12/22/11

Kenzie ate several bites of her french toast and no melon at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a taste of squash (because it accidentally got on her hand then she licked it) and all of her turkey, crescent roll and dried mango bits. 

Kenzie kept asking Emily, then Alayna, then back to Emily "Wanna Costco?" and "Wanna purse?"  Neither one of them wanted to go to Costco OR have a purse, obviously, but that didn't deter her from asking.  : )  After about 15 to 20 minutes of that, she finally abandoned the idea and went over and joined Emily in what she was doing (looking at the family posters). 

When Kenzie was asking the other kiddos (we only had five today and two of them were the babies) about the purses, I told her I would take one.  She brought it over and handed it to me.  I looked in it and told her it was empty.  She took it back, carried it over to the sink then said, "fill it up with money!"  Hmmm...  A sink where money comes out of it.  That's not a bad idea!  : ) 

Kenzie played with the baking toys again for quite a while today.  Emily came over and joined her in that and Kenzie tried to help her out.  She handed on of the oven mitts to her and asked, "Want mitten on?"  It was very cute! 

12/21/11

Kenzie ate no mixed berries and all of her whole wheat toast at breakfast.  At lunch she ate no kiwi, but all of her ham, crackers and bean soup. 

Kenzie was very enthralled with watching the snow coming down from the big window.  She and a couple others were standing there and exclaiming about it over and over or laughing at times.  It was pretty cute! 

Kenzie and Jadey decided to clear the shelves of all of the baking toys, food and materials.  They then started playing with them along the way.  Jadey kept getting more and more in her space.  I had her move over several times, but she just kept moving over into position.  Finally while I was feeding baby Nora and Gary was cleaning up breakfast, Kenzie had enough and chomped on her!  We had her take a break while I put a cold cloth on Jadey's bite.  We really didn't make a big deal about the bite though, concentrating more on Kenzie using her words instead and Jadey giving her space and not pushing up against her. 

Two other times, she started to bite and stopped herself.  One of them was with Thomas (also for being in her space while she was cooking) and once was Morgan when she wanted what Morgie had, but wasn't willing to give it to Kenzie.  I really feel like she is moving in the right direction and gaining more self control all the time. 

As you can tell, she was very interested and engaged with the baking dramatic play stuff today.  She played at the kitchen sets with the mixer, cookies, brownies and other backing stuff most of the morning. 

12/20/11

Kenzie ate all of her whole wheat bagel and seconds on dried apricots at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her applesauce, bites of her baked fish and a couple noodles out of her pea pasta salad. 

Kenzie has had three pretty yucky poops so far today.  I'm not sure how one of them managed to stay contained in the diaper because it was pure fluid and there was LOTS of it (just kind of pooled in the diaper).  I think it was mainly because she told me about it right after she did it so she wasn't moving around to let it run out.  I'm hoping she got it out of her system this morning so she can sleep well.  She also told me her tummy hurt a couple times too, probably due to the loose stool. 

Kenzie draped one of the purses over her arm today and announce that she was "Goin' Costco!"  Of course, being girls, there were several others that wanted to go shopping also (even if it was just to Costco).  Soon we had all of the "big" girls walking around with purses on their arms (and Thomas even joined them briefly).

Kenzie has really been in "Lauralea do it" mode this week.  It was actually starting last week, but it has exploded this week.  She wasn't happy with Gary when he even pulled out the changing station steps for her to climb up.  She wanted "Lauralea do it".

Kenzie was sitting on the lap of one of the big teddy bears we have out right now.  It looked so cute because she is so petite!

Just an FYI, Riley pooped today and it was pretty slimy also.  She also has been a little fussy (for her) and is having difficulty staying asleep.  I hope she isn't getting Kenzie's bug.  No vomiting, so that is good.  

12/19/11

Kenzie wasn't here at breakfast and literally ate nothing at lunch.  She did drink a little of her pediatlite, but that was it. 

She explored and played with the new toy exchange great this morning with no attempts to bite and several times of using her words well when wanting (or not wanting something).  

We had bought some tutus for dress-ups and some new books, so we wrapped them up and let the kiddos unwrap them this morning.  They all had fun with that and immediately started putting on tutus and wanting to read the new books.  Gary read them to the kiddos for story time. 

Kenzie really acted just fine this morning (and Riley is fine also), but Kenzie did act like she was needing to pass a bowel movement and struggling at least 4 different times this morning.  She hasn't actually pooped yet and is sleeping peacefully on her nap mat, so...  Maybe her tummy was just bugging her a little, I don't know.  I even tried having her sit on the potty for a little to see if that helped and she did try and sat there for a couple minutes, but noting happened. 

12/16/11

Wow!  I can't believe Christmas is a week from Sunday!  Whew!  I have a busy weekend ahead of me!

Kenzie ate a couple bites of both malt-o-meal and raisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her mixed fruit, her salad with ranch and most of the noodles out of her spaghetti.  She also had a couple bites of the hamburger out of it. 

We have several stuffed animals out that have arms that Velcro around each other in a hug.  They have figured out that they can also wrap them around their arms.  Kenzie had about 5 of them hooked over her arm at one time and kept trying to get more, but couldn't get those ones to stay.

Kenzie and first Jadey, them Morgan played in and around the igloo for the majority of the morning.  They were playing peek-a-boo, pretending it was there "bed" and just handing out.  It was pretty cute.  They were also pretending that the stuffed animals were their babies in it.

After telling you how well Kenzie was telling me after she had had a bowel movement, today she didn't, of course!  : )  It was a huge and loose one, but managed to stay contained in the diaper. 

12/15/11

Kenzie ate all of her cinnamon raisin English muffin and a taste of blueberries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite of potato salad, all of her cherries and chicken on saltines and thirds on just crackers. 

Kenzie and Alayna were looking at the family posters together for a while.  When they were looking at Alayna's, Kenzie asked, "That Gramma Laurie?"  Alayna answered her sweetly and proudly, "That MY Gramma Laurie!"  It was really cute and just amazed us that Kenzie knew who it was.  Gramma Laurie does pick her up frequently, but it is still amazing the she remember her name! 

As you know, Nora was here again and the center of attention when she was awake.  The "big" girls all are taken by the babies.  I love this picture of them all gathered around.  Later I had both of the babies in their seats side-by-side while I fixed breakfast and thought it was pretty cute also. 


Nora didn't cry much this morning, but when she did, Kenzie was very concerned!  She's used to Miss Mild Riley Roo!  : )

Kenzie and Morgan played together quite a bit today with the dolls and each other.  I loved it when Morgan lay down on one of the doll blankets and Kenzie went over and covered her up with another one, without Morgan even asking.  Morgan loved it!  : ) 

Kenzie has been telling me when she is poopy every time lately.  Not if we can just get the telling to happen before the fact, rather than after.  Really she is very young, but also very smart, so who knows!  : ) 

12/14/11

Kenzie ate all of her biscuit and thirds on peaches at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her pineapple, baked beans and Grandma Annabelle's yummy homemade dinner rolls (also tried a bite of steamed broccoli).  The rolls were delicious!  Thank you Grandma, if you are reading this!  : )

Kenzie was very busy today playing with Emily.  She was copying Emily and trying to put the play keys in various "holes" all over the big room.  They found holes in the gates, the work benches, the book area bench, as well as several different screw heads around the room. 

She was playing with one of the dolls today and was feeding it a bottle.  She put the doll up to her shoulder, set down the bottle and proudly exclaimed, "Baby drink it all!"  A little later she took the doll over to Gary and said, "her feet cold.  Put sock on!"  That just cracked us up!  : )

She and Jadey also played together some today, mainly with the dolls.  They were sitting side by side on the book area bench with their dolls and singing the "Happy and you know it" song.  What made it even cuter was that they were helping their dolls do the motions for it!  : )  Oh my goodness!  It was adorable! 

12/12/11

Kenzie ate all of her waffles and a bite of hashbrowns at breakfast.  At lunch she had a taste of her red pepper, all of her brown rice and sauteed shrimp and thirds+ on orange slices.  Wow! 

Kenzie loves it now that she can flip the dress up vests on and get them all all by herself.  Today she was wearing three at one time and she was so proud of herself! 


Kenzie really likes playing with the flip cell phones.  Today she and Emily were both playing with them.  She said she was talking to "Grampa" after Emily said she was talking to "Grandma".  It was super cute!

Kenzie had a really good morning over all.  She used her words many times when it could have been a potential biting situation for her.  She did bite once (Alayna), but it wasn't as hard as it has been (made it red, but no teeth marks).  We had her take a break in the back room (away from her friends) for a couple minutes then go to Alayna, give her a love and ask her if she was okay.  

Jadey and Kenzie were very busy doing "home work" again today.  They haven't done that for a while, but they each had a book and were sitting at the table and talking about their "homework".  It think that is so funny!

We have been trying to remember to do our "Kenzie (and other kiddos), where are you?" game at least once a day to help them learn to respond when we call their names.  All of the children are beginning to stop what they are doing, look at us, raise their hand and say "Here I am!"  It is really cute.  I will try to video it in the near future. 

12/9/11

Kenzie ate most of her oatmeal and craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her applesauce, about half of her pasta and peas dish with grated cheese on top (she tried to pick off all the cheese!) and a couple bites of grilled cheese sandwich. 

Kenzie went over to Emily a couple different times today and lay her head on or against her with such a sweet little look on her face.  When I asked her if she was giving her friend a love, she enthusiastically said, "Yeah!"


We had another biting incident today.  I know it may not seem like it, but we are working hard on this issue.  We had three different kiddos bite (one of them was Kenzie) and three different ones get bit!  Ugh!  It is frustrating, because they seem to be learning it from each other and so it escalates.  We are VERY stern and serious about it with the "biter" and then turn all of our attention and energy to the "victim".  It is often a spacial issue (especially with the others) so we are being even more vigilant when more than one kiddo is in an area.  Biting is NOT okay regardless of what is going on, and we are working on both ends of the issue, with the focus on "Use your words and tell them what you want!" and "NO BITING PEOPLE!  Teeth are for food, not people!"  If you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know. 

Kenzie played at one of the little work benches for quite a while this morning.  She really wasn't using the tools, bolts or nails with it.  She was playing with one of the flip phones and the keys.  She kept hanging the keys on the hooks meant for the tools and laughing!  : ) 

12/8/11

Kenzie ate literally nothing for either breakfast or lunch.  We had blueberries and blueberry bread pudding for breakfast and for lunch we had ground turkey burgers on a bun, green beans and kiwi.  She usually eats at least part of these meals, so I hope she isn't feeling bad.  She did drink a little of her milk, but not much. 

Nora came for a few hours today and the "big" girls all had to greet her.  It was like she was a little magnet when she first came, as you can see by this picture. 

Kenzie was talking on one of the flip phones for a while today.  I heard her saying, "hello football game!"  You might want to visit with you about it and see if she can give you a heads-up as to what is going to happen this Friday evening!  : ) 

Also during some phone play this week, she was chewing on one of them.  Gary said, "Silly Kenzie!  We don't chew on our phones.  Does Mommy chew on her phone?"  Kenzie thought for a second then said very deliberately, "Yes!"  Gary cracked up and said, "Oh, it must be a family tradition then!"  : ) 

As you can see in these pictures, the kiddos had fun putting the little stuffed animals up into the window sill today.  Most of them didn't stay up very well, so it was an ongoing project for about 15 minutes!

12/7/11

Kenzie ate all of her whole with toast with jelly and seconds on dried mangoes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tropical fruit, a couple bites of beef and bean burrito and no broccoli.  She didn't drink as much milk, but did drink a little! 

Morgan and Jadey have started picking up any book, start looking at it and say "I found my favorite".  Now Kenzie and Emily have picked up on it also!  : )  It doesn't matter what book it is and it changes multiple times a day.  


This morning we looked out the big window and there was a little two point buck strolling up the sidewalk by our front fence.  He started to turn up into our driveway toward the big window, but changed his mind and kept on walking up the sidewalk instead.  We were to slow to get a picture. 



 Alayna, Morgan and Kenzie helped me make this "train" and then played on it for the rest of the play time in the block room.  Kenzie had to try every seat and space between the "seats" to sit.  She also had to do a little rearranging on it also. 


Last night I got out the little roadway carpet and put it out in the back room with the little cars.  All three of "my kiddos" really had fun driving their cars on it for quite a while.  They were making car motor sounds and then saying "beep-beep" when they wanted one of the other kiddos to move out of their way.  It was pretty cute!  

Kenzie gave me several random loves again today.  One of the times she wrapped her arms around my leg as I was changing a diaper, another she came up when I was feeding Riley Roo and play her head on my knee and another she just lay her head over onto my hand and held it there when I put it up to her face.  She is such a sweetie! 
  

12/6/11

Kenzie ate all of her prunes and seconds on cinnamon roll at breakfast.  At lunch she drank almost all of her milk : ), but didn't eat much at all (about half of her melon, a bite of eggs, a couple bites of waffle and no hashbrowns.

Yesterday afternoon Kenzie was looking at the shirt I had on with four train engines on it.  She pointed to it and told me it was a "combine".  She also was looking out the big window this morning at a green tractor parked at one of the neighbor's places and called it a combine also.  That's our little farm girl!  : )

Kenzie was just adorable today when she was walking around with one of the dolls in her arms, blanket draped over it, snuggling it and singing.  It looked so precious!  You can tell she has definitely seen that modeled a few times.  She was also trying to get the dolly to fit in the bin part of the little workbench today (which wasn't even close to big enough).

Kenzie, Morgan and Alayna were putting puzzles together for a while this morning.  Kenzie can do some of the puzzles almost as quickly and easily as Morgan now!  She has really improved (and these were all ones they haven't seen for 16 weeks!  Pretty impressive!  They also had fun wearing the dress-up masks!  Kenzie is in the middle!  : )

12/5/11

Kenzie ate all of her mixed fruit and most of her Kix cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her mandarin oranges, most of her ham sandwich and a bite of her sweet potatoes. 

It was so sweet this morning.  I was squatting down checking out the diaper supply in the big room changing table when Kenzie came up behind me, wrapped her arms around me and hugged hard, saying "Hi Lauralea!"  Gary said she had the sweetest look on her face!  : )  Ohhhh!

Kenzie was very interested in checking out all of the "new" toys in the toy exchange.  She had to explore about everything for a while, but she ended up carrying around one of the flip phones and a set of keys for basically the rest of the time we played in the big room. 

I think it is so funny when one of the kiddos asks where another kiddo is, even if they are standing right beside them.  Kenzie must have asked "Where Jadey go?" at least ten times today and most of the time she was in plain sight.  : )

Emily and Kenzie were having a lot of fun today playing 'peek-a-boo' around the dress up deal.  They are both such fun-loving little girls and when they get going like that, we and several of the other children just stop what we are all doing, watch them and either smile or chuckle ourselves.

 

12/2/11

Kenzie ate all of her rice and bites of raisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her dried apricots, most of her meatloaf, a couple bites of her french bread and no cooked carrots. 

Kenzie was really struggling first thing this morning we being super sensitive, not wanting anyone to look at her (let alone touch her), but being feisty at the same time.  After she ate breakfast she was better, so maybe she was just extra hungry. 

She and Emily had a blast for several minutes holding hands and playing Row Row Your Boat and then dancing today.  About 9:30 they were dancing and they kind of toppled over.  When they fell, it looked like Kenzie kind of twisted her ankle then Emily landed on top of it.  She didn't want to put any weight on it and when she tried she was limping pretty good.  I put an ice pack on it and she was content to sit on my lap with her foot up for 20 minutes.  After that it was still bugging her some, but at least she would walk on it.  It also got better as the morning went on, so I think it is fine.

While she was cuddling on my lap, she was laughing at what the kiddos were doing.  One was when Emily was kicking the changing table and the other was when Gary was "getting" Thomas.  She has a great little sense of humor. 

12/1/11

Kenzie ate almost all of her cinnamon toast and all of her grapes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a taste of canned cherries, bites of both mashed potatoes and turkey (subbed for chicken strips today) and about half of her dinner roll. 

Kenzie kept pretending to get "stuck" behind the inside climber/balance beam today.  She would carefully wedge herself in there, then hold out her and for one of her friends to come "help" her out.  They played that game over and over. 

Kenzie pooped through pretty good today -- no difficulty in getting it out today.  It was pretty much out and all over!

Kenzie had several biting incidents today (four, I think, but only two required cold clothes).  It seems to go in waves.  It also seems to be more likely to happen when she isn't feeling well, so I am really going to watch her closely until her cold is over. 

Kenzie has been doing such a good job of helping me keep the books in the book rack when they aren't in use.  Several times today she saw someone put one down and jumped up saying, "Oh,oh!" She then raced over, picked it up and put it in the rack for me.  It was pretty cute!

11/30/11

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

As you know by now the kiddos were enthralled with the activity outside of our big window.  First it was the street sweepers then the cop cars and police officers all over the place.  There was a lot of activity for a long time and the kiddos actually just kind of wandered off and went back to playing after a while.  I guess police officers with sniper rifles wandering around doesn't quite have the same impact on them as it does adults.




Kenzie has really been playing with the engineer hats lately.  She will put them on in every which direction.  Sometimes they are even inside out.  It doesn't matter to her.  The funny thing is, she looks adorable no matter how she wears them.  

11/30/11

Kenzie ate all of her peaches and seconds on whole wheat bagel at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her chopped salad with ranch dressing and ham, about half of her homemade macaroni and cheese and a taste of corn (in and out). 

We had a pretty exciting view from our big room window this morning.  First the street sweepers were going by and the kiddos love that.  One of them saw the kiddos watching at the window and waved at them, which made the kiddos happy.

Not long after the first sweepers went by our neighborhood was surrounded by cop cars and they started canvassing house by house.  Three hour event made short, a guy had stolen a car and was hiding out in our neighborhood.  They found him about 11:30 and it started about 8:30, so it took a while.  We watched a team of 6-8 officers go through the properties on the opposite side of the street searching for him.  The officer that Gary talked to said the guy had also broken into at least three houses after ditching the car.  Crazy!

Kenzie loves to play with the engineer hats.  She puts them on about every direction, but seems to be more likely to put it on with the bill in the back, which looks pretty cute on her!  : )

 We have been practicing some Christmas/Winter songs this week and the kiddos especially like the ones that we just the jingle bells with.  

11/29/11

Kenzie ate all of her pears and a bite of blueberry muffin at breakfast today.  At lunch she ate all of her orange slices, about half of her sweet potatoes and all of her tuna on saltines (with thirds on must saltines). 

Kenzie has been talking about doing "homework" a lot here lately when playing or wanting to play with the pretend mail envelopes.  Jadey is actually the one who started it and Kenzie picked right up on it.  I am sure Jadey got it from her big sisters.  : ) 

Kenzie went over to the big thermometer mounted beside the dress up clothes deal and leaned against it with her back.  I am sure she was doing it like she was measuring herself.  That is sure what it looked like anyway. Do you guys have a measuring chart at home?  

We were talking about needing to put ointment on one of the kiddos and Kenzie was obviously listening as she was playing.  Within a minute after we had said it, she came over to me and asked, "Butt sore?"  She is a smart little whippersnapper!  : ) 

Just an aside -- I put Riley in her little infant chair for both naps today because she was having a little struggle with being stuffy and kind of rattly. 

11/28/11

Kenzie ate most of her Chex cereal and seconds on fruit salad at breakfast.  At lunch she ate about a third of her tomato soup and all of her roast beef sandwich and apple slices. 

Kenzie had somewhat of a 'back to Lauralea and Gary-sharing adjustment' today.  She was determined that every toy was "mine!", as was very spot to sit and every book to look at and so forth.  We just kept reminding her and after breakfast she did much better again!   : )  It is just that process of getting back on track with the program rules and processes. 

Kenzie initiated a great hug with Thomas and he loved it.  The only problem was that he got a little over-exuberant and toppled on forward right on top of her.  Kenzie kept saying, "Thomas push me".  It is hard when that happens because they don't understand. 

Kenzie loved examining all of the changes in the three play rooms today.  She was noticing and pointing out several different things.  It is fun to see what they see and what they done.

She had a very difficult time pooping this morning (only getting out one little marble at first then more later).  She was crying and saying it hurt, which she hasn't done here for a long time. 

11/23/11

Kenzie ate about half of her whole wheat toast and a bite of mixed berries (a blueberry) at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her biscuit, about half of her kiwi and a couple bites of the hashbrown casserole. 

Morgan played with Kenzie a lot today.  It didn't really matter what they were doing, they were basically together the whole time.  If Morgan moved away without Kenzie noticing, she would come over to me and ask "Where Morgie go?"  It was pretty cute and Morgan liked having her for a playmate. 

All of the bigger kiddos were using the "sidewalk" that Gary had made for a 'stage' to sing and dance on.  Kenzie and Morgan are balanced enough that they did pretty good.  The others fell off frequently, but thought it was great anyway. 

Kenzie did play with Emily with the mega Legos for a little while, but Morgan was by the Lego table also.  She and Emily were building and laughing if they tipped over or anything else even slightly amusing happened.  I love how much Kenzie loves to laugh and have fun!  

11/22/11

Kenzie ate all of her dried apricots and whole wheat bagel at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her applesauce, most of her baked fish and about half of her pea and pasta salad.

Kenzie and Jadey were playing together and Jadey told her "Bye, Kenzie" then turned around and started walking away.  Kenzie got a very forlorn look on her face and asked, "Where going?" like she was really going to leave. 

Kenzie played with the big interlocking blocks for a while then went over to Gary with those big adorable eyes and asked him to "build sidewalk".  Of course, he couldn't resist that and she helped bring him blocks to make a sidewalk from block shelf to big window step. 

Kenzie knows basically all of our 'Kindness Pledge' now and says it very well (when she wants to).  She misses a word here and there, but really can do it all by herself.  It is so cute.  Now if we could just get them to practice what it says!  : )

11/21/11

Kenzie ate most of her bran flakes cereal and about half of her craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of ehr cheese pizza, tropical fruit and then carefully picked the bacon bits out of the green beans and ate them (subbed for cauliflower). 

Kenzie was holding hands and dancing with Jadey and Morgan.  Usually when they do that it ends up just being a fall down party, with one of them always trying to pull the other ones down on top of them.  Today they actually danced quite a bit and the falling down was accidental for the first 10 or so minutes. 

Kenzie was playing peek-a-boo over, around and and behind the yellow chair.  It really didn't matter to her who would play with her (Alayna, Morgan, Jadey, Joslyn) she was just cracking up no matter who it was. 

Her poor little nose was running like crazy, often blowing big bubbles out of it.  She blew one huge one out as she was laughing at Emily and I cracked up.  She was kind of looking at it cross-eyed in a shocked manner.  It was pretty funny!  I also think it is so cute and cool how she will pop her binky out and put her little head up when we tell her we need to wipe her nose.  We let her keep her binky in until breakfast, then put it away. 

The kiddos all really enjoyed watching the city crew scooping up leaves with the front end loaders and dumping them into the dump trucks.  Sadly there weren't many leaves where they would watch out the big window so it didn't take very long, but they were enthralled while it lasted! 

11/18/11

Kenzie ate about half of her malt-o-meal and most of her raisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her salad with ranch, mixed fruit and most of her spaghetti. 

Kenzie was randomly telling the kiddos to "Shhh...  Riley sleeping".  Some of the time that meant baby sister Riley and others it meant the doll she was playing with.  The kiddos all listened and cooperated with her pretty well.  She must have sounded like she meant business.  : ) 

Kenzie has been enjoying going in to try to "go potty" with the bigger kiddos.  So far she hasn't had any product yet, but she loves being included with the bigger kiddos.  I am going to continue taken all of them several times a day for a couple weeks, then evaluate who is having successes and focus mostly on those ones. 

Alayna always pretends that one of the dolls here is "baby Riley".  She has also decided that one of the fire hats is her "car seat".  Kenzie decided that it was a good idea and has been putting her "baby Riley" doll into one of the fire hats also and calling it a car seat. 

11/17/11

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

Kenzie was prancing around with one of the dolls in her arms and announced, "I dance baby!"  It was really cute and she had the biggest grin on her face! 

Kenzie kept building big tall towers with the big blocks, knocking them over and laughing.  She was also really watching Emily's face and reaction.  When Emily laughed, Kenzie laughed even harder (bending over and covering her mouth). 

There were a bunch of crows outside the big window today and they were all lined up watching them.  They were across the street which is far enough away that they didn't fly when the kiddos banged on the window to try to scare them.  They hung out for about 15 minutes and most of the kiddos stayed the entire time. 

11/16/11

Kenzie ate all of her peaches and about half of her biscuit at breakfast.  At lunch she ate bites of both her dinner roll and her broccoli, seconds on pineapple tidbits and thirds on baked beans.  She has been a little eating machine the last couple days!  : )

I decided to try seeing if any of the "big" kiddos are interested in using the bathroom this morning.  I was just going to take the older four (who are all two, or almost).  Kenzie was determined that she needed to come too, so I took her also.  They all tried valiantly, but only Jadey and Alayna were able to go either time.  I will keep trying all of them for a couple weeks (as long as they want to), then will focus on those who are being successful after that.

I had given an award to the two who pooped in the potty this morning and let them put a sticker on it.  Of course, all of the other kiddos wanted a "ticker" too, so I decided we would do stickers for art time today.  That sufficed them.

Yesterday afternoon was the first time Kenzie tried to be possessive of Riley.  I had Riley sitting up in the corner of the couch with me right by her.  Of course, all of the kiddos gathered around to talk to her and try to give her toys.  I fielded the toys so they didn't overwhelm her, but Kenzie wasn't impressed.  She started trying to push the kiddos away.  I just told her "At Gary and Lauralea's we need to share Riley Roo with all of the kiddos, but Gary and Lauralea will take good care of her and make sure she's safe."  She did very well after that.  I think it just freaked her out a little to see them all clustered around her like that.

11/15/11

Kenzie ate all of her waffle and a taste of hashbrowns at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a taste of red pepper, all of her shrimp, second on orange bits and thirds on brown rice.  We were shocked!  : )

I came up with the term "feistily sensitive" to describe Kenzie this morning.  I don't know if it was because of sensing that Daddy was leaving or if she didn't sleep well last night or what, but she was in a mode.  She was determined to harass the other kiddos, but didn't want them anywhere close to her.  She tried to take many toys they had, but didn't want them to even look at a toy she had played with and put down 10 minutes ago.  I couldn't help but think of the "Toddler's Creed" multiple times when observing today.  : ) 

Kenzie loved it when I sang "How much is that Doggy in the Window?" while holding one of the stuffed puppies out in the back room.  She especially liked it when I wagged his tail when it got to that stop.  She was really laughing.

Kenzie did a couple "pussles" (puzzles) today and loved that!  

11/14/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her banana and all of her cheerios at breakfast.  At lunch she drank all of her tomato soup, ate most of her apple bits and picked the cheese off of her grilled cheese sandwich. 

Morgan and Kenzie were waving the shakers above their heads and chanting "Go Griz!" over and over this morning.  When Gary and I started talking about it, they really got into doing it to show off.  It was super cute!

Gary's razor batter was dead when he tried to shave first thing this morning so he had to charge it first.  When it was charged he started to shave.  The kiddos don't usually get to seem him do that and they were mesmerized, especially Kenzie.

She was wearing one of the dress-up shoes today and it was a little big so she kept walking out of it.  That, in itself, was cute, but then kept putting it back on when it fell off by herself, which was awesome. 

Kenzie was being goofy after breakfast and Gary told her she was a "clown".  For about 20 minutes after that she was chanting, "Class clown!" over and over and over.  She has obviously heard us say that about her!

11/11/11

Kenzie ate about half of her oatmeal and bites of her craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her applesauce and at least half of both her ground burger and her pasta pea dish. 

Kenzie was playing with the duplo toys again a lot this morning.  It usually takes us about half an hour to convince her that they are NOT all "Mine!" and then a few reminders after that.  It is one of those things that is actually quite humorous when you look at the repetition of it (not just with her, but with all of the kiddos).  It always makes me wonder if they honestly expect to be able to get away with it someday!  : )

She was standing and sitting duplo people on top of some plain pieces then singing either to or with them.  I couldn't quite determine which.  Either way, it was adorable.

Kenzie loved snuggling up to Gary during story time today.  I love how equally she is attached to both of us.  It makes it so nice when one of us is busy when she needs a snuggle!  We have about three of the kiddos that respond pretty equally right now. 

11/10/11

Kenzie ate a couple bites of her blueberry bread pudding and a bite of blueberry that came right back out again at breakfast.  At lunch she ate most of her kiwi, a bite of her turkey burger and a couple bites of green beans. 

Kenzie was playing with the masks again today.  This time we really got a kick out of it when she started putting them on every-which-way (frontwards, backwards, sideways, like a necklace, like a hat...).  At one time she had on 9 masks.  Gary counted them as he helped get them off of her. 

You know how Kenzie asks us (as adults), "What doing?" frequently, well now she is asking the kiddos the same question.  It was really cute because she she squatted down in front of them, looked them in the eye and asked very seriously, "What doing?"  When she did it to Joslyn, she didn't answer, but Kenzie was persistent and asked until Joslyn told her (playing with toys).

Kenzie and Emily were sitting side by side today trying to get their slippers on their feet.  Kenzie worked at it for a little white then said, "I need help!" to Emily, handing her her shoe.  Gary asked her if he could help her and she vigorously shook her head.  "No!  Emmy  help!"  Gary did end up helping, but not until Emily gave up and walked away.  : )   

11/9/11

Kenzie ate all of her whole wheat toast with jelly on it and seconds on dried mango bits at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tropical fruit, several bites of her beef and bean burrito (mostly tortilla) and a taste of her sweet potatoes.

Kenzie has taken to doing what Gary calls "customizing" the big block motorcycles we make for them.  She will come up ans ask one of us to "help me" make a "motorcycle".  We will do the usual basic one we make and she will make it have taller handle bars sometimes or a deal on the back like a booster seat.  She now has all of the other "customizing" theirs also.  It is pretty funny!

Kenzie was draping makes over her arm like a purse today.  She had at least 10 of them hanging off of her arm.  Emily was copying her and had the rest of them draped over her arm.  We get such a kick out of how much this group of kiddos imitate what the others are doing. 

Kenzie was walking around talking into one of the phones today saying, "Hi Christmas!" over and over again.  Gary had mentioned something to me about Christmas and Kenzie was obviously listening and decided it sounded like a great word to say. 

11/8/11

Kenzie ate most of her prunes and cinnamon roll at breakfast.  At lunch she ate most of her waffles and maybe a bite of her scrambled eggs, waffles, and melon.

Kenzie has developed a new favorite phrase over the past week or so.  It is "No Peyton!"  Gary brought to my attention that it probably won't be long until it will be "No Riley Roo" as quickly as Roo is developing and getting strong.  : )

Kenzie is always wearing one of the masks.  She often doesn't wear them as an actual mask, but rather as a hat.  She will walk around like that for several minutes at a time.

Kenzie was walking around singing both 'Old MacDonald' and later "Twinka star, up you are..."  It was so very cute. 

11/7/11

Kenzie ate all of her mixed fruit and over half of her Kix cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her mandarin oranges and bites of both ham sandwich and steamed broccoli. 

Kenzie started off the day by making Jadey and several of the others laugh.  Once she gets someone who rewards her for being silly, she gets into showboat mode!  It is really funny!  She just tips her head back and laughs at herself as much as the others do. 

Kenzie loved how crazy loud it was when she started stirring the Velcro fruits and vegetables in the stainless steel sink bowl in the kitchen sink.  She was really stirring like crazy -- stirred a couple of the veggies right out of the sink! 

Kenzie has appointed herself the coffee server at our house.  Anything the kiddos are sitting at the table in the big room or standing in front of the climber deal in the back room (better used as the 'coffee counter') she always asks them "Want coffee?" and starts "fixing" and serving them.  It is really cute. 

Kenzie and Jadey have been pretty good buddies the last week or so.  It is funny.  They like to build, read, dance and especially laugh together.  Then, once in a while a switch will flip and they well be at each others throats momentarily before going back to being buddies again. 

11/4/11

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

We have officially deemed Kenzie "the class clown" in addition to "the master of distraction".  The last couple days she had been determined to make the kiddos (and us laugh) multiple times throughout the day.  The time when she really shines is mealtimes.  We can tell when she is done because she starts goofing off and watching everyone to see who will laugh at her.  When someone does, she picks it up a few notches and really gets going.  It is pretty hilarious, I have to admit!  : )

Kenzie was stacking the duplo blocks again (for a change) today.  What was super cute about it was that when the "tower" broke, she took it to Alayna and had her help her.  Alayna loved helping and after that, every time it broke she's say "'Layna help", look around to find her and head over to have her help fix it. 

Kenzie and Emily were playing on the block side of the big room today.  Kenzie then moved over to the dramatic play side, looked around and asked, "Where Emily go?"  I am not sure if she thought Emily would just automatically follow her over or if that was her way of trying to invite Emily to come play with her.  Either way, it was really cute!

11/3/11

Kenzie ate very little at breakfast today -- a bite of cinnamon toast and a couple bites of grapes.  At lunch she ate all of her home made chicken strips and dinner roll, a couple bites of cherries and no mashed potatoes. 

Kenzie was having fun playing the drums today.  She was copying whatever Joslyn (and later Gary) did with them for quite a while.  first they were all standing at the table, then Joslyn took hers and went over and sat on the step under the big window, then over to sit on the big blocks...  It was pretty cute.  I love how she really gets into it.  (Look at her face in the picture!)

Gary frequently says "Now that's comedy" if he things something is funny.  Today I saw Kenzie start laughing, cover her little face like she does, then say, "That comtee!"  I'm sure she was trying to say "comedy".  : ) 

Kenzie was really into the dress up wild animal masks today.  She was putting them on one right after another.  She didn't really care much if she had them on the "right" way, upside down, or inside out as long as it was on her face.  She did a very good job of moving it around until she got it so the eyes were in the right spot regardless, though.  : ) 

11/2/11

Kenzie ate all of her whole wheat bagel and peaches at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her salad with ranch dressing and her ham, several bites of her home made macaroni and cheese and a couple kernels of corn. 

Kenzie was very interested in "cutting" the Velcro veggies and fruit today with the play knife.  She always takes them over to kitchen set by the sink so that when she "cuts" them apart the loose piece drops into the sink, making a loud sound.  She then laughs. 

Speaking of laughing, she was in such a fun and silly mood after she came this morning.  She was making Peyton and Joslyn laugh at the breakfast table, then was harassing Gary while he was washing her up and just being so goofy.  It didn't really matter what anyone did, she laughed at them.  She also was showing off over and over.  One of the times she was running on the big block "sidewalk" that Gary made and crashed right onto the step under the big window.  We put a cold cloth on it and it doesn't look like it will bruise, but that's what happened in case it does.

Kenzie watched Morgan put one of the little Duplo guys inside of the duplo tree today and thought it looked like fun.  Instead of using one of the little guys, she used the Pooh she likes so much.  He is a lot bigger, so he kept "falling" out.  The first time he fell, I made a crying sound (whah...whah...).  Kenzie thought that was just hilarious and kept tipping him out so I would "cry" again.  When I stopped, she started making the "whah, whah...) sounds herself.  She is so cute! 

11/1/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her blueberry muffin and all of her pears at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tuna on cracker and orange slices, plus a bite of sweet potatoes or two. 

Kenzie loves the flip cell phones.  They aren't toy ones, but ones I got on-line that don't work any more.  There are five of them that are exactly alike, which works well.  If they are even slightly different they fight over them...  Kenzie had two -- one up to each ear and was just jabbering like crazy. When she paused by me, I asked her who she was talking to and she told me, "Mommy-daddy".  It makes perfect sense that way -- one for talking to mom and one for talking to dad!  : )

Kenzie was really into looking at the books today also.  She got three to five books out and took them to the big yellow chair, climbed up and read the "tories" for a while until she decided she was done, got down (dumping those books on the floor, went to the rack and got several more and repeated the process.  It is so cute! 

Kenzie is doing such a good job saying our "Kindness Pledge" with us.  At first she would just sit and grin all the way through, but she is saying so many of the words with us now and will finish the last word(s) of lines all on her own. 

10/31/11

Kenzie ate all of her Chex cereal and thirds on fruit salad at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her apple bits a couple bites of her roast beef sandwich and a sip of tomato soup.  Usually she loves the tomato soup, so that was kind of interesting. 

Kenzie asks for her binky usually a couple times each day, but as soon as I tell her "Mommy says 'only in bed and in the car'" she says "OK" and does fine without it.  She hasn't had it except for nap since you mentioned it here.

Kenzie was excited to explore all of the "new" toys from this toy exchange.  She really likes the Winnie the Pooh duplo characters and carried them around a lot.  She also liked the drums, but only played with them as an actual drum briefly.  The rest of the time she was stacking them on top of each other into a bit "tower".  : )

Kenzie bit two times (different kiddos).  Gary and I thought that was pretty ironic since we had just talked about it (spelled it, actually) at our meeting.  It amazes us how many times we will talk about something like that and within a week the behavior reoccurs.  How can that be?!

One thing that kind of goes along with the biting is toy taking.  She usually bites over trying to take a toy from someone and them not giving it up.  So we have been more watchful of when she tries to take toys and intervening early by helping her find a toy that no one is usuing.   

10/28/11

Kenzie ate a taste of her prunes and most of her oatmeal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all her mandarin oranges and a bite of both biscuit and her hashbrown casserole. 

Kenzie was very interested an engaged in story time.  I always have her sit on my lap because otherwise she doesn' t stay long.  If I do that, she almost always stays for the whole things, does a great job of looking and not touching the book.  She ias seemed more and more interested and will answer questions I ask, finish lines of their favorites and overall listen and watch more closely. 

Kenzie not only likes to build with the big interlocking blocks, but she loves to wreck what we have build also.  I had build "steps (thre blocks tall)" with a platform for them to climp up, stand and walk on then jump off yesterday.  They had played on it a lot yesterday, but today Kenzie was determined to take it apart.  Once she started then everyone came over to help.  : )

Kenzie frequently looks at the family pictures ont the wall.  Today she and Joslyn were looking at the one we have up of Coral and her family and friends.  They were actually pointing and visiting about "Coral", Lauralea, Gary and some other stuff I couldn't understand as they looked at and pointed at it.  It was really cute!

10/27/11

Kenzie ate a bite of cantaloupe and about half of her french bread at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her "ham", which was really turkey : ).  She also ate all of her dried mango bits, most of her crescent roll and a taste of squash. 

Kenzie was reading lots of books on the little yello bench.  Emily was sitting by her during this time and Kenzie was sharing with her and shoing her the pictures very nicely.  It amazing me how clearly Kenzie says "Emily" name.  Most of the kiddos either call her "Emmy", or "Emly", but Kenzie makes sure she gets all of the syllables. 

Kenzie was doing block play again today, of course.  Today she did add another dimension to it.  She was using the dinosaurs alond with it.  Mostly she was putting (standing) them up on top of the blocks creations she (or others) had made. 

10/26/11

Kenzie ate bites of her whole wheat toast and no mixed berries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her ham and saltines, about half of her bean soup and no kiwi. 

Kenzie wanted her jacket off after a while this morning and i saw her struggling with it.  I went over to try to help her with it and she jerked away from me and raced over to Gary, saying "Gary help!" -- the little stinker!  : )

She really enjoys building with the big blocks.  She likes it even more when Morgan is here and will build alongside her.  Neither of them really bothers the other or tries to take blocks that the other on is building with, which is probably part of why they like working at it at the same time.  They both are also very interested and adept at using the blocks, which is another plus. 

Morgan was holding one of the play cups up to her mouth (cupped over it) and talking or making sounds into it.  Kenzie watched and listened for a minute or so, then started imitating her.  Morgan loved it when she saw Kenzie doing it too.

Kenzie went over to the dress up stuff, put a pair of boots on then wrapped a scarf around her neck, folded her arms and said, "Brrr.... Cold!"  Gary and I thought that was super cute! 

10/25/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her whole wheat bagel and maybe a taste of her dried apricots at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her applesauce and her fish and a couple bites of her pea and pasta salad. 

Kenzie was carefully dropping the little ice cream spoons into one of the little plastic orange juice jars.  She kept putting them in until no more would fit through the hole.  She obviously made it look pretty fun because Jadey started imitating it also. 

Kenzie has not been leaving her pony tails in very well lately.  I haven't been choosing that battle, but have been putting them in after nap most of the time (if I remember).  Today her nose ran so much that I did put them back in just to keep her hair out of her nose drippings in between the many wipings.  She is so good about letting us wipe her nose though.  It cracks me up how she will even take out her binky (if she has it in) so we can wipe it! 

She was putting stuff into one of the dress-up hats today and carrying it around, calling it "My bag".  She had it full enough that if she wasn't careful she lost stuff out! 

Today I put on some upbeat music and she held her hands out and went over to Jadey saying, "my handle - my handle".  She was wanting her to hold hands and dance with her.  When Jadey figured it out, she did it and Kenzie was thrilled!

10/24/11

Kenzie ate bites of her bran cereal and a bite or two of craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tropical fruit and cheese pizza and a taste of cauliflower. 

Kenzie has really been attached to Gary lately, so he has been "helping" with her care also.  She requests that he wash her, change her, "help" her, and often goes to him for comforting.  We are kind of waiting to see if she fascilates back to me or continues on with the Gary attachment right now.  For example, at lunch she was up ready to wash her hands and asked, "Gary wash.  Gary wash."  : ) 

She took Gary a book today and was thrilled when he read it to just her.  Of course, it only started that way, because as soon as he started reading, the rest of the kiddos headed over to listen too.  : ) 

Kenzie uses the ice cream cups for cups to put "water" in out of the play faucets at the kitchen sets, then shares it with her friends.  I love how much they are getting into dramatic pretend play, including feeding each other.  I also have been impressed with this group and how often they will go over and give each other a love or ask "You okay?" if one of them gets hurt or is upset about something.  Cute!

10/21/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her malt-o-meal and had several bites of raisins at breakfast.  Actually she technically had several "chews" of raisins!  She was putting them in her mouth, chewing them up and then spitting them out.  At lunch she ate most of her hamburger, a taste of noodles, all of her fruit and a bite of veggies. 

The little guy that occasionally comes when there is an infant gone was here today.  Kenzie is obviously getting used to him being here once in a while because she looked and pointed at him today and announced, "That Aaron!  Hi Aaron!"  It was really cute. 

It was only Kenzie, Riley, Aaron and Emily today.  Kenzie and Emily played together (parallel) a lot today and really got along well without the others to add more dynamics.  For example, the played with the big interlocking blocks alongside each other for about 30 minutes and there was so much laughter and smiles as the built, knocked over and rebuilt. 

Later they were standing in front of the big mirror and doing the exact same things.  When one would peek, the other would peek.  When one would clap, dance, laugh, fold their arms, stand a certain way, the other would immediately copy.  It was great! 

10/20/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her blueberries and a couple bites of cinnamon raisin English muffin at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her chicken on crackers, a couple bites of canned cherries and a bite of potato salad. 

Kenzie loved the big girl visiting here today.  She was trying hard to have her undivided attention much of the morning.  She kept asking her to "Help" her get on and off one of the dress-up rain coats.  She was also a little perturbed when I let Audrey hold baby Riley.  I am not sure who she was more jealous of -- Audrey or Riley!  : ) 

Kenzie loved drawing with the magna doodle deals.  She had to sit right by Audrey and watched what she was doing closely.  I think she was trying to imitate what she was doing, that just was a little too detailed... 

Kenzie, Morgan, Joslyn and Emily were lining up alongside the door against the wall in the "jumping room" and said, "Set....  Go.....!"  Then they would race across the floor and flop down on the mattress.  Not every time, but frequently as Kenzie would flop on the mattress she would say, "Splat!" 

10/19/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her biscuit and all of her peaches at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her pineapple and dinner roll, and bites of both broccoli and baked beans. 

Kenzie has really been playing at the little kitchen set sink lately.  She will hold up a glass, cup or ice cream cone to the faucet and say "water" many times throughout the morning.  She also pretends to be washing her hands some of the time too, which is adorable. 

Kenzie got one of the doll blankets, brought it over to me, handed it to me, lay down on the floor and started singing "Nigh-night Kenzie" until I covered her up.  It was so cute!  I love how well her language is developing and how she is begining to use it more functionally (to let us know what she needs and/or wants).  That is so helpful.

I have been trying something here the last couple days.  When Kenzie asks for her binky, I have been trying to distract or redirect her first.  If that doesn't work and she continues to ask then I have been giving it to her, but having her play with something on the couch or chair rather than walking around with it.  It couldn't be a big deal, but she will often drop it or lose it and then we find it in either Thomas or Peyton's mouth.  Just trying to find a way to meet her need, but limit the spread of germs.  So far she has been fine with the arrangment. 

10/18/11

Kenzie ate most of her waffle and about half of her hashbrowns at breakfast today.  At lunch she ate all of her oranges and shrimp, about half of her rice and a taste of the yellow peppers. 

Kenzie cracked me up today when she grabbed one of the ice cream carts after breakfast and announced, "Better get going!"  : ) 

There was a bunch of crows outside the big window today that the kiddos were all lined up watching. I love how often simple things are so intriguing. If we would only keep the interest and wonder of a child... : ) 

I have noticed that Kenzie kept trying to get her hands down the front of her pants several times this last week.  Now that we know she has a yeast infection, it sure makes sense.  Yeast infections usually itch like crazy and are so uncomfortable.  Poor sweetie!  I forgot to ask you if we were supposed to do anything different (like not using any cream or only one kind or something).  I will try to remember to ask you tonight.

10/17/11

Kenzie ate bites of both her cheerios and banana at breakfast.  At lunch she ate about half of her grilled cheese sandwich and all of her tomato soup and apple slices.  She is doing very well with holding her open cup of tomato soup and feeding herself.  I keep my hand right there ready to help, but she only needed it once today. 

I have been getting such a kick out of watching the kiddos explore the "new" toys today.  One of the things that are are are cameras.  Even though we have a digital camera, it still looks so funny to see the kiddos holding the cameras out in front of them rather than up to their eyes.  They were all doing it and saying "cheese" this morning.  It is really cute! 

Kenzie noticed a little piece of yarn off of one of the scarves on the floor today.  She was very excited and started scour the floor, trying to find more.  : )

Kenzie loved pushing around and filling the ice cream carts today.  She was determined to run right over Thomas for a while and kept pushing and saying "Move Thomas!" even as I was helping direct her and the cart around him! 

10/12/11

Kenzie ate bites of both her whole wheat toast with jelly and her dried mangoes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate most of her tropical fruit, a bite of potatoes and a couple bites of her burrito. 

Kenzie tugged and tugged until she got the lego table drawer open and then she collected a bunch of the lego fence pieces.  She brought them over to me and said, "Morgie fence".  Sure enough, Morgan is the one that plays with most of the time.  I thought that was pretty observant of her. 

Riley has done wonderful today.  What a doll!  I think Kenzie has enjoyed having her here also.  She has been definitely keeping tabs on where and how she is!  We must have heard, "Where Riley Roo?" at least 10 times today.  Most of the time it was when she was napping, but a couple times it was while I was holding her.  : ) 

Morgan was riding on the big block "motorcycle" today and Kenzie was trying to push her around the big room.  The only way she could budge her was when Morgan "helped her".  They were both really enjoying it though. 

For about an hour this morning, Kenzie had one or another of the farm troughs in her mouth.  She is so oral that she almost always has something or another in her mouth.  : )  Part of the time she had it in with the part that sticks onto the lego bumps in her mouth and the trough part sticking out.  It made it look like she had a rectangular shaped mouth! 

10/11/11

Kenzie ate about half of her cinnamon roll and maybe a bite of prunes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a couple bites of hashbrowns, about half of her waffle and no cantaloupe or scrembled eggs. 

Kenzie brought one of the animal costume coats over to me and aske me to "help".  I held it up for her to put her arms in and she just growled at me and said, "wanna flip up".  She had just watched me lay it down on the floor for Morgan to put her arms in the hole and flip it over to put it on.  I lay it down and tried to get her to stand at the hood and do it, but instead just lay down on the floor then yelled when I told her I couldn't get it on her that way.  Silly girl!  (That's probably what she was thinking also!)  : )

Today was a "want Gary!" day.  I don't know how many times she actually said that today and how many more her actions said it even more clear.  Even when she crashed today she chose him over me.  She is one of the kiddos that would be fine being either one of our kiddos.  She loves us both and seems to vascilate between who she wants on any given day. 

The "baby" that Kenzie played with most of the morning was one of the little duplo guys.  She was holding it against her and swaying back and forth like she was rocking him.  She was also "singing" to him and it was so cute. 

10/10/11

Kenzie ate about half of her mixed fruit and bites of her Kix cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her ham sandwich and mandarin oranges and about half of her steamed broccoli. 

Kenzie was very cuddly today off and on and wanted her binky from about 10:30 on.  We put her rash stuff on her face and went ahead and gave it to her, knowing she isn't feeling well.  She I put the rash stuff on again before nap also. 

Kenzie went over to Gary and told him, "Music" while pointing to the CD player in the big room.  As soon as he turned it on, both she and Emily started dancing, twirling, jumping and falling down.  Their dancing is so great.  Gary and I just crack up! 

Kenzie handed Gary some of the big blocks and told him "a tractor", wanting him to build her a tractor to ride on.  He made a "motorcycle" and said, here is your "tractor" which can also double as a motorcycle.  A while after that and out of the blue Kenzie said, "Silly Gary" and I have to say I have to agree.  : ) 

She is sleeping very restlessly -- tossing first this way than that, whimpering but still sleeping.  It will be interesting to see if she wakes up early or takes a regular nap. 

10/7/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her raisins and about half of her brown rice at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her french bread, bites of her meatloaf, a bite of dried apricot and no cooked carrots. 

Kenzie saw that Joslyn was pretending to eat spaghetti this morning.  She went over to her with her mouth open and asked, "a bite, a bite, a bite" until Joslyn gave her a bite.  Both of them were all smiles then and Joslyn fed Kenzie several times after that. 

Kenzie was chanting "binky, binky, binky" this morning until we gave it to her.  I have been trying to give it to her only when she really needs it because of the rash around her mouth (and I do think it helped), but she definitely needed it today. 

Our little visitor guy (Aaron) was here again today.  Kenzie came over to him and gave him a little hug, greeting him by name, "Hi Aaron!"  It was pretty awesome. 

10/6/11

Kenzie ate all of her grapes and almost half of her cinnamon toast at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her canned cherries, about half of her mashed potatoes and chicken strips and a couple bites of her dinner roll.  

Kenzie was funny at lunch.  I was sitting right beside her, but she kept asking Gary to "help" her spoon up her mashed potatoes.  Also her high chair is by the dryer where we put the extra food.  Well, every time Gary goes over there to get something, she always grabs or touches him.  It is pretty funny! 

Our daughter from Louisiana (Christina) flew in Tuesday evening and will be here until Saturday about noon.  She was hanging out in the big room with the kiddos and us this morning and Kenzie and some of the others were really showing off for her.  While Kenzie was showing off, she bonked her head a little too hard on the floor.  She meant to bonk it, but I think it was a little harder than she had anticipated.  She kind of chuckles at first, then decided it hurt and cried. 

After Christina left the room, Kenzie walked around asking "Where Iz-Tina go?"  Christina loved that!  : ) 

I cleared my throat this morning and Kenzie kept copying the sound.  She must have done it about 10 times.  She was grinning all the while and when I made the sound back at her, she just chuckled like crazy. 

10/5/11

Kenzie ate seconds on peaches and a couple bites of peaches.  At lunch she ate most of her macaroni and cheese and corn and all of her salad with ranch dressing.

We have decided that Kenzie is becoming the master of distraction.  If you want her to do something she often will say something totally unrelated, as if to try to get you to forget what you were going to have her do.  She almost alway does this when we are tying to get her to help pick up toys to switch rooms or go outside. 

Morgan bonked herself a little and asked for a cold cloth today to sooth it.  Kenzie watched what was going on then followed me around asking "cold cloth". 

Emily makes this little dolphin type sound "heh-heh=heh-heh."  Today Kenzie, Morgan, Jadey and Joslyn were all imitating her.  Emily really got a kick out of that and was grinning from ear to read.  

10/4/11

Kenzie ate all of her pears and a taste of her blueberry muffin at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite or two of sweet potatoes, and all of her oranges slices and her tuna on crackers. 

Kenzie accidentally bonked her head on the floor when she was playing this morning and decided it was funny so she continued to do it over and over on purpose.  She would do it and then cover her mouth and laugh about it.  It is so cute when she covers her mouth like that.  : )  Alayna was watching her and cracking up at her also, which probably also helped her keep going.

Kenzie played with the legos repeatedly this morning.  She especially likes the tractor with the little trailer.  She brings it to us to hook together then goes over and finds a guy to sit in the tractor and an animal to  put in the trailer. 

I was doing some "testing" of Kenzie today for our developmental checklist.  I had tried to other times, but she wasn't very cooperative about it.  Today she did better and I got most of the information I needed.  It is things like "understands the difference between big and small", can match a real object to it's picture... 

10/3/11

Kenzie ate all of her fruit salad and seveal bites of her Chex cereal at breakfast. At lunch she drank all of her tomato soup, ate about half of her apple bits and a couple bites of her roast beef sandwich.

Kenzie gave both Gary and I loves or cuddled with us multiple times this morning. It seemed like she missed us. I KNOW we missed her! Kenzie was standing on the picnic table bench with Emily and singing "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" quite loudly today.

Kenzie also seemed to have missed her big interlocking blocks. She was busy putting them together and messing with them this mroning. She was pushing them around, riding on them, stacking them, taking them apart and so on.

I was peeking over the arm of the couch at her today and she was just chuckling. It made it even more cute when she was laughing and covering her mouth with her hand. It is just too adorable!

Some of the "bigger" kiddos were laying on the floor and covering each other (or having me cover them). Emily was wanting to be covered up also. Before I got over to her, Kenzie had her neatly covered and was patting and singing the "Good-night song" to her. It was super cute. They did it over and over. Kenzie and Emily both were loving it!

9/27/11

Kenzie ate about half of her whol wheat bagel and her dried apricots at breakfast.  She obviously left before eating lunch. 

Kenzie came over to me saying "I tuck" this morning.  Sure enough, she had her thumb in the hole of one of the play ladels and it was "tuck".  As soon as I got it out she sighed loudly and said "Thank you!"  I think she was afraid she was going to have to wear it for the rest of the day. 

Each of the rocking horses had a kiddo on them today and Kenzie was wanting a turn.  We are working on having all of the toddlers say, "My turn next" rather than screaming or grabbing.  Kenzie obviously forgot for the moment because she went over to where Emily was sitting on a horse rocking and started pulling on her shirt yelling "Off!  Off!  Off!"  It was enough that Emily started to get off until I intervened and helped Kenzie find something else to do until someone was done and it was her turn. 

Kenzie has been listening a little better when we have to redirect her, I think.  One thing we have noticed is that she often tries to get either comfort and love from the other caregiver if we have to get on her case about something, or she will look at the other one to see if she might be able to get away with it from them.  It is amazing how quickly they learn to try those things -- even when it doesn't work.  Gary and I always stick by what the other one says!

9/26/11

Kenzie ate most of her cereal and bites of her craisins at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a bite of her steamed broccoli, most of her tropical fruit and seconds on cheese pizza.  She has been watching the big kiddos at the table have their "tasting bites" of what they aren't sure about eating and the last couple days has been doing a great job of taking her own tasting bite if I ask her to.  She usually doesn't actually leave it in her mouth, just kind of licks it.  It is pretty cute.

Kenzie explored all of the "new toys" from the exchange today and was favorably impressed by them from her interaction with them.  She rode on the rocking horses a little and actually seemed to get more enjoyment out of watching the other kiddos rock on them. 

She found a baby she liked and then was so cute wrapping it up, getting a baby bottle and "feeding" the baby.  She was very proud of herself for getting the bottle in and holding it there. 

She was also playing with the Lego farm animals, guys, tractors.  She especially likes the "horseys" (some of which were actually cows and pigs).  She brought me the tractor and trailer and asked "help" for me to put it together for her.  When I got it she also said, "thank you!"  She doesn't do that very often without prompting, so I was impressed! 

Morgan and Kenzie were sitting side by side at the table today and Morgan had a play baked potato and fork that she was "eating" with. Kenzie saw what she was doing and kept saying, "A bite, a bite, a bite" until Morgan heard, understood her and gave her a pretend "bite". Both of them were happy then abnd continued to "eat" for a few minutes. It was really cute!

9/23/11

Kenzie ate most of her raisins and a bite of malt-o-meal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate most of her mixed fruit and corn, about half of her spaghetti meat (with sauce) and a couple noodles. 

Kenzie wasn't quite a sensitive today, but she did need cuddled several times more that typical.  She is so funny!  One of the times today that she started fussing, she was chewing on her own arm and must have bit too hard, because she started fussing and said, "Owie!" 

I have started working on the focused observations and "testing" for the developmental checklists that we will go over at the upcoming Parent-Provider Meetings.  Kenzie was quite amused by all the things that I was having the different kiddos try to do.  I had to do several things and she did pretty well with it all.  A couple things I tried I knew she could do, but when I "tested" her with them, she wouldn't do them.  That is one of the things that makes just observing it during the course of the days better.  Some kiddos just will not perform when you want them to. 

It was funny though, because when I had anyone do anything, Kenzie was right there, trying to push herself to the front so she could do it.  Then when it was her turn, she wouldn't even think about doing it or would act like she didn't have a clue, even though I knew differently.  Silly goose!

Speaking of "Silly", Kenzie says "Silly Lauralea" or "silly (someone)" frequently throughout the day.  I know she had gotten that from me, because I say that about myself or the kiddos (or Gary) frequently.  She has really picked up on that. 

9/22/11

Kenzie didn't want to eat anything today, as mom warned us she might.  At lunch she ate pretty well though.  She had a bite of potato salad, all of her cherries and chicken and thirds on saltines. 

Kenzie was quite a sensitive little girl today.  She wanted to snuggle way more than usual (sitting on my lap with her head resting against me for about 20 minutes.  I was just talking to her and singing to her (and the other kiddos) and she was just relaxing. 

She also fussed or screamed more easily than usual (but no biting, so that was good).  I think it is amazing how tough she is usually.  She will fall down or bonk and just get up like nothing has happened (no whimper even).  If she justs bumped into just slightly or someone tries to squish her over, she will howl like she has been injured severely.  Today it really didn't matter.  She cried like she was about to die regardless -- acted like she was really tired. 

Kenzie enjoyed reading books independently (as long as no one tried to sit by her or read a book she was thinking about maybe reading anytime in the near future or one she lay down like she was done, but was reconsidering).  I finally had her sit right by me to read, so I could guard her from all of the other little thieves and then all was well.  : ) 

9/21/11

Kenzie ate about half of her biscuit and seconds on peaches at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her whole wheat roll and pineapple, a bite of broccoli and about half of her baked beans.  

Kenzie sure uses her fork well.  Today she was so focused on stabbing each piece of peach and eating it with her fork.  I only saw her pick up one with her hands that just kept trying to run away.  Peaches are so slippery! 

Every morning Gary will get down on her level and ask Kenzie, "Where's my Kenzie love?"  She always gets the cutest little amused look on her face and just races over to him.  It is just adorable! 

I am not sure what Morgan did that annoyed the princess today, but she was repeatedly head butting her.  They were both sitting on different sets of big blocks and suddenly Kenzie was over by Morgan's set and just acting like a little billy goat.  Silly girl!  Morgan is stout enough that it probably hurt Kenzie's neck more than Morgan's chest. 

9/20/11

Kenzie ate bites of her hashbrowns and most of her waffles at breakfast.  At lunch she ate most of her rice and sauteed shrimp, all of her oranges and maybe a bite of colored pepper. 

Kenzie was holding and singing to her "baby" for quite a while this morning as she walked around the big play room. 

Gary cracked up today and had a hard time enforcing the rules when Kenzie stole a toy from one of the kiddos, then raced over to him, hiding behind him and wrapping her arms around his legs for "protection".  He did make her give it back, but he said it was almost more than he could do because it was so cute!  : ) 

There were a pretty good sized group of birds playing around outside the big window this morning and all of the kiddos were having fun lined up at the big window step watching them.  After they got tired of watching the birds a couple the the kiddos, including Kenzie, started bonking their heads on the window, laughing and saying "Ow!"  They are so goofy! 

Morgan and Kenzie were "fixing" each other's hair today.  One would sit in front of the other and play with their pony tails, then they would switch places.  Jadey and Joslyn had to come join them after a while of just them doing it. 

9/19/11

Kenzie ate about half of her cheerios at breakfast and bites of her banana at breakfast.  At lunch she ate about half of her grilled cheese sandwich, most of her apple bits and all of her tomato soup.  She was my big eater at lunch!  : )

Kenzie was thrilled when Morgan put the phone she was playing with up to Kenzie's ear and said, "Talk".  Kenzie accommodated her immediately, chattering until Morgan took it back again.  Kenzie then went to look for one of her own and did more talking. 

Kenzie was over at the lego table examining the "Peek-a-boo" blocks.  She would look at one and either put it back into the drawer or bring it over to me and ask, "What's that?"  I really do think that she was putting back the ones she already knew and asking me about the ones she didn't. 

Kenzie was doing a lot of blanket play today.  She was laying it out on the floor and laying on it, laying on the floor and wanting covered, using it to cover one of the other kiddos, and covering or wrapping up her doll,. 

I love the way she says, "Uhmuhly" for Emily.  It is so cute.  The other thing she kept doing today that cracked me up was coming up to me and asking, "What doing?"  What a kiddo! 

9/16/11

Kenzie ate nothing for breakfast (oatmeal and craisins).  At lunch she ate most of her applesauce, a bite of two of ground beef and no pea pasta side dish. 

Kenzie suddenly realized that Thomas was here (or at least down playing), announced "Thomas!" loudly and raced over to give him a love.  It was really cute!

Morgan now has is getting the runny nose and was fussy today.  She was fussing about something or another and it must have been getting on Kenzie's nerves.  She went over to her with her pointer finger up to her lips saying, "Shhhhh!"  It was pretty funny!

I have labeled this virus the "runny-nose equals short fuse virus" because all three of the kiddos who have it have been very cranky frequently.

Gary and I both get such a kick out of how Kenzie chooses to get out of the "box".  She gets in the typical 'hold-onto-the-side-of-box-and-throw-your-let-over' way, but when she goes to get out she just throws herself over head first (with her arms down), does a momentary head/handstand, then kind of just topples on over.  It is pretty funny. 

9/15/11

Kenzie ate a bite or two of her blueberry bread pudding and most of her blueberries at breakfast.  At lunch she ate a couple green beans and that was it.  We also had kiwi and turkey burger on a bun. 

Kenzie was playing with the big blocks again, of course.  She was making tall towers (as tall as she could reach) and when she couldn't reach any more she was taking the blocks to Morgan to "help" her reach higher.  Morgan could only reach one more than Kenzie, though, so that didn't help much. 

Kenzie bit once (Morgan), but I didn't see her even try to anyone else.  Her nose needed wiped a couple times (and she hasn't eaten much the last two days), so I am wondering if she is getting the cold Emily just came down with.  If she is feeling crumby (in addition to teething) it may be contributing to the biting incidents. 

Kenzie decided that her favorite food today was the "egg".  She kept walking around saying it and showing me and the other kiddos.  She also was chewing on it (it's kind of squishy) and trying to fit the whole thing in her mouth.  it was actually pretty funny!

Emily had done something that made me laugh and I said, "Silly Emily!"  Kenzie looked at me with her little eyes just sparkling and said clearly, "Silly Lauralea!"  : ) 

9/14/11

Kenzie ate all of her dried mango bits and a taste of her toast with jelly at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her tropical fruit, a few bites of her beef and bean burrito and a taste of sweet potato. 

Kenzie was really concentrating to stack several of the 'peek-a-boo blocks' today.  She got either 5 or 6 before they toppled.  They aren't very easy to stack because they are only about 2 inches cubed and are not totally flat on the sides.  She was really working at it though. 

Kenzie had been biting or trying to bite several times here over the past week.  Most of the time we have caught her before she chomped hard, but it has scared or lightly hurt the kiddos several times.  Today she left marks on both Jadey and Thomas.  She tried to bite both Emily and Peyton also , but we caught her before the chomp.  We have been moving her away from the "victim", firmly telling her "No biting!  Biting hurts!" and having her sit away from the kiddos briefly while we attend to the bitee.  It is probably related to teething, but it is always when she is upset, primarily when she wants something that someone has and they won't give it up.  We will stay on top of it, but I just wanted to let you guys know. 

Kenzie wanted one of the pj sleepers on this morning, so I helped her into it.  After wearing it and playing for a while, she came over and said, "I want out!"  I cracked up!  I thought that was so cute!

I made the big interlocking blocks into a little tunnel today for the kiddos to crawl through.  Kenzie really enjoyed that.  She is little enough she even turned around inside of it. 

9/13/11

Kenzie ate a bite of her cinnamon roll and bites of her prunes at breakfast.  At lunch she ate several bites of scrambled eggs and waffles and a taste of both hashbrowns and cantaloupe. 

Kenzie was so cute today when she brought me a bunch of the big interlocking blocks and said, "Trackor, trackor".  I asked her if she wanted me to help her build a tractor and I thought she was going to turn herself inside out - she was so excited!  : )  When we got it done, she climbed on and started scooting it around saying, "rrroommm, rrrooommmm!" 

She spent time today looking at books and jabbering as she "read" them.  She would "read" for a while, then stop and watch whatever activity was going on in the room, then go back to "reading" again. 

Kenzie played with the pretend syrup container a lot this morning.  Even when she wasn't directly playing with it, she packed it around.  She likes it because when you tip it upside down, it actually looks like syrup is pouring out of it.  The first time she saw it do it, she kept saying, "uh-oh!"  It looked like she thought she was actually spilling it. 

Kenzie was thrill today when Morgan decided she wanted to pull her and Emily in the wagon.  Morgan is very persistent and even when she got stuck a couple times, she just kept working at it until she manages to get herself out of the mess and back pulling them around. 

9/12/11

Kenzie ate all of her mixed fruit and about half of her Kix cereal at breakfast.  At lunch she ate all of her mandarin oranges, a couple bites of broccoli and the ham out of her ham sandwich, plus a little bit of her bread. 

Kenzie was carrying around (or "Drinking" out of ) at least one of the play water bottles most of the morning.  She kept bringing it over and showing it to me and saying, "a grink!"  It cracked me up because she was very serious about it. 

Kenzie enjoyed exploring all of the "new" toy exchange toys, and had to examine about everything.  She was very intrigues with the water bottles, as I said before, as well as the dolls, phones and food stuff that are out now. 

She copied Jadey inher phone play.  Jadey had been walking around and talking to someone called "Lula" on her phone.  Pretty soon Kenzie was also talking to Lula.  Soon all of the little girls were walking around chanting "Lula-Lula-Lula" over and over. 

Kenzie and several of her friends have then using the bench of the picnic table inside as their stage.  They will stand up on it and "sing" at the top of their lungs.  It is really funny.