2/23/12

Alayna ate all of her french toast and melon at breakfast.  She ate all of her lunch also -- turkey slices, crescent roll, squash and dried mangoes. 

Alayna pooped in her pull-up first thing, but did well the rest of the day.  I have been having her try to poop after breakfast and then again before nap and she basically goes every time.  She is doing pretty well with the peeing too -- usually dry and almost always goes when I take them.  She still isn't telling me, but right now with me taking them all, I think that it might not be necessary... 

Kenzie loved it when Alayna invited her to go "read" with her in the big chair.  They each got a couple books and took them over, looking at them both in parallel play and cooperatively.  One of them shut the book a little too energetically and it made quite the splat.  After that they had to "Splat" the books over and over, of course, laughing all the while.  : ) 

Alayna really enjoys playing with the dolls we have out, regardless of which set it is, it seems.   She has quite the mothering instinct and is always feeding them, patting, wrapping or singing to them. 

She is also nurturing with the kiddos to.  She goes over to one of the kiddos randomly and gives them a hug at least a couple times a day in addition to times when they are sad or upset about something.  It is really sweet!

2/22/12

This is going to be pretty brief, as I have had a very busy day between the extra time spent in the bathroom with the toilet training and having a fussy baby that has needed extra attention and could wake up anytime needing more. 

Alayna ate all of her toast and mixed berries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate everything also -- ham, bean soup, saltines and kiwi. 

She had a great toilet training morning, with the exception of telling me she didn't need to go potty after breakfast, then hiding and starting to poop in her pull-up.  I took her to the toilet and she did go some more in there too.  She also did all of her poop in the potty before nap, so...  : )  She was dry all morning also. 

She looked at books and played in the dress-up deal or with Thomas or Peyton most of the morning. 

2/21/12

Alayna ate all of her dried apricots and whole wheat mini bagel at breakfast.  At lunch she ate seconds on pea pasta salad and all of her tilapia fish and her applesauce. 

Alayna wanted to sit on or by either Gary or I quite a bite for the first hour and a half, then was very busy playing with toys after that.  We had done toy exchange this weekend, and since she wasn't here yesterday, they were all new for her today. 

We have been working on our sign language with the kiddos more again the last week or so and Alayna listens intently.  She hasn't done any of the signs or even verbalized what any of the signs are when I do them, but she seems to be quite attentive and interested. 

Alayna was dry (and not poopy) all morning today!  Hurray!  She was acting like she was trying to find an alone place not long before lunch (as if to poop) so I had her go in and sit on the potty.  She did go a little there and then she went more after lunch before nap. 

We have several little tikes pianos out in the back room and Alayna really enjoyed playing on them and singing.  Of course, "Jesus Loves Me" was the main one.  : ) 

2/17/12

Alayna ate all of her malt-o-meal and raisins at breakfast.  At lunch she also ate everything -- spaghetti with meaty sauce, mixed fruit and lettuce with ranch dressing.

Alayna spent about 30 minutes or so with the doll play again today.  I know that I mention it about every day, but it is a favorite with her and she does it so sweetly, that it merits mention.  : )

Today Thomas was playing on the mattress and Alayna decided that she needed to dance around him.  She was laughing as she was circling him and he was trying to keep his eyes on her and was getting dizzy turning around to watch her.  He fell down several times, which just seemed to feed her desire to do it!

Alayna wanted to wear one of the cow dress-up suits and brought it over for me to turn right-side-out.  She then put it one all by herself and was very proud when she got it on. 

Alayna pooped on the potty once and in her diaper once and peed twice in the potty in addition.  She was dry all morning until lunch time. 

With her curly hair, it sure looked cute in the little top pony this morning.  I loved it! 

2/16/12

Alayna ate all of her cinnamon raisin English muffin and blueberries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate seconds on  potato salad and all of her canned cherries and her canned chicken on saltines. 

All of the kiddos were quite entertained today when I showed her the sign language cards I just got and we learned several new signs.  We use some of the self-expression signs on a regular basis (please, thank you, move back, help me...) but not many beyond those.  This set of cards probably has about 40 signs on it and we will see how learning more goes. 

Potty training didn't go as well today for her -- only one time of peeing in the toilet and one poop in a very wet diaper.  

All of my "big" kiddos spent time looking at books.  They just can't get enough of them.  When I asked if they wanted me to read to them, they all made a beeline for the couch!  It is pretty cute to watch.  One of our goals is to sow an interest in and love of books, so we love seeing them react this way. 

We got out some purple bath foam and everyone, except Emily just dived right in, spread it around and started drawing on it with their fingers and otherwise exploring it.  It took Emily until about halfway through art time to get going, but then she also loved it.  I don't think Alayna stopped grinning the whole time.  She couldn't figure out why Emily wasn't as enthralled with it as she was to begin with. 

2/15/12

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

Alayna has developed a love of cuddling after waving "bye" at mom and dad.  This morning we were both kind of busy, but she had a hold of Gary's hand and was very determined.  She led him over to the couch and waited until he sat down, then told him, "I want up!"  She cuddled for about 10 minutes until he had to get up to help someone else.  : )

Alayna spent much of the morning playing with one of the dolls and accessories.  To watch her, you could easily think she was a little momma taking care of a really kiddo.  She feeds her doll, burps her, rocks her, wraps her up and puts her down for a nap, singing to her as if the doll was "real".  it is so cute! 

Alayna pooped in her diaper, but was only wet one other time this morning.  She peed on the potty twice to great cheering from the other 4 who are working on it!  : ) 

2/14/12

Alayna ate all of her hashbrowns and seconds on waffles at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her brown rice and shrimp, about half of her oranges and a taste of red pepper. 

Alayna and Thomas were parallel playing at the little picnic table with the food toys.  They each had a pan with a lid and had several things of food toys inside that they were "cooking".  Thomas tried to take some of Alayna's toys, and she did a great job of using her words, yet standing her ground.  She is very sweet with him, but also doesn't let her bully her. 

I had to get a TB test yesterday and when they inserted the needle it kind of bruised my arm.  Alayna saw it and was very concerned.  She kept asking to "see you owie" over and over and then giving me loves.  She is so sweet about giving loves when someone is hurt or upset.  She is almost always the first friend to give a sad kiddo a love!  : ) 

Alayna has had two potty successes (pee).  She has also had two poopy diapers though.  She loves it when the kiddos cheer for her when she pees in the potty, which has to be reinforcing for her.