3/28/12

Alayna ate only a bite of her whole wheat mini bagel and about half of her peaches at breakfast.  She obviously wasn't here for lunch. 

She and Emily were both playing on the climber/balance beam and mattress at the same time today.  Alayna must have decided that she needed some personal coaching because she kept telling Emily, "Like this" then doing something and turning around to make sure Emily had watched what she did.  It was really cute.  The finniest thing about it was that I think Emily WAS watching because it really looked like she was trying to imitate what Alayna had done. 

Alayna and Thomas were both looking at the ABC animal poster set by the big window today.  Thomas would point at one of the pictures and make his "uhn, uhn" sound and Alayna would either tell him what she thought the animal was or ask me what it was.  They did this for several minutes.  One of the funniest ones was when Alayna told him that the kangaroo was a "bunny".  Well they both have ears that stick up and they both jump!   : )

Alayna's new best friend is baby Riley.  She loves it now that she can make Riley laugh.  Today she was making funny sounds with her mouth to entertain Riley at first and then she started vigorously shaking her head back and forth so that her pony tails were whipping back and forth.  For some reason, Riley thought that was hilarious and the fun began!  Alayna must have done it for about 5 minutes straight, with Riley laughing almost constantly.  It was really cute!

3/27/12

Alayna ate all of her pears and a bite of her blueberry muffin at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tuna on crackers, and oranges and about half of her sweet potatoes. 

Alayna was a little out of sorts for about an hour this morning.  That coincided with breakfast time, so it may have been that she was hungry.  She fussed for a few minutes after Daddy left then was just kind of testy and easily upset for the rest of that time period.  After that initial struggle she was fine and had a happy and engaged rest of the morning. 

My sister had given me a set of four new board books about different creatures (dolphin, ladybug, turtle and tiger).  Since they were new, I read them for story time this morning and all of the kiddos really liked them.  We will probably keep them as special books for now then put them out with the regular rotations after the newness wears off. 

The kiddos did some free drawing this morning, as I am sure you will assume based on the markers on their hands.  I am keeping them overnight because I am going to use them as examples of the various stages of children's drawing in a class I am teaching tonight.  I just wanted to let you know in care you wondered about the marker on their hands or they mentioned drawing and there was no picture on their cubby. 

Alayna asked to do puzzles today when she saw Morgan out there doing them.  She and Morgan worked at puzzles for about 15 minutes, but Alayna wanted to continue even when we headed to the back room to play.  She stayed and did puzzles for another 10 minutes after we had switched. 

3/26/12

Alayna ate all of her fruit salad and most of her Chex cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her roast beef sandwich, and apple slices and about half of her tomato juice. 

Alayna was cuddling with Gary and I had Kenzie on my lap.  She had a stuffed puppy that she was playing with as she "cuddled" and I started helping the puppy give her kisses all over.  Alayna thought that was so funny! She was actually shaking she was laughing so hard. 

Alayna was much more responsive and cooperative this morning that she has been lately.  I hope she has been sleeping better over the weekend.  I really do believe that lack of sleep or poor quality sleep has a lot to do with many other aspect of kiddos lives, especially in the behavior areas. 

Alayna realized she could jump off of the mattress and put her legs straight in front of her and her body upright and land on her bottom in an "L" shape.  She loved it and did it over and over, laughing hard each time she did it.  Even when she is so focused on doing something super fun like that, she still is very careful about going around the other kiddos on the mattress and making sure she never lands on or bumps into any of them.

Alayna was "pummeling" (that's Gary's word for it) one of the dolls again this morning.  When she was done she got one of the stethoscopes, put it in her ears and put the other end on the pummeled baby.  Gary said she was checking to "see if it still has some life in it".  : )  Silly Gary!  

3/23/12

Alayna asked to do puzzles today.  The puzzle rack is right outside the big gate so we let them do them out there (out of reach of the toddlers, but where we can still closely monitor them) one or two at a time.  Alayna isn't usually interested in doing them, so it was fun to watch how well she can actual put them together. 

Alayna had a very staring look in her eyes most of the morning, was quite unfocused acting, tested the rules more than usual and fought making eye contact with us, listening or following directions.  Again, it is probably related to lack of sleep.  I feel that way also when I am not getting the sleep I need. 

Alayna was very happy to see Aaron when he came this morning and that was the main thing she seemed to really enjoy today -- making him laugh.  Aaron really doesn't interact with any of the other kiddos much at all.  He just kind of does his own thing, but for some reason he has really taken to Alayna.  He will let her hug him and loves it when she does silly things to make him laugh.  It is really sun to watch. 

3/22/12

After breakfast was over and she was washed up, Alayna went over to the mattress ("rowdy") side of the room and just ran around and around in circles.  It was like she had sat just as long as she possibly could at breakfast and needed to get rid of some excess energy.  It was so funny to watch -- like a little puppy chasing its tail.

Alayna has figured out that I am not a spotless housekeeper.  She likes to whop the arms and cushions of the overstuffed chair and couch with her hand and look at the dust fly.  She often will do it and just throw her head back and laugh at the mini dust storm.  Hmm...  I'm sure there is a lesson in this for me...

We have noticed that Alayna has been stomping on, laying on, or rolling on the dolls a lot.  She also does a lot of pretty intense spanking of her dollies and just throwing them on the floor.  I decided I had better share this bit of information with you just in case you were planning on having another child in the near future.  : )  Just kidding!  It is perfectly normal, but always interesting to watch when one of the go through a stage like this.  We just remind her that we treat our babies gently at Gary and Lauralea's and don't make a big deal out of it. 

Gary and I have both noticed that Alayna has seemed extra sensitive, testy, pushing the limits and especially making it a point to not listen and try to ignore us lately.  With what you had said about her struggling with going to bed at a reasonable time, I am guessing it s directly related to that.

Alayna was into collecting as many of the stuffed animals as she could.  No one else was interested in playing with any of them at the time, so it worked well.  She had about all of them and was piling them up under the climber/balance beam deal.  After she got them all piled there she was done and moved on.  

3/21/12

It is so wild the way Alayna bonks her head on everything -- soft or hard.  She does it on the chair and couch cushions, the mattress, the wall the window, the floor...  I keep telling her that her brains are stored in there and she should be nice to them and she just laughs.  : ) 

Alayna looked at the books for quite a while today.  I don't think she had really spent any time looking at the "new" toy exchanges set of books yet, so it was like they were all new. 

Jadey had a dress today with a tutu underneath it to make it kind of puff out like an old fashioned hoop dress.  Obviously Alayna noticed that it was different because when Jadey was standing still for a couple minutes, Alayna went over to her lay on the floor by her feet and was looking up her dress, examining how that was all working.  It was pretty funny!  : )

Alayna was playing with Peyton several different times and making Peyton laugh and squeal.  They were doing it on and around the mattress and then in and around the dress-up deal.  It is so cute how she enjoys entertaining the little ones.  She has been interacting more with Riley now also because Riley is starting to laugh at her antics. 

3/20/12

Alayna only told me potty once.  I took her two other times (and changed two poopy diapers).  She went one of the times and not the other. 

We have out the medical play things in this set and all of the kiddos have been getting a kick out of that.  One of the things in the set is a neck brace I had when I had whiplash long ago.  Alayna hooked it together and put it on top of her head like a crown.  She wore it around just as proud as could be. 

Alayna wanted to "cuddle" after breakfast so we sat on the couch for quite a while.  I was sitting there with one leg crossed over the other and put her feet under the crossed leg and started kicking her feet so that it would swing my foot.  I was obviously pretty relaxed because she did it until it finally swung it off of my other leg and kind of fell to the floor.  She thought that was hilarious and had to try to get it to do it again and again.  She has such a great sense of humor and cute laugh. 

We got out the little rocking chairs and Alayna immediately got one of the dolls, blanket and medicine container for a bottle and went over and rocked and fed her baby.  She played in it a lot, either alone or with one of the dolls. 

3/19/12

Alayna ate about half of her bran flakes and cranberries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her cheese pizza and tropical fruit and about half of her cauliflower. 

Alayna was happy that it was toy exchange day and especially glad to see that the kind of dolls she likes best are out.  She immediately went over and got one of them, wrapped it up and started taking care of it.  She played with it at least half of free play time in the big room. 

Alayna was really dancing and jumping energetically on the mattress and Kenzie was watching (in a kind of awe).  She then started cheering for her friend, "Go 'Layna'!"  It was really cute because when Kenzie cheered for her she started just grinning and beaming. 

Alayna kept telling me and her other friends, "Look at my nails", showing us her polish.  She was very proud of it and so excited. 

It was Emily's second birthday today so we sang "Happy birthday" to her multiple times.  After singing it the 4th or 5th time, Alayna came up and asked, "It Emmy's birthday?"  When we answered that it was, she raced over to her and gave her the sweetest "Happy Birthday, hug.  

3/16/12

Alayna ate all of her malt-o-meal and seconds on raisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate seconds on salad with ranch and all of her mixed fruit and her spaghetti with burger in the sauce. 

Alayna didn't have a good pottying morning at all.  She had had several good days in a row, so I had high hopes.  She did go potty with the kiddos first thing this morning, but pooped in her pull-up before breakfast (and then again before lunch).  She also didn't want to go/didn't go potty on the toilet any other time this morning.  Silly girl!

When Aaron came today Alayna had a HUGE hug for him.  She also played with him a lot on the mattress.  Of course she was also trying to play peek-a-boo with him and other games to get him laughing and on the crazy side. 

Gary was doing story time with the kiddos.  He really enjoys readying the ones that have some humor in them.  One of the ones he was reading was "Down by the Bay".  Morgan was really getting the humor and cracking up.  I think Alayna was getting some of it also, but it was hard to tell because by that time they were all following Morgan's lead and laughing.  I just couldn't tell if it was at the book itself or at Morgan.  : )

3/15/12

Alayna ate all of her blueberries and all but a bite or two of her cinnamon raisin English muffin at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her cherries, canned chicken on saltines and potato salad. 

Alayna was dry all morning again and pooped in the potty twice. She told me she had to go potty once this morning.  I would be happy to let her try panties tomorrow if you have any training pants and think it is a good idea.  She has been asking to wear underwear "like Morgie".

Alayna shared her "purple blanket" with first Kenzie then Emily very sweetly.  When she was sharing with Kenzie they were just both sitting on my lap, but later she shared with Emily while just sitting on the couch, then they actually started playing with it (hiding and peeking together).  It was very cute! 

Alayna and Morgan had an altercation this morning that resulted in a bite to Alayna's hand.  Alayna was determined to get the toy that Morgan was playing with away from her, but she didn't realize that Morgan is just as stubborn as she is and wouldn't relent.  I was in the middle of feeding Riley and Gary was setting up breakfast.  Neither of us could get there in time and neither of the girls would listen to my words so we ended up have one girl taking a break for biting and the other with an ice pack/cold cloth on her hand to sooth the bite mark. 

Alayna has been so sweet about giving both random loves and loves when a child is upset about something.  I have been trying to work with her on asking if it is OK first because sometimes I think it startles the kiddos and they think she is just grabbing them.  She also is very sweet about asking before she gives any of the a babies a toy.  She gives toys to Riley more than anyone else and Riley loves it. 

3/14/12

Alayna ate all of her peaches and most of her biscuit at breakfast today.  At lunch she ate seconds on baked beans and all of her dinner roll, broccoli and pineapple.

Alayna sat and cuddled for a while this morning.  While she was sitting on my lap she was watching the other kiddos.  She would comment about what they were doing or laugh, which is so fun to listen to.  One of the times Morgan was making a "bridge" from the balance beam/climber down to the mattress with her body.  For some reason that really tickled Alayna.  After watching her (and then Jadey join her) for a while, she got down and went over to try it out herself. She really liked it when I started singing "Alayna (or whoever) bridge is falling down..."  : )

Alayna told me she had to go potty twice today!  : )  She was dry all morning.  I did have her poop before nap time (even though she said she didn't need to).  She went and didn't have any pooping accidents all morning.  If she could have a few days of this, I would love for her to be able to wear underwear. 

Alayna's dressing self-help skills are very good.  She loves wearing them and there really isn't any of them that she can't get on basically by herself.  Several of the ones out right now are full (head to foot) animal suits, which most of the kiddos have a difficult time doing without quite a bit of assistance.  She does them well. 

3/13/12

Alayna ate second on waffles and all of her hashbrowns at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her shrimp and orange slices, about half of her brown rice and a couple bites of red pepper. 

All of the kiddos were a little feisty and short fused today.  I think the time change hit them more today than yesterday.  Alayna struggled even more than the rest.  It really didn't matter what it was she drug her heals, tested, fussed or yelled.  Some of the things were just basic things like finishing the waffles she had asked for seconds on.  We never make the children eat their firsts if they choose not to, but if they ask for more we give them a little and expect them to eat it.  She missed out on story time because she chose not to finish them until after it was over.  Another example was that she was determined to take a toy away from Peyton.  I used my words to tell her to let go, showed her where another one just like it was and finally had to "help" her let go and move away from her.  She had a melt-down (and took a little break).  That was how much of the morning went.  Hopefully the afternoon and tomorrow will be better.  The time change messes with me!  I can't imagine how it must mess with the kiddos who aren't able to look at the clock and figure out what is going on. 

She also needed a lot of attention and cuddles, which both Gary and I gave her.  One of the times she was cuddling with me she had one of the stuffed animal tigers with her.  She put him up to my cheek and told me, "He tissin' you!"  I thought that was pretty cute.  

She started to poop in her pull-up and then told me, "I poopy".  There wasn't much in there so I took her in and she went quite a bit more in the potty.  She was very proud of that and immediately went out and told Gary.

3/12/12

Alayna ate most of her cheerios and banana at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her grilled cheese sandwich and apple slices and about half of her tomato soup. 

Alayna was pretty loppy and out of it until about 9:00 this morning.  She kind of had a "deer-in-the-headlights" look.  : )  We decided it was probably due to the time change. 

Kenzie came over to her (while she was cuddling on my lap) and asked, "Come play, Layna?"  Alayna didn't go play, but she still must have liked it because she got down and gave Kenzie a very nice hug.  : )

Alayna didn't go potty at all for me this morning and also pooped in her pull-up.  That should mean that tomorrow will be a better day, if the trend continues of good potty training day, not so good...

Alayna was very busy building with the duplos in the back room this morning.  She made a "building" and was very proud of it.  When I tried to get her to hold it for me while I took a picture, she wasn't very cooperative though, either hiding it behind her back, putting it on the floor where I couldn't see her too or putting it in her mouth (as I finally conceded). 

3/9/12

Alayna ate about half of her oatmeal and all of her craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her ground beef and her applesauce and seconds on pea and pasta with grated cheese on top. 

Alayna was so happy to see Aaron when he came today and played with or alongside of him much of the morning.  They were having a blast playing in and around the dress-up deal.  When they started all of the clothes were still in it and Alayna was hiding behind them.  Aaron would pull back one of the dress ups to find her and they both would just crack up.  It was really cute!

We were listening (and the kiddos were dancing) to my ipod music today.  I started asking "what's this one" right after it started (just a couple notes into it).  Alayna knew what the song was every time!  She really likes and relates to music.  It is amazing how much she sings as she plays throughout the day!

Alayna is so sweet and careful with the babies.  She is the only one that will always check with me to make sure it is okay to give the baby a specific toy, give her a love, or touch her.

Alayna has been dry all morning and even pooped in the potty before nap.  She told me she needed to go once, and the rest of the time just went when someone else said they needed to go. 

3/8/12

Alayna ate all of her blueberry bread pudding and blueberries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her green beans and seconds on kiwi and turkey burger on bun. 

Alayna was following Kenzie around today trying to give her a hug.  Kenzie didn't want to give or get one and kept telling her "no" and pushing her away which made Alayna sad.  I asked who wanted to get a hug from Alayna and Morgan and Jadey both went over for her to hug them, which helped her feel better.  I think it is so sweet how she just randomly decides to give someone a hug. 

Alayna was jumping on the mattress and flopping and saying she was doing a "flop-flop."  She got all of the other kiddos interested in playing on the mattress also.  She is often the catalyst in the rowdy area, especially on the mattress.

Alayna didn't do too well potty training today -- two wet diapers and one poopy this morning.  It is so crazy how it can be great one day and not much at all the next.

3/7/12

Alayna ate all of her whole wheat toast with jelly and thirds on dried mangoes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate about half of her sweet potatoes and all of her tropical fruit and her beef and bean burrito. 

Alayna snuggled with me (and her blanket) for about 15 minutes this morning after waving "bye" at mom and dad.  Morgan wanted to "cuddle" with me too and Alayna shared her blanket on her own initiative. 

Alayna was collecting lots of the Velcro fruits and vegetables and putting them into one of the back packs and carrying them around.  She didn't take them all and there were still some left for the other kiddos to use so it wasn't a big deal.  She kept putting them in the back pack them dumping them out. 

Alayna had been dry all morning and pooped in the potty right before nap, so hopefully will wake up without a poopy diaper (that is usually when she poops here). 

Alayna was doing some amazing belly flops onto the mattress today (and yesterday).  She jumps pretty high off of the climber/balance beam and it kind of takes my breath away to watch some of the flops.  It looks like it would really jar the body and brain, but she just loves it and lays there laughing!  Silly girl!

3/6/12

Alayna ate thirds on cinnamon roll and all of her prunes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her cantaloup and waffles, and at least a bite of her scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. 

Alayna asked me "Where's Aaron?" at least three times today.  Aaron is the 1-year-old of a friend of ours and he often comes on Fridays (if there is an opening -- because Peyton often stays with grandma).  I am sure I have mentioned it before, but Alayna loves interacting with him because he laughs at all of the funny stuff she does.  Anyway, he didn't come last Friday and she must be missing him!  I will have to tell his mom.  That will make her feel good!

Alayna did such a great job pottying yesterday.  Her pull-up was only wet one time and she had no pooping accidents.  She didn't tell me any of the times, but she was staying clean and dry in between times.  Today was like a total reversal.  She wouldn't poop in the potty (did it in her pull-up -- a MESS), only peed once and didn't want to even go in and try any of the times I took her.  She is just so independent that is all depends on her mood that day, it seems to me. 

We just got a couple new books from the UC Bookstore with a gift card we had received from one of the families at Christmas.  One of the books was a gorgeous pop-up book with different sets of birds on each page (forest, swamp, water fowl...).  That in itself was awesome enough, but then each page also makes that set of bird sounds when you open it.  It will be one of the "special books" that only we hold and read to the kiddos.  Today was the first time we read it and Alayna was pretty intrigued with it. 

3/5/12

Alayna ate all of her mixed fruit and her Kix cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate second on ham sandwich, all of her broccoli and her mandarin oranges. 

Alayna wasn't sad at all after daddy left.  It was just for his benefit!  : )  She didn't even cuddle with Gary for very long after waving "bye".  She got down and played with the "new" toy exchange stuff within just a couple minutes. 

She loves it when she wears the dress she had on today and Gary smells the "flower" and pretends it doesn't smell good.  He will sniff it, then say, "Pee-eew!  Stinky flower!"  Alayna really chuckles every time. 

Several of the kiddos were spinning until they fell over this morning and Alayna sat and watched them, laughing out loud when they would crash and fall. 

Alayna was only wet once this morning and went pee twice and pooped once. 

She wanted the leopard costume on today and work it the rest of the time we played in the big room after I helped her put it on. 

3/1/12

It was nice to have Alayna back today!  : )  At breakfast she ate all of her grapes and about half of her cinnamon whole wheat toast.  At lunch she ate all of her mashed potatoes, chicken, cherries and most of her dinner roll. 

Alayna was a little clingy before breakfast this morning.  She cuddled with Gary was much as he was available then came to me whenever he was busy.  When I went to leave the room to make the cinnamon toast for breakfast, she just melted down.  When Gary asked her what was wrong she said she wanted to "watch Lauralea".  That was fine with me, so she came out and watched and after breakfast, she was back to her old busy self. 

Both Peyton and Thomas kept going over to her, following her around and watching her, so I think it is safe to say that they missed her.  She gave both of them a love, but she also wasn't as long suffering with them as she usually is -- probably after not having them around for almost a week. 

She did have one episode of not listening this morning when Gary talked to her about finding a toy that no one was playing with rather than trying to take it from someone else.  She would NOT look at him or respond in anyway, so she took a little break and did much better after that.  It always amazes me when kiddos do something like that and think it is going to work!

Overall, Alayna was very busy and engaged appropriately.   In the back room she was so cute playing with Riley.  She was hiding around the corner then would pop out and "peek" at Riley.  Riley was really chuckling, which made Alayna grin from ear to ear and repeat it over and over.  It was SO adorable! 

She went potty three times this morning, but also was wet twice and pooped in her pull-up once.  She is our of diapers/pull-ups so we need more until we get this process down a little better.  Thanks!