Reid - 4/29/2016

Reid ate a few bites of breakfast: brown rice and raisins.  For lunch he may have had a taste of meat loaf, ate some of his pita bread, no carrots, and bites of apricots.  At breakfast Cooper asked me to sing the "Minions' song."  Sorry Coop, I have no clue!  So he started singing; "Ba ba, ba ba ba ba, ba ba..." Then, slightly embarrassed, he said, "That's how you sing it."  Pretty cute.  And of course Reid started singing his version of it as well.  At lunch time Cooper ate a lot and for some reason Reid didn't eat much at either meal this morning.  I commented that he ate way more than Reid today and that rarely happens.  Reid shoved his mostly full plate across the table to Cooper and said, "Here!  Have my plate!"  Haha!  So Cooper ate the meat loaf and carrots.

Cooper said, "Hey Lauralea!  Come and look at our pond!!  (Made with the large blocks.)  It's a boy pond.  We built it!!  Well, hmmm,...I built some of it!"  Hahaa!!  Honestly, I never did see Cooper working on it.  At least he recognized and acknowledged that fact after he said, "WE built it!"  :)

The kids never get tired of looking at the "golden teeth!"  Ha!  Cooper said, "Can we look at your tooth again?"  Ok.  "Wow!!  That's a lot of golden teeth!"  Then Reid said, "I want that much!"  Uhh, no you really don't.  :)

I told the boys to drive their cars off the ramps instead of throwing them.  Again.  (In case you missed it, this is a familiar theme.)  Reid had just zinged a car past Cooper's ear.  No more throwing!  Cooper said, "That didn't hurt!"  LOL  Of course not!  And it also didn't hit you Goofball!!

Reid was laying on the mattress covered with his "Blue Guy" blanket and pretending to sleep.  I guess he was doing a good job of it because Cooper said, "Why isn't he waking up!?"  Then Cooper asked for the other Blue Blanket to cover up his feet and that evolved into another game for them.

Reid - 4/28/2016

Reid ate cinnamon toast and two servings of strawberries for breakfast.  When Reid was washing up after breakfast he said, "When it gets to be 5:00 we can take a nap!"  It sounded like he was seriously looking forward to that opportunity!  For lunch he ate baked chicken, bun, most of hash browns, and ate canned cherries.  He also finished off the strawberries from breakfast.  The boys were dipping their buns in cherry juice and marveling how wonderful that made the bread taste!  :)  Cooper informed Reid at Lunch that "the color of your shirt is the same color as Darth Vader's light saber."  And Reid seemed quite pleased with that bit of trivia.  :)

I was putting breakfast stuff in the kitchen when I heard Cooper start crying.  When I came around the corner Reid was already giving Cooper hugs with one arm and with his other hand he was trying to cover Cooper's howling mouth.  He always thinks quick hugs will keep him from getting into trouble!  Ha!  I'd already given them instructions to find other ways to play with the Star Wars toys instead of throwing them and apparently a wildly thrown car had hit Coop in the head.  And that's the reason I don't allow toys to be thrown in the house, I told them.  They were both nodding in agreement!  Ha!  So we read some books and did some more calming type of activities.

I was at the gate watching Sophie and she was standing alone across the room.  I said (to no one in particular, mostly to myself), "I think maybe Sophie's pooping again."  Reid made the astute observation; "You smell it all the way from there!?!"  Haahaa!!!  Not yet!!

Cooper brought yet another Star Wars toy and I took a picture of Reid closely examining it.  Much of the morning was spent building weapons, launching pads to launch those weapons, and setting "traps" (according to Cooper) for the unsuspecting babies.  :)

Reid - 4/27/2016

Reid ate blueberry bagel and three servings of pears for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of ham, three servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate corn, and two servings of apple slices.  I had some mustard out and I put it on some bread for a ham sandwich and Reid said, "I like mustard!!  I want some on my corn; it's yellow and the corn is yellow."  So finally I put some mustard on three or four kernels of corn and he ate it.  He said, "That good, but I not want anymore."  :)

Lauralea hadn't seen Sophie for several days and after fixing Sophie's hair and singing to her said, "I missed you!"  And Reid said, "Did you miss me for one whole day!?!"  (After being gone on Monday.)  :)  He said, "I had a Star Wars day!"  He keeps talking about the "Bad Lip Reading" thing and so we watched a small segment, but seeing as I'm not a Star Wars fan it really didn't make much sense to me!  Hahaa!  Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" things to appreciate it!  :)

Cooper is having a Grandma Day so it is just Sophie and Reid today along with the two little ones.  Reid is amazingly sweet and gentle with Sophie!  I'm very impressed!  Actually, all three of the Templeton Boys are wonderful with kids younger than they are.  In the first picture they were building something and Reid said, "I'm building it for Hofie!!"  Ha!  (It took Sophie a while to realize he just wanted blue and green on the tower on the right side of picture - his two favorite colors!)  Just now as I'm doing this Blog, Bubba just barreled through the tower and collapsed it!  LOL!  It didn't even faze him!  He just looked around to see what the heck happened!  Ha!  At least Reid and Sophie are sleeping so they didn't witness the destruction!!

Sophie and Reid were having fun on the mattress and he was bonking her gently with the yellow pillow.  You can see the end result of that in the first picture!  So cute.  Then Sophie went and got a book and asked him to read it to her.  We read books at Story Time and did some stickers at Art.

Reid - 4/26/2016

Reid ate three servings of waffle and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate tuna & crackers, sweet potatoes, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  Reid's shirt has a picture of a T-Rex and it says, "awesome-sauraus."  At lunch time Cooper looked at the shirt and said, "I need to sound-out Reid's shirt...tyrannosaurus rex!"  Haahaa!  So cute!  Good job Cooper.

Sophie put on the Wolf mask and the boys started running wildly (which is why Cooper is not in the first two pictures - he was kind of a blur!)  and yelling like they were scared!  They were having lots of fun with that game and basically all Sophie did was just stand there.  The boys took care of the details which only consisted of Run & Yell!!

The boys played several games with Sophie and in the picture below they were camping in the igloo. They had pillows in there and Sophie kept fetching them food and drinks!  We also did dot painting at Art Time and read lots of books.  Cooper asked Reid, "Did you miss Sophie?"  :)  (I didn't hear Reid's reply - hearing aids at the repair shop!!)  Ha!  Then the boys were jumping off the igloo and balance beam and Reid was landing on his butt.  He said, "Bode call it butt-bombs!"

Reid - 4/22/2016

Reid ate bites of chex cereal (oatmeal on Monday) and ate canned prunes for breakfast.  Yes he ate some prunes!!  :)  A few months ago he wouldn't touch them.  Then he started licking them, then finally tried a bite, and continued to try bites.  Today I put a bite on his plate and he ate it and asked for more.  :)  For lunch he ate hash brown casserole, two servings of biscuits, and three servings of mandarin oranges.  At breakfast Cooper gave the updated weather forecast; "On the news this morning there's a storm warning!  There's a storm rolling in!"  (Totally reminded me of Kenzie.)  Apparently Reid was impressed because he said; "Wow!"  :)

I liked Momma Lesley's reaction when she saw the 2 "tooter machines" this morning; "I live in a house with 3 boys (I'm thinking actually 4 boys!  Ha!)  and why would I want or need a tooter machine!"  I took this picture of the boys initiating Hudson with their tooter machines and I like the look on Hudson's face!  Cooper was singing, "I'm tooting tooting tooting, I'm tooting all day long..." To the tune of another song.  Ha!

The boys built this block structure you see in the picture below.  They said it was a "Big Missile Launcher."  And later changed that to a "canon."  It was primarily constructed to keep Hudson away!  Ha!  And, once again, it seemed to be working because Hudson was sleeping through it all!  Cooper was explaining how the "canon" worked; "Whenever Hudson's out here it will shoot."  I said, "So when Hudson arrives the canon will go off?"  Cooper said, "No, the canon will go on!"  Hahahaa!

The last book we read at Story Time was Dr. Seuss; "Hop on Pop" and it was right before Lunch Time.  It's full of simple, but catchy words and rhymes.  For example; "Fast. Past. He went past fast." Both boys were rhyming words all through Lunch and making up words.  It was super cute.

Reid - 4/21/2016

Reid ate sandwich thin and three servings of melon mix for breakfast.  For lunch he ate three servings of turkey slices, ate bread (made a sandwich with the turkey), ate green beans, and two servings of mangoes.  Baby Avi was in the saucer in the lunch room during mealtime and the Boys were talking to her.  Reid said, "She don't love him (pointing at Cooper); she love Kenzie."  Hahaa!  Then Cooper was trying to convince him that Avi does like him!  (And she does.)

This isn't about Reid, but I thought you might get a kick out of it.  Especially considering Reid knows I struggle with colors and he has been trying to help me as well!  Ha!  Cooper was obviously thinking about my "issues" with colors because he just randomly (we hadn't been talking about it for several days) said, "Gary....you can see any color."  I can!?!  "Yes, with your eyes."  OH!!  I just need to look!?!  "Yes, just look until you find."  LOL!!  Oh man I was roaring!!  I should have had this information years ago!

I took this picture when the boys were under the legos table.  (You see two set of feet, right?)  Cooper said, "Reid's under here with me."  Oh, ok, thank you Coop!  :)  They were primarily hiding out from the babies, but both babies were sleeping!  Ha!  I like how they block the side entrances with the yellow benches.

The boys each built their own creation with the legos and here's a picture of Reid's.  What did you build Reid?  He said, "My thing...Uhhh..my flame thrower."  Cooper called his a "Cactus Whacker!"  We also read lots of books, did some sign language, did some Art, and they were having another tug-a-war.  Reid did super well remembering the different signs we do!

Reid - 4/19/2016

Reid ate lunch here; Chicken, three servings of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate peas, and applesauce.
At lunch Cooper said, "I'm not eating my noodles so Reid can have them."  That's sweet Coop, but not necessary.  I just gave him the entire serving bowl full of noodles so I think he's good!  :)  More meal time conversation: Cooper said (after hearing Pat and I talk about him going to play golf), "My Dad always goes golfing when it's a stay at home day!"  Ha!  Reid was talking about a video he and his Dad watched and he said, "That is super funny!!  We watched it 100 times!"  Cooper said, "Well I took a bath AND a shower last night!"  Well that's super funny too Coop!  :)  He also said, "When my Sissies were playing T-Ball last night I say, "Bring em out, bring em out, bring em out!!!"

I have some leftover pictures from Friday afternoon that I want to post today.  I think they are just too cute to not pass along!!  Reid had his head stuck in the pocket of the chair and said, "I'm the BEST hider!!"  Hahaaa!!  Yes, you're totally hidden mister kangaroo!!  So I asked him if he'd do it again so I could get a picture.  Thank you Reid!!  :)

The tree removal people were hard at work on Friday and took out Big Willy's tree.  Reid watched for a long time and finally said, "If Big Willy come out here he NOT gonna be happy!!"  Hahahaaa! I told Big Willy about that and we had a great laugh!!

This next picture - Reid said, "Can you take a picture of me - for my Mom!?"  Yes I will Reid and I'm sure she'll be proud!!  Hahaa!  Also, on Friday, Kenzie said she was going to count to 100.  So she started and when she got to about 40 I guess Reid had heard enough!  He said, "WHEN are you gonna get to 100!!??!!"

Here's a picture of the boys playing with the food toys and the barbecue this morning.  However, the play was probably not what you think - a little more typical 3 year old "boy play!!"  Geez!  Why would we want to play in a "normal" way!?!  Ha!  They were pitching food into the barbecue oven and the red "Step 2" label was the "target!"  (According to Cooper)  He said, "Red the Target!!"

Reid - 4/15/2016

Reid ate a large serving of breakfast: malt-o-meal cereal and raisins.  He ate a large serving of Lunch as well: ground beef, elbow noodles (three servings), apple slices, and mixed fruit.  The meal-time conversations were rowdy and hilarious.  Reid was telling me a long story that started like this;  "Do you remember at my house when you..."  it ended with something that sounded to me like "crazy legs."  Crazy legs!?!  Cooper said, "Noooo, he said, "Gatorade!!"  Hahaha!  (And that was correct.)  Then at lunch they were looking at the picture poster and arguing about who was the "chubbiest baby."  "I was super chubby."  "Well I was super super chubby!"  "Well I was super super super chubby!"  Then they both were claiming eating superiority!  "I'm a eating machine!"  "I'm a eating machine!"

The boys had a wild and crazy morning!  Not really out of control, just having lots of fun, but pretty wild.  These two pictures kind of typify what they were doing; jumping off igloo, building towers, building sidewalks, wrestling, and tug-a-war with Cooper's Special Blanket.  Reid grabbed Coop's blanket and said, "Let's play tug-a-war!"  Ha!  So the struggle was on!  Cooper said, "I'm not letting go!"  And that was a true statement!  Finally Cooper yelled, "REID!!  Let's do it with the Blue Blanket!"  (Which happens to be Reid's Special Blanket!  Hahahaa!)  They burned up tons of energy this morning and were asking for their waters by 10:00!  Lots of panting, grunting, growling, and the average boy sounds!!

I'm doing this Blog at Nap Time and here what I see out the window at Big Willy's house!  Hopefully they'll still be working when the Boys wake up!!  It's looks like they're going to take out the entire tree so if that's the case it will provide lots of afternoon entertainment!!

Reid - 4/12/2016

Reid ate three servings of waffle and ate hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken and tortilla (the others had chicken and cheese quesadilla), ate half of carrots, and ate mandarin oranges.  At breakfast Cooper was telling me that "I have some yellow stuff for you at the farm."  Reid asked, "What for me?"  Coop said, "I have Blue stuff for you Reid."  Then Cooper said, "Hey Reid!!  Guess what!?!!  Grandpa has a GREEN TOILET!!"  (Cooper's favorite color.)  LOL!!!  Oh man I roared!

The boys were having fun hiding in the block shelf.  I took the first picture when they were talking and planning some strategy.  Hmmmm, what are they up to?  Well of course, 3 year olds playing hide-n-seek!  Cooper was asking Reid to "help me hide."  And in the 2nd picture you can see that Reid dutifully went off, closed his eyes (which cracked me up - no peeking and cheating while watching someone hide), and counted to 23 (skipping several numbers between 14 and 20) before yelling, "Ready or not, here I come!"  :)

You can't really see it in the picture below, but all three of them are playing with Star War characters and cars.  (This next bit isn't about Reid, although Sophie frequently serves Reid as well!)  Shortly before I took this picture Cooper was sitting on the couch taking off his socks.  He then handed them to Sophie and said, "Can you put them on the changing table?"  Sophie, always so willing to help, eagerly said, "Yes!" and took them right to the changing table.  You are too sweet Soph!!  (Don't worry Momma Molly!  You have lots of time to teach her how to respond appropriately in that situation!!)  :)

Reid - 4/11/2016

Reid ate half of his cheerios and a whole banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate three servings of peanut butter & huckleberry jelly sandwich, drank several sips of tomato soup, and had several licks of pickled beets.  (He was being kind of silly with his licking, BUT he was getting a good taste of it! Ha!)  The boy's breakfast conversation was SO cute - and they'd already been playing for 30 minutes.  Cooper said, "I missed you Reid."  Reid; "I missed you too Cooper."  Cooper said, "I got some blue stuff for you."  Reid; "Uhhh, why didn't you bring it to Gary's house?"  Cooper; "Well, you can get it when you come to my house."  And, of course, that evolved into talking about going to each other's houses and Birthday parties.  Cooper said, "Mom and Dad said I could go if I eat more of my blueberries."  Reid; "You can sleep in my room."  Coop; "By you?"  Reid; "Yes."  Cooper; "You can snuggle with my dinosaur anytime you stay at my house.  My next Birthday party, I'm gonna invite you!"  And on it went.  It was pretty obvious they missed each other last week!

Reid and Cooper were setting up some alone space away from the babies and they did pretty well at it.  (See picture below)  After Hudson went to bed I told Sophie that her and I could build something with the legos.  As you can see in the next picture the boys couldn't stay away!  They had to come and join us and Cooper was busy adding a "gun" to the structure.  He said, "I got a gun on your house so it even looks better!"  Ha!  Nothing makes a house look better than adding some weapons to it!

The boys frequently like to sit in the bowls I used for sinks when I built these pieces of play equipment.  (Cooper sits a little lower in the bowl!  Ha!)

I like this last picture because it is a good representation of "When the cat's away, the mice will play!" As soon as the big boys were both on their nap mats she grabbed Reid's special Star Wars book and got up in the chair.  (It's quite the Star Wars Encyclopedia!)