Reid - 8/31/2017

Reid ate lots of waffles and ate fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, a green bean, and ate applesauce.  We just had to have his noodles on his last day at Little Treasures!  What a joy it has been for me to have Reid back here at my Daycare.  I love him and am going to miss him a lot.  His keen sense of humor cracks me up daily and we have lots of fun together.  Like I told Momma Lesley this morning I've thankful you guys live around the corner so we can see you often and watch the three boys as they grow.  These boys have no idea how fortunate they are to grow up in a Christ-centered Family, but someday they will be keenly aware of how privileged they are!!  God Bless you all and stay strong in Him.

At the breakfast table Reid was talking about his shirt.  He said, "Gary we got our new shirts!  Football shirts.  They're made out of foam."  Oh really!  LOL!!  It's the new cotton!  I asked him; "Who told you that!?"  He said, "No one.  I already know that."  (The all-knowing 4 year old.)

It was actually a pretty low-key day; especially compared to yesterday when Reid got to have a blast playing with Cooper.  Reid was a bit subdued today and very aware that this is his last day.  I was trying to get a picture of him in "HIS" chair, but of course he was covering his head with his blanket and being a "doggen-head!!"  Haha!  He did engage with the legos and built several things.  And chewed me out for not saving the cannon he built yesterday!  Haha!!  We also played outside and he was riding the big bikes.  Except with him they are not nearly big enough.  His knees pretty much stick straight out and it looks very comical!!  Love you all!!

Reid - 8/30/2017

Reid ate lots of french toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch he tried a bite of salmon loaf, ate lots of dinner roll, no squash, and ate tropical fruit.

These first 2 pictures show what kept Reid and Cooper busy for an hour this morning.  Cooper brought some Star Wars toys and then the boys did my alphabet and number squares.  (They did the numbers after I took this picture.)  They were able to do the alphabet by singing the "ABC Song" over and over.  (And they only asked for help a couple of times.)  Nice work Reid and Cooper.

 

It has been a busy place around here this morning with the "Reid & Cooper" show!  In the picture below Reid is building a place for Cooper to hide and it's working - you can't see Cooper inside!  At 10:00 Cooper said (from inside his hiding place), "Can you tell me when Riley and Kenzie come?!?"  Haha!!  (They come at 3:15.)  At 10:05 Reid told Cooper, "They are literally not here yet!"  LOL!  At 10:06 Cooper busted out!  :)  They were keeping the little ones well entertained!!  Look how Avi, Atley, and Hudson are watching.

The last picture has Avi watching the 2 goofy guys again!  If you look close at the picture - Reid is holding his head after thumping the wall pretty hard and look at Cooper's expression.  (Reid had just jumped off the igloo.)  Reid got up and said, "Didn't hurt." Right!  Except those tears in your eyes say something different.

Reid - 8/28/2017

Reid ate several bites of whole grain chex cereal and lots of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate lots of hamburger meat, ate hamburger bun, no lettuce, tomato, or mushrooms, ate avocado, and lots of oranges.

This first picture of Reid is kind of interesting!!  He was doing several things like this today - playing with toys he hasn't touched for a long time and it was pretty cute.  I was thinking it might be related to knowing this is the last week of his being at Little Treasures.  He mentioned that 2 or 3 times as well this morning.

Avi was pointing out a beetle to Reid and that was as close as Reid was about to get to the beetle.  :) It was one of the beetles that he really doesn't like.  We have so many of those that show up here and I have no idea why, but I don't like them either Reid.

Here's another picture similar to the first picture.  I can't tell you how long it's been since he's played in one of the play houses on the patio!!  He was "selling ice cream" and said, "That will be nine dollars for chocolate ice cream!!"  In the last picture Avi and Hudson seem a bit stunned by the high price of ice cream!!  Ha!!

Reid - 8/25/2017

Reid ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bite of tilapia, lots of whole wheat elbow noodles, a few green beans, and ate lots of applesauce.

Reid thinks it's hilarious to run up behind the other kids and yell or scream loudly!  He's obviously trying to make them jump or get some kind of reaction.  However, he gets basically no satisfaction because they are totally conditioned and accustomed to his nonsense!  They don't even flinch anymore!  Maybe he chooses not to notice because he continues to try!!  Haha!!  Way to be strong Kids!!  :)

Reid was my puppy and we were playing "fetch" with a food toy.  Sophie was cracking up even though she has a terrible cough today; "laugh, cough, laugh, cough!"  Then Sophie said, "Hey Gary!  Knock knock!"  Who's There?  "Take your socks off!"  I don't get it. "I'll do it louder!"  LOL!  Ok, I'm sure that will help!  It's obviously my hearing issue.  Of course that just got Reid going with some "knock knock" jokes.  He was just making them up and he went.  Something like this;  "Knock knock" Who's there?  "Book"  Book Who?  "Sorry I didn't blow a bomb up on your head."  Haha!  That was hilarious Reid.  :)

I took a picture of the kids doing a "Goodbye Poster" for Sophie.  (Yes, this is a painful day and my heart hurts.)  We also played outside with bubbles, they rode bikes, and Reid threw and kicked some balls around the yard.

Reid - 8/24/2017

Reid ate whole wheat bagel and lots of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate "homemade" pizza with whole wheat crust, hamburger and sausage, tomato sauce, peppers, olives, mushrooms, and pineapple.  He also ate two servings of tropical fruit.

Tate walked Reid to Daycare again today and surprised everyone by pulling one of his guinea pigs out of his jacket pocket.  Avi was pretty thrilled about that.  Yeah!!  Guinea Pigs two days in a row! Avilene kind of likes those little rodents!  Ha! And I think Tate is happy that at least One kid (other than Reid) likes his guinea pigs! Haha!  Second picture - Avi petting the guinea pig.

Reid and Sophie were having a conversation and I heard this;  "Sophie, have you ever had a leg concussion?"  (she just looked at him)  So he continued, "I have.  On a neighbor's trampoline it bounced me so high I think I broke a bone."  Haha!

We did some stickers at Art Time and one of the sets were insects.  Reid said, "This is the creepiest picture in the world."  Why?  He pointed at a beetle sticker.  Ha!  Which reminds me - every day Reid was throwing the apples out of the yard back into the neighbor's yard where they came from.  One day early this week he found a beetle on a fallen apple.  (It was a big beetle too.)  That was the end of the apple throwing!!  He hasn't and won't resume his job!  Haha!

We played outside until lunch time and it was starting to rain.  Reid was throwing the ball from one end of the yard to the other and he, Sophie, and Avi were running to get it.  That Reid kid has a great arm and several times he threw the ball (one he brought from home about the size of a tennis ball) on top of the garage roof.  (For those that don't know - it's 20 feet high)  Well on the last throw it landed right in the rain gutter and that's where it stayed!  The look on Reid's face was priceless - I assured him I have a ladder that reaches that high!!  :)

Reid - 8/23/2017

Reid ate whole wheat toast and lots of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he had two bites of roast pork, no whole grain tortillas, no vegetables (carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes), and lots of fruit salad.  He said, "I'm a BIG fan of fruit salad!"

Reid has been looking at this new Alphabet Book I got - every day this week!  This morning he asked; "Do you know why I didn't want to go in the ocean!?"  Why?  He showed me pictures of humpback whales, hammerhead sharks, hermit crabs, and several more creatures of the deep!  Ha! (Personally, I think you're a smart boy Reid!!)

Reid was teasing Nora with the stuffed animals and Nora was cracking up.  He started sticking the monkey in Nora's face (see picture) and saying, "monkey head, monkey head" which made Sophie laugh so hard she fell over onto the mattress laughing.  Silly kids.  I think Sophie has the cutest sense of humor!  Reid was having fun with Nora and loved that Sophie was laughing too!

Tate asked me if he could bring over the guinea pigs this morning to show the kids.  He and Bode came about 10:00 and stayed until 11:15 so that took up a majority of the morning.  The kids all had so much fun!!  I had the boys put their pets inside the "pen" where the downspout comes out and that worked great.  (That way no kids were going to step in their poop or pee.)  And the guinea pigs were LOVING the grass!!  Tate took one of them out and let the kids pet it and feed it and they all LOVED it!!  Bode and Tate also did bubbles for the kids and we had a great morning of fun with them!

Reid - 8/22/2017

Reid ate whole wheat english muffin and bites of plums for breakfast.  For lunch he didn't try the chicken with stir fry vegetables, ate lots of whole wheat elbow noodles topped with applesauce, and ate his oranges.  The menu called for brown rice, but hey it's Reid's last month so we had to have noodles.  And we'll have them again on Friday!!  :)

Reid brought his "legendary spinner" - those are his words - so I could see what a spinner with legendary status looks like!!  He was spinning it on the lunch table and looking at the "optical illusion" - those are his words - it creates.  It actually does appear to be spinning in the opposite direction.

Reid knows I have a chainsaw in my garage (I've showed it to him) and he's slightly obsessed with that fact!!  He also knows Hudson is sensitive to loud noises.  This morning he asked, "Is Bubba coming today?"  I said, "No, he's spending the rest of the week with his Tutu - Grandma."  Reid was thrilled, "YES!!!  Now we can start up your chainsaw!"  LOL!!  Cracked me up!  Oh sure, we'll go thin some trees in the neighborhood during morning outside time at Little Treasures.

Reid pestered Nora on the mattress and got the attention he was wanting!!  (First picture.)  In the 2nd picture Nora was trying to roll the ball at Reid.  Nora was so happy to be back at Daycare with her friends and it was adorable.  She was squealing and being a wild child!!  Reid was so excited that she is trying to walk.  "Nora walking, Nora walking!!"

Reid - 8/21/2017

Reid ate bananas for breakfast; no cheerios and I also offered him kix cereal.  For lunch he ate bite of hamburger from taco salad, ate olives, no lettuce or tomatoes, no pita bread, and ate lots of cantaloupe.  Reid was doing some kind of "informal survey" at Lunch time and asked everyone; "Do you guys normally get up at 2 AM!?"  Haha!  That made me laugh!  So I said, "no, do you?"  He said, "We do!  But not today.  We got up at 7:00 AM."  :)

Reid said he didn't eat much this weekend, but that "Mom and Dad said like 10 Hundred times to eat your food!!!"  LOL!!  Then he was talking about "Splash" and something about "flip-n-dot."  It took me like forever to get the "dip-n-dot!!  Haha!!  In somewhat exasperation he finally said, "One day we need to get you to Splash!!"  Aww...so cute and pretty stinking sweet I thought!!

Nora Hansen is still at Flathead Lake and will be back tomorrow.  I showed a video to Reid and Hudson that the Hansen Family sent me.  Nora was slashing in the water and Daddy Ryan was holding her.  Hudson didn't say anything about Nora, but said, "That Ryan!"  Haha!!  I told them Nora was playing at Flathead Lake and Reid said, "Well it's not that flat!  See the waves!"  I love the observations of children and it's rarely what I think it's going to be!!

In this first picture Reid had put these four toys around him and then said to me; "If you buy 5 more of these I can finish this!"  Haha!

As we were going outside Reid made another proclamation!  "Hey everybody!!  It smells like bacon out here!!"  LOL!!  That did make the smoke seem more pleasant!!  Isn't this next picture cute?  This is "circle time" at Little Treasures!  Avi is also sitting on a ball although you can't see it in the picture. They all wanted to do bubbles, but we were waiting until Sophie arrived!  In the last picture you can see Sophie obviously made it!!  I love the smiles on all their faces!!

Reid - 8/18/2017

Reid ate raisins and no brown rice for breakfast.  For lunch he had a bite of salmon, bite of dinner roll, ate lots of corn ("I really like butter on it" - so that's what we did), and ate bites of mangoes.

Reid was talking about "Thunder Snaps" AGAIN!!  (He must have been seriously impressed by those on the 4th of July!)  He said, "I know what makes your ears ring!!"  What?  "Thunder naps! It so loud it wake up all of Kansas City!"  Haha!  Here's another random story he told me;  "One time my Grandpa his his head so hard he lost his memory for 5 Hours!"  (I'm gonna be missing these cute stories!!)

I told Reid that Atley is flying to North Carolina and it's farther than Kansas City.  He said, "Don't that cost a lot of money?"  I said, "Well maybe they've been saving money for their vacation!"  He said, "Do you know what I've been saving for?"  What?  "Mega Big Shot nerf gun! That about 10 to 20 dollars."  Haha!  (And there's a child's perspective!! - totally comparable in his mind!)

We did some painting with a brush, but as usual it evolved into finger painting which is lots of fun for them.  I had to change Atley's diaper as we were getting ready to paint and Reid asked if he could put a paint shirt on Avilene.  He was pretty proud of himself for getting it on correctly.  He said, "I actually got it on the right way!"  And he had!  (He put the Large on Avi and the Small on himself.  That made me laugh!)

Reid and Avilene chased bubbles outside - Atley doesn't really care for that sport!  :)  When the bubbles were almost gone I let Reid blow LOTS of bubbles for Avi to chase and they had lots of fun. Reid is actually really good at it; blowing slowly and deliberately making lots of bubbles bigger than a softball.

Reid - 8/17/2017

Reid ate whole wheat english muffin and oranges for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bite of turkey burger, lots of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate peas, and lots of applesauce.  Perfect timing for Reid to come to Daycare - elbow noodles and applesauce!  I told Reid that I am sure going to miss having him in my Daycare.  At lunch he asked me if I had any potato chips.  "No, I never eat potato chips and we never serve potato chips!"  Reid said, "Well it is my last day.  LOL  Nice try Reid!  Not to be deterred he then asked if we could have "elbow noodles every day until he leaves!"  Haha!

I love how intently Avilene is listening as Reid explains the inner workings of the Paw Patrol truck! He eventually moved his operation into the living room and the hardwood floor provided a perfect setting for the truck and airplane!  And the little kids could line up at the gate and watch!  I think Reid is going to miss having an audience!  Or at least it will be an adjustment!!

Isn't this the cutest picture of Nora going over to visit with her Reid buddy!?!  She spotted the bug bites and scabs on his legs and was poking at them!  She is a little details girl and that is so typical! Reid said to me, "Gary, do you know why I get so many bug bites?"  No, why? "Because they literally love me!  And that's why you don't want to go in the woods!  The yellow-jackets will bite your neck!!"  :)

Reid - 8/4/2017

Reid ate lots of dried plums for breakfast - no brown rice.  He said, "I love these dried plums."  (I distinctly remember when I had to coax him to give them a try!)  Well this is his last day before Vacation and his time here is getting short so I had to change up the menu a bit so he could have some more of his beloved elbow noodles!! For lunch he ate beef from beef "kabobs," ate LOTS of whole wheat elbow noodles, no zucchini, peppers, or pineapple.  At breakfast he was talking about some kind of drink that "Mom bought at Fresh Market!"  I couldn't quite understand it all, but he made it clear that "It's just the juice from the fruit; that's why there is a LOT of protein!!"  Haha!! (He was telling me what you were taking on the trip!  It was all about food!)

One note from yesterday afternoon - I already told Momma Lesley this - Reid said, "I can throw SO FAR with my NEW SHOES!!"  Ahhhh....now I understand why he was in such "high octane" mode!
It was the shoes!  I should have figured it out, but it didn't click until he said that!  He was super-charged all morning and that was it!  Those amazing shoes!!  :)

This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  I don't think Atley or Nora were awake from their nap yet when Reid build this blockade with some help from his sidekick assistant Bubba!  I asked Reid what they were doing and he said it was to keep "Atley and Nora from escaping!"  Well, ok I think it might work!  Haha!  Hudson sure enjoyed helping Reid on this project.

Here are some pictures from today's activities.  Reid was finding all the legos flowers and giving them to Nora perched on the legos table.  She was pitching them back into the drawer about as fast as he could find them!  Haha!  (She has become quite the little monkey!)  Then in the next picture  Hudson kind of started today where he left off yesterday - try to mimic everything Reid was doing this morning!  I thought this was cute when Reid was on the couch and said, "Hey Gary!  Look at this!"  And Hudson had to give it a shot too!  Nice try Bubba.  And in the last picture Reid was playing with Hudson and they were throwing the ball.  Hudson was thrilled!!  Thank you Reid!

Reid - 8/3/2017

Reid ate waffles and fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch he ate probably half of "Shepard's Pie" which has hamburger, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and red potatoes.  He ate couple bites of whole grain tortillas and lots of cherries.  He made the deal at lunch and said, "Ok, if I eat 4 bites of this (shepard's pie) then I can have more cherries."  Ok, that's a deal!  Well then he said, "Ok, maybe 5 more bites cause next birthday I'll be 5!!"  Then he got the most silly look on his face because he realized he was shooting himself in the foot!  SO FUNNY!!  I was roaring!!  You are quite the "deal maker" Reid!!

He went to get the mail with me and looked longingly (again) at our lava rocks.  "I really want one of those."  Sure, go get one.  So he has a lava rock (actually 2) on his cubby!  You're welcome!  He said, "Now I can make a Thunder Snap!"  Just an FYI - I will not be providing the gun powder that he has requested!!  Haha!!

 I took these first 2 pictures when Reid was pestering Atley.  She was totally focused on the little animal she was looking at and he tossed his blanket over her head.  It really didn't even faze her and she kept studying the stuffed animal.  Ha!  In the 2nd picture she just kind of looked at him like "whatever." He has his cute little mischievous smirk on his face!!  She's getting a proper introduction to how little boys (and big boys) behave!!  Ha!

During outside time this morning he was impressing himself with many feats of strength and throwing the balls!  He grabbed the lawnmowers and said, "I'm gonna run with 2 of these!!"  Then after throwing the ball he said, "Oh my gosh I can throw the ball a long ways!!"  Haha!!  Actually the most impressive thing is how FAST he can make the ball travel!  I love the last picture!  He and Nora are like the perfect couple!  Haha!!

Reid - 7/31/2017

Reid ate lots of peaches for breakfast - not interested in whole grain chex cereal.  He walked over to the peach can and said, "I ate 2 of the tiny version of this (point at it) and Mom was actually good with that."  Haha!  Ok.  For Lunch he ate hamburger on bun, no lettuce or tomato, no avocado (he likes the avocado, but he was busy snarfing down the hamburger and today he didn't want any), and ate his oranges.

Here's a note left over from Friday: Sophie was wanting something (a toy) and Reid gave her a little lecture:  "No, you don't NEED that!  You WANT that!"  He sounded pretty familiar with that phrase and you should be encouraged because he totally knows what it means!!  :)  Good job Mom and Dad.

He randomly said, "All you need to make thunder nap (snap?) is lava rock and gun powder."  LOL! Ok.  He said, "Then you just throw it on the ground!"  Ok.

Reid was SO excited this morning when he saw Nora stand up!  He said, "Nora handing (standing) up Gary!!  Just for a hecond!!!" (second)  I did not see it, but when we were outside she stood up in the middle of the lawn!!  It was so AWESOME!!  :)  There wasn't anything or anyone within 10 feet of her.  Surprised me!  Uhh...that was kind of random Nora!  In the middle of the yard.  :)

Here's some pictures from this morning: It may look like he was just laying on the floor, but actually he was scooting across the floor on the slick hardwood.  Ha!  Back-n-forth across the floor 2 or 3 times.  Then he and his Nor Nor buddy were playing on the mattress.

Reid - 7/28/2017

Reid ate some oatmeal and ate dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate tilapia, LOTS of whole wheat elbow noodles, a couple of green beans, and ate LOTS of applesauce.

Yesterday afternoon I was looking at Reid and said, "Reid, I think you're the biggest kid I've ever seen."  He said, "And funny."  Oh yes, of course!  You're also the funniest kid I've ever seen!  Haha!!  Actually both statements are probably quite accurate!!  :)

Reid and Sophie were doing some puzzles and Reid has been enjoying them in this toy exchange because there are lots of fish puzzles and He's the resident "Fish Expert."  I could hear him telling Sophie, "These (pointing to some in the puzzle) fish are SO rare!  Rarest fish in the world!"  Haha! He knows almost as much about fish as he does about fidget spinners!  He told me about my fidget spinner - "this one literally the first fidget spinner made in the whole world!"  I laughed because it was so cute and funny.  He said, "NO!!!  Really!!"  Oh, ok!

Reid was so ready to go outside (and the others will frequently take up the chant on his behalf - haha!!) and as soon as we were ready it started to rain.  So we watched it rain from the window inside!  And it poured hard for several minutes - enough that we listened to it hitting the metal roof.  We read books, sang some songs and looked at the Bear Cam in Katmai Park Alaska.  Reid was pretty mesmerized by the web cam - we listened to the water in the river, going over the falls, saw LOTS of fish jumping, and the bears catching and eating the fish.

Reid - 7/27/2017

Reid ate toasted whole wheat bagel and lots of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate hamburger/sausage pizza on whole wheat crust, olives, mushrooms, peppers, tomato sauce, and two servings of pineapple on the side as well.  This first picture was taken at breakfast when Reid said, "Look Gary!  I can shoot (catapult) my cup!"  Ha!  Which was pretty funny except Avi was trying to mimic the exact thing!  :)

I took this picture yesterday afternoon when Reid was saying, "Hey Gary!  Did you get the picture!?! Hey Gary!!  Did you get the picture!!??"  Yes.  And this morning he was back at "his" chair doing some more antics.  At the same time Avi was saying, "look look look look" and I said, "Look at what?"  Reid said, "ME!!"  Ha!  Of course!

Reid dumped these balls on Nora and she was SO EXCITED!!  Hilarious!  She was laughing, squealing, and quivering all over!!  Haha!!  So I asked him if he'd do it again so I could get a picture! Yes, this is a staged photo!!  Haha!!  BUT, it looks identical to the original event!  And she was again laughing, squealing, and quivering!!

Reid - 7/26/2017

Reid ate lots of breakfast: whole wheat toast and grapes.  For lunch he ate pork roast, no whole grain tortillas, bite of vegetables (potatoes, carrots, no brussel sprouts), and ate 3 servings of fruit salad.  I already told TJ this story on Monday, but I want to put it in Reid's Blog anyhow.  (Some things just need to be on record!!  Ha!)  On Monday afternoon Reid randomly said, "Chief rip Dad's pants into shorts!!"  Haha!!  TJ said it never happened, Reid said it definitely happened!  Ha!

Lauralea's Sister got me a fidget spinner and when I showed it to Reid this morning his face just lit up like a new light bulb!  He said, "For Christmas you can buy me one of these!!"  Ha!  That boy cracks me up!

This first picture needs a bit of explanation.  Reid has been experimenting with spinning one of the yellow buckets with just one shape in it.  He thinks it's cool that the toy will stay in there every time if he spins it correctly.  Nicely done.  (I don't charge extra for these Classes that teach centrifugal force!  You're Welcome!)

The rest of the morning pictures don't need too much explaining!  Reid peeking in the igloo at Atley, getting loves from Nora, the kids searching for apples for Reid to pitch back over the fence, and Reid showing Avi how to do some sidewalk chalk.  Reid spent more time doing sidewalk chalk than he ever has!  And he was a good example for the little ones showing them how to use it appropriately.

Reid - 7/24/2017

Reid ate banana and raisins for breakfast - no cheerios.  "They give me the rotten egg burps."  For lunch he ate two servings of hamburger from the taco salad; and ate lots of olives including the ones that Sophie gladly donated to stave off his starvation!  No lettuce or tomatoes.  No whole wheat pita bread.  Ate LOTS of cantaloupe.

Lauralea's sister Julie is here for a couple of days and Reid was showing-off big time for her this morning running up and down the hall.  (With my permission - hey, I understand the young fellow's need to show-off!  Haha!) It was funny because as soon as they left to do all their shopping he immediately came back into the Daycare room and sat down to catch his breath!  Ha!

Here are some pictures from this morning: He hooked all these phones together and called it his "chain."  When I took the picture he was talking into the top phone and said it would be cool if the sound would come out the bottom.  Hmm....I see some disconnect there Reido!  Haha!  He also played with the fish puzzle and asked lots of questions about the fish - many which were salt water fish.  He was very interested in that.  In the 2nd picture he is doing one of his daily jobs - emptying the ball bucket!!

We also chased bubbles outside and here's a picture of Sophie and Reid reacting to the same bubble.  Reid said, "Hey Gary! Did you know you can actually use bubbles for sunscreen?  The sun will not burn you!?  (As he's smearing bubble water on his arm!  Probably washing off the real sunscreen!  Haha!)  No, Reid I was not aware of that!