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.