked, "What size are they!?"  Hahahaa!  Reid held out his hands and said, "This big!"  Cooper; "WOW! That's like my Dad's socks!!"  :)  Then he went on to expound about "Mom's socks" and "Dad's socks" and on and on and on and on.

I took this picture of Reid being the "gate keeper" for Cooper and Sophie.  They are in their block house and you can see Cooper peeking around the corner of the blocks.  Sophie was laying on a pillow in there and Cooper said, "I'm gonna get in there so she's not scared."  Thank you Cooper.  That is very sweet.

Reid - 3/15/2016

Reid ate waffle and no hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, no tortillas (in place of chicken & cheese quesadilla), one carrot, and ate mandarin oranges.

Cooper was doing his "everything I have is bigger" routine this morning.  "Well I have a bigger one!" Finally Reid had heard enough and he held out his arms for emphasis; "Don't tell me that!!"  That was a pretty good job of using his words.  I told him I appreciated him using his words rather than hitting.

Cooper and Reid played with some cars and running them down the ramps.  Then Cooper was under the legos table doing something and Reid was running the "controls" on the outside.  :)  What are you doing in there Coop?  "I'm turning on the jet in here!  This is a tomato machine!"  Ha!  Uh...what does a tomato machine do?!?  Coop; "I don't know!"  And Reid didn't know either so apparently it's highly classified!  (That's the first picture!)

And the 2nd picture:  Whenever the boys are kind of 'stalling-out' and needing direction I'll start working on a legos project, reading books, singing songs, etc... Today it was legos and then I will just back away and they continue working.  And I took a picture!  :)

Reid and Sophie were watching some crows feed in the yard.  Then Reid was doing some backwards jumping and said, "Jumping backwards is really hard to do!"  So he started flopping over backwards! Ha!  Requires less skill I guess.  :)

Reid - 3/14/2016

Reid had bites of cheerios and two servings of banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate three servings of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, drank most of tomato soup, and had a lick of pickled beets.  At breakfast Cooper said he'd eat more cheerios if I'd give him the green bowl.  I usually do, but completely forgot this time and Reid was already eating out of it.  Then at lunch Reid was moaning because Cooper got the green cup for his tomato soup.  Ha!  Cooper said, "Is my belly big!?"  No, it's just perfect.  When you're 3 years of age a big belly means you're big!!  He said, "Well someday my belly will be big!!"  Hahaaa!  Uh, that's not really what you want!  (Although it's a pretty easy goal to attain!)

The boys were putting the yellow benches in front of the changing table and said, "These are our hideouts!!"  Along with lots of toys they were piling in there too!

Sophie put on the Bear Mask and the boys were having a blast running from her.  The first thing she did was walk over to Reid and show him the mask.  He pretended like it scared him and they were off and running.  She was loving it.  Cooper actually is in the picture too - over by the far gate.  Cooper said, "Now do a bunny rabbit!"  (We have that mask too.)  "Now you chase us again!!"

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the kids were watching the snowflakes and they were HUGE! (Cooper, on the other hand, is not really that small!  :)  He's on his knees.)  We also read lots of books, played with the legos, and looked at Cooper's Star War books.  I was pretending to sit on Reid in the chair and Sophie wasn't too impressed!  Reid of course was laughing like crazy!  Ha!  She said, "No!"  and ran to the couch and started patting it.  Here's a place for you to sit!!  :)

Reid - 3/9/2016

Reid ate three servings of breakfast: jelly toast and mangoes.  There was a rather sizable amount of mangoes left in the serving bowl and Reid said, "Can I finish those off!?!"  Ha!  Sure.  Also, the breakfast conversation was pretty interesting as usual.  Reid kind of randomly said to Cooper, "Sometimes I love you; sometimes I don't love you."  Cooper repeated it back to him and Reid said, "That's just what I said."  So they repeated it back-n-forth 3 or 4 times.  So now I have to ask, "Who said men don't share their feelings!?!"   :)  For lunch he ate a couple bites of bean & beef burrito, ate sweet potatoes, and tropical fruit.

Yesterday afternoon Kenzie told Cooper, Reid, and Sophie, "I'm smarter than all three of you!"  And then she followed with a math quiz to prove her point.  "What is 4 + 4?"  Reid guessed "5" so he was at least understanding what she was after!  At the snack table she started in with the quizzing again!  Reid yelled, "STOP!"  LOL  I told Kenzie, "I guess he doesn't like math."  She told Reid he was going to have to learn math in Kindergarten!  :)

Reid was happy to see Hudson back at Little Treasures!  I love how he has his arm around Hudson's shoulder in the first picture.  So precious!  And in the 2nd picture he's trying to make eye contact with Hudson!  Ha!

The boys did lots of jumping, chasing, building, and destroying.  The cars cannot just go down the ramps anymore, they have to be "launched!"  In the picture below they have the animals lined-up and they are basically using them for bowling pins.  :)  Cooper had the container to his Star Wars stuff and he asked Reid, "Can you see my hands through here?"  (the clear transparent lid)  Silence.  Cooper said, "Answer yes or no."  Reid, "no."  :)

Reid - 3/8/2016

Reid ate three servings of cinnamon roll and had a good bite of dried prune.  He said, "Hmmm, this is tasty!!" But not nearly tasty enough for another bite!!  Ha!  For lunch he ate bites of scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage combo; two servings of waffles, and half of melon mix.

We'll start by introducing you all to the newest member of our Little Treasures Family.  This is Avilene Nelson and we will call her Avi.  Her Daddy and Mommy are Andy and Molly Nelson.  I already told Momma Lesley this, but Cooper asked, "Is that a boy or a girl?"  I told him that Avi is a girl.  He said, "It doesn't look like a girl."  Haha!

This is about Cooper and Sophie, but I thought you might get a kick out of it!  Sophie was chanting "Lila Lila Lila...."  Cooper said, "Layla doesn't come here anymore!"  So I explained to him that "Lila" is Sophie's cousin and she just happens to be visiting in Missoula right now.  And Sophie apparently likes to chant her name!  Cooper said, "Yes, and she doesn't come here anymore!"  LOL!!

Cooper and Reid played with lots of Star Wars "stuff" and as you can see in the picture they were using the plastic bottles for "bowling pins."  They also played hide-n-seek again just like we talked about in the Blog on 2/29.

Reid was talking about my "Golden Teeth" AGAIN!  Haha!  He said, "I want as many as you got!" Uhhh, you really don't Reid!  "Yes I do!!"  And of course he wanted to look at them and he said, "You got some on top!! -- WHY!?!"  Haha!

Reid - 3/7/2016

Reid ate several bites of kix cereal and three servings of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of ham sandwich, ate half of peas, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  Cooper provided some usual quotes at meal-times:  "After Hudson gets back from his trip it's going to be Valentines Day!"  :)  Reid asked Cooper, "How far is your Farm?"  Cooper said (with his arm stretched high in the air), "It's 100 Far!!  And Dad has that much gas!!"  I'm not surprised Cooper!  :)

Reid said, "Hey Gary!  Look at my feet!  I got big feet!"  He was wearing Lauralea's shoes!  Silly Reid.  I (and Lauralea as well) sure love this Reid guy.  He's such a joy and a fun kid.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and I took this picture when the boys were playing with these legos animals.  They had them all lined up and Reid said, "This like your poster Gary!"  So I took a picture of the poster so you could see what he was talking about.

Speaking of the poster in the picture above - here's what we talked about this morning and what we learned!!  You can't see it very well in the picture above, but in the middle and by the African Lions there is a lizard.  Cooper said, "Bode said that's a dinosaur that shoots poison!"  Haha!  Oh really?  Well let's find out what kind of lizard it really is - I'm going to believe Google over Bode.  (Sorry Bode.)  We learned there are over 6000 species of lizards and the one in our poster is a "Frilled Lizard" and here's a picture of what it looks like when it's frightened or on the defensive.  We found a short video of one.  The boys LOVED it.  They loved how fast the it could run on it's back legs!!

Reid - 3/3/2016

Reid ate cinnamon toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate most of baked chicken, ate dinner roll, bites of hash browns, and lots of canned cherries.  Interesting Breakfast conversation like usual!  Cooper said, "If you're going to Walmart you need a cart!"  Oh really, why? "Because the rules say!!"  LOL  Thanks for the heads-up Coop!  Then Cooper and Reid were talking about their shirts and Cooper said, "People say if you want one of these (pointing to his shirt) you need 20 Dollars!"  Hahahaaa!  Then in the middle of all this conversation Reid was eating grapes just as fast as I could cut them - actually faster because he was using both hands and his cheeks looked like a squirrel with his mouth full of nuts!!  The grapes were large and I had to cut them and I was giving the boys the same amount.  Reid looked at the nice stack of grapes on Cooper's plate and moaned; "Well why did Cooper get more!?!"  LOL  I roared!  He's been talking and you've been eating!!

Here's the boys in their "little house." (That's what Reid called it today.)  This has been the popular place to play lately.  It's not only small, but they jam it full of stuff!!  Also this morning Reid chuckled and said, "I called you Big D!"  I said, "No problem.  As a matter of fact you can call me Big G!  That might help with some image problems as I'm starting to shrink in my advanced age!  Hahahaaa!!

Then the boys did some drawing with these magna doodles during Art Time.  Reid was furiously drawing and said, "I made a tornado!"  His arms looked like a tornado!  Cooper was apparently impressed because he asked Reid, "Can you make one on mine?!?"  So Reid drew a "tornado" on Coop's and Cooper said, "Oh that looks cool!"  (The best scribbling he's ever seen!)  Ha!  Then I let them play with the yellow magnet toys.  They moved the buttons all around, but soon found way more fun things to do with the magnets.  So we went out to the shop and made some little magnets for them to play with.

And then we stayed outside for the rest of the morning.  No Babies were here this morning so we had more flexibility with our free time.

Reid - 3/2/2016

Reid ate blueberry bagel and two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham, three servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate corn, and apple slices.  Cooper was trying to tell me the name of a show (or movie) and it was "Rescue B...."  I tried several words and I was never quite right.  So Reid decided to help by spelling it for me!  "E O P O!"  L O L!!!

Reid was pointing at Sophie and exclaimed;  "Her can walk!!"  LOL!!  I THINK he was impressed because she was intentionally walking backwards.  "Her walk backwards like Reid, Tate, and Bode!"

This first picture is from yesterday.  Sophie and Reid had got up from their nap mats at the same time.  (Actually I was just returning from the bathroom and he was helping her up from her nap mat.  CUTE!!)  Then they went to the Play room and he helped her into the chair and started reading to her.  CUTE!!  :)  I love how she's leaning in to see the pictures.

Cooper and Reid were looking at Cooper's book about trucks and equipment.  He asked Reid, "Do you know all the words?"  (Meaning - do you know the names of the equipment?)  Reid knew some and Cooper told him the rest.  It was pretty cute and they were having fun looking at it together.  We read lots of books this morning and did some art.  Reid is super fast doing the stickers - small motor skills.  Nice job Reid.

Reid - 3/1/2016

Reid ate three servings of waffle and ate pears for breakfast.  For lunch he ate most of tuna and crackers (lots of crackers), ate sweet potatoes, and two servings of mandarin oranges.

Before breakfast the boys were playing with the barbecue again.  They were cooking dinosaurs and making hot dogs with the legos again as well.  Reid said, "Barbecue some dinosaurs!"  Except without the "s" sounds.  (You can figure that one out.)  It was so funny and he kept saying it over and over.  Then Cooper asked him, "Do you want some hot dogs?"  Reid said, "No, I'm good.  I just had breakfast at home!"  Which he did, but you should have seen him devour waffles here about 10 minutes later!!  I always tell Lesley that I'm so thankful she feeds him at home first!!

Cooper was sitting on top of the legos table and that was his "rocket."  He started yelling for Reid to join him; "Get on the rocket ship, get on the rocket ship....!!"  Reid said, "Why?"  Cooper said, "Because it's gonna blast off!  Get on because it's gonna leave you."  Reid kept on playing with the Star Wars stuff and said, "Get off the rocket hip."  :)

They were talking about Star Wars and good guys - bad guys.  Then it turned into a battle of words.  They went back-n-forth at least 25 times: Cooper said, "Good!"  Reid said, "Bad!"  Cooper said, Good!"  Reid said, "Bad!"  They started all over again about 10 minutes later except this time it was Cooper, "Yes!"  Reid, "No!"  Cooper, "Yes!"  Reid, "No!"  :)

At art time Sophie still had lots of paint on her paper so Reid helped her finish it and also did some finger painting on her paper.  She seemed quite amused (by the grin on her face) while watching him.  Another note about Sophie and Reid;  Sophie always packs his blanket to him and he verbalized it today; "Her always bring my blanket to me!"  Yup, she kind of looks out for you!

I took the two pictures below when the boys were playing with Cooper's Star Wars stuff in there.  The entire room is available and they jam themselves in the tiny cubby hole!  LOL  That cracks me up!!  You can't see it in the pictures, but the whole container of Coop's toys are in there!!  Silly guys.  Love that bottom picture!