2/3/12

Morgan ate all of her raisins and about half of her brown rice at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her cooked carrots and dried apricots, most of her meatloaf and a bite of her french bread. 

Yesterday Coral read them LOTS of books.  Morgan and Emily especially loved that.  Morgan loves Coral anyway and also loves reading so you put the two together and life is good!  I love how Baby Nora is also really looking at the book in this picture! 


All of the "big" kiddos really enjoyed loading the dress-ups, doll blankets, and stuffed animals into the washing machine today.  It is amazing how something so mundane can be such a great and exciting activity for them!  : ) 

The kiddos also were really into coloring today.  We haven't done free draw for a while because they had seemed really bored with it, but I decided to try it today.  It was great!  They were talking about what they were creating, letters they thought they were making and their "names".  They spent about 15 minutes drawing.

I lost my notes behind the couch today so I tipped it up and asked Morgan if she would get it for me.  There were also several toys under the couch so she was thrilled to be helping with such an important job!  : ) 

2/2/12

Morgan ate seconds on whole wheat cinnamon toast and all of her grapes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite of chicken and canned cherries, all of her dinner roll and mashed potatoes. 

Morgan watched intently as Kenzie started lining books up in the big window sill, kind of using it as a type of display.  She then went over and started helping her on the other side.  Pretty soon all of the bigger kiddos were doing it, with Peyton and Thomas trying to "help" also without much appreciation. 

Morgan was kind of picking at the kiddos for a while today (grabbing, trying to take toys, pushing...).  We gave her multiple reminders and helped the kiddos move away from here, but she then started trying to follow them and do it.  At that point we had to play in one of the back rooms for about 5 minutes.  She did a GREAT job of remembering to listen, be a good friend and be gentle after that! 

It cracks me up how much the children this age make concrete associations.  Every time Morgan sees a star in a book, poster or anything, she immediately breaks out into singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star".  Today she must have started the song at least 3 times.  Each time she had 4-5 kiddos singing with her by the end of the song.  It is really cute!

I read them the book "Pussy cat, Pussy cat..." this morning.  When I got to the part in the rhyme where "she frightened a little mouse under her chair", Morgan stuck out her belly and in her deep voice said, "No!  Stinking mouse!"  : )  That Gary!  He teaches them all kind of great words and phrases!  : )

2/1/12

Morgan ate all of her peaches and about half of her whole wheat bagel at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite of her ham and all of her salad with ranch, corn and macaroni and cheese. 


Several of the girls were playing with the food items quite congenially together for some time this morning.  It was primarily my three "big" girls, but Jadey and Joslyn moved in and out also.  


Emily has an ear infection and mom came by after breakfast to put her prescription drops in her ears.  All of the kiddos just stood and watched the process with great intrigue. 




Morgan figured out that she could make circles on the floor by pressing the cups on it firmly.  Pretty soon all of the kiddo had cups and were imitating her and talking about "circles.  It was pretty funny! 

Today they also were "helping" with Riley.  All three of my kiddos wanted to help bring Riley toys, so this  is what we ended up with.  I would have stopped it, but Riley seemed to like all of the attention (if not all of the toys, so I just let it go!  : ) 

1/31/12

Morgan ate all of her pears and seconds on blueberry muffins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tuna on cracker and a bite of both oranges and sweet potatoes.  Overall, she hasn't been eating very much here lately.  How about at home? 

Alayna has a "Grandpa Forrest" that she talks about and whose picture is on her family poster.  Today Morgan brought me one of the phones and handed it to me saying, "It grampa Forrest".  I said, "Oh did Alayna's grandpa Forrest call me?"  She frowned and said, "No, Morgie's".  I just went with it then and Alayna was very interested the Morgan had one too.  : )

Morgan had two instances of being too rough with the kiddos (bonk Jadey on the head with one of the cups, and pinch Kenzie's neck).  Both times I helped the "victim" say, "I didn't like that!" and move away.  One of the times, Morgan looked pretty upset by that and actually went over to an area by herself on her own and just took a little break.  When she was done (on her own) she came over and gave Kenzie a love and asked if she was all right.  I think she is starting to get it!  : )

Morgan got a pile of books to "read" today and when she was ready to start reading them, she said, "Ready, set, GO!" and immediately opened the book and started to "read".  It cracked me up!  When I started laughing, she looked at me like, 'What is wrong with you?  Isn't that how everyone starts reading?" 

1/30/12

Morgan ate a bite of her fruit salad and about half of her Chex cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she only at a bite of everything -- tomato soup, roast beef sandwich and apple slices. 

Morgan cuddled with me and didn't want to move for about the first 20 minutes this morning, then she got down and started playing.   She did come back for several other "nuggle"s throughout the rest of the morning, though and said she was tired a couple times.
 
Part of the reason she didn't eat much at breakfast could be related to being extra tired because she was asleep literally within a minute or two of laying down after lunch.  The big weekend just wore her out!  : )

Morgan told me that she was poopy almost immediately after she was done this morning.  I saw her go around the corner by herself and about three minutes later she came back and told me!  It was super easy to clean up that way.  Now if we can just shift it to a few minutes earlier, before it happens rather than right after...  ; )

Morgan listed pretty well today.  She was really into trying to grab the kiddos so we either had them "move away from her" or/and reminded Morgan to "pat gentle" rather than grab.  She responded well to both!  

1/27/12

Morgan ate about half of her oatmeal and her prunes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite of her mandarin oranges and biscuit and about half of her tater-tot casserole. 

Jadey went into the corner around beside the diapering station in the big room and was rubbing her eyelids and cheeks with her finger and saying she was doing "make-up".  Morgan and Kenzie both immediately picked up on that and had to "do make-up" too.   It was pretty funny!

Kenzie is not only slender, but also has such a little butt that it makes some clothes very challenging for her to keep on.  A couple times in the last week Morgan has even noticed and helped her pull up her pants so they don't fall off.  : )  Kenzie always tells her "thank you!" and Morgan just lights up!  It is really funny to watch.

Morgan was so thrilled when I showed her how the flip skillet would flip the pancakes and the eggs when you lay it on the lever and then pushed the button!  The first time I did it she just tipped her head back and laughed like she does when she is really tickled.  After that, every time she did it, she would either laugh heartily or at least chuckle. 

Morgan, Kenzie, Jadey, Alayna (and Thomas) were all playing the jump -- cheer game again today.  They take turns jumping and the rest cheer for them...  The only addition today was that Thomas decided that it was his job to grab them when they landed on the mattress (which they weren't thrilled about).  So...  It evolved into the Jump -- Cheer -- Run from Thomas game! 

1/26/12

Morgan ate all of her melon and a bite or two of her french toast at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her dried mangoes, most of her crescent roll, and about half of her sliced turkey and her squash. 

Morgan kind of started off a little grabby this morning.  It seemed like she was grabbing or trying to grab someone or their toys every time I turned around.  We decided to try something different and distracted her from the behavior by asking if she wanted to go out and put puzzles together.  She was very excited about that and did it until just a few minutes before breakfast time.  When she came back out, she only did it once that I saw.  : )

All of the bigger kiddos were using the laundry baskets as merry-go-rounds today.  They were putting dolls inside of them then pushing them around and around in circles until they (not the dolls) were dizzy!  : ) They were also loading and unloading them with everything and anything they could.

Morgan and Kenzie played together happily for quite a while again today.  They were playing on and around the climber/balance beam and mattress for a long time today.  There are holds through the steps of the climber/balance beam and were sticking there hands into the holds and catching each other's hands.