Atley's Journal

Atley ate half of toasted whole wheat english muffin and half of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of chicken, a large serving of brown rice, bite of stir fry vegetables, and no oranges. The first picture: You can't really see the kids across the street, but they had a lemonade stand set up and the Daycare kids were very interested. The kids talk about "birthdays" a LOT!!  There are birthday parties to go to and Atley frequently sings (loudly) "Happy Birthday."  Like today several times!!  And several times Avi said, "It's not my birthday!"  Also, this toy set has birthday cakes in the food toys.  Anyhow, Atley has heard Avi say "November 13th" (Avi's Birthday) so many times that today she finished the sentence for Avi.  "My birthday is November..." And Atley jumped in and said, "13th."  Haha!!  First picture; she's bringing in a semi load of ice cream.  :)  The next picture is just Atley...

Atley ate bites of cheerios and no banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of ground beef, half of whole wheat pita bread, ate olives, no tomatoes, and half of watermelon. Atley did just fine going to sleep without her pacifier.  She was asleep within a few minutes - as a matter of fact, she was the first one asleep!  She mentioned the pacifier two or three times this morning.  When Linnea arrived Atley said, "Hey! She has a binky!!"  I said, "Yes, she's a baby and she just came with a binky."  :) "Do puzzles, Gary? Do puzzles?"  That's always how she asks to do puzzles.  :)  Isn't it amazing how much she talks compared to 6 months ago?!  The rapid growth and development they go through in the first 3 years of their life is amazing!  So thankful I get to be a part of Atley's growth at this time. I enjoy having her here very much!!  She's a wonderful fun-loving kid!  Lauralea's sister is here for a few days and in...

Atley ate a big serving of brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of her salmon patty, ate whole wheat dinner roll, no green beans, and ate mangoes. Atley was saying things like "Atley a goofball" and then she was rolling around on the floor acting like a .....well.... acting like a goofball!  So she was pretty much proving it!  Haha!  Avi got on the floor with her and they were having fun being very silly!  Then the girls came over the to the couch and we did some selfies. The kids LOVE to go with me to the bedrooms to get the babies when they wake up from their nap. Look how Avi is checking things out under the crib.  "It's clear under here everyone!!"  (I said that, not Avi.)  Svea's face lights-up with huge grins and giggles when all the kids show up!  (Except this time it was just Avi and Atley.) In the next picture - we were outside and Atley has her head laying on Svea's tummy.  Svea has a very m...

Atley ate whole wheat english muffin and bites of oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  I help Atley wash her hands for meals and we sing our "hand washing song" together.  I always give her a hug and tell her I love her.  Yesterday she said, "I love you so much."  It was too stinking cute and sweet!!  Thank you Atley.  I realized that's the exact phrase I always use. This first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  This always cracks me up!!  The smallest kid pulling the wagon loaded with the bigger kid or in this case, two bigger kids.  :)  Love it.  Pull Nora pull!!  Avi and Atley just waiting for a wagon ride.  This was happening right before Momma Emily drove up and then Nora abandoned her post and ran to see Mom.  :) When I was getting Linnea ready for nap, and afterwards as well, Hudson and Atley were singing "Good night Linnea, good ...

Atley ate most of french toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of "paleo stew" with ground turkey, green beans, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.  She also ate crackers and most of tropical fruit.  Hey, I just want to give everyone a heads-up that Linnea is now 1 year old and today she gets her first Blog.  So that means I'm doing 5 Blogs and that may affect the time your Blogs are posted!  I will continue doing lots of "copy & paste" every chance I can which really cuts down on the time it takes to do the Blogs.  Like I've mentioned before the Blogs will post between 12:45 - 3:00. Here are a couple pictures of Nora and Atley.  Nora was doing a puzzle and Atley was perched behind her keeping on eye on Nora's progress.  Atley was giving suggestions like; "turn it around." Then in the 2nd picture Nora was laying on the couch watching Atley try on the hats and laughing at Atley's antics.  I love how A...

Atley ate waffle and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bites of whole wheat tortillas, ate corn, and applesauce. Atley stubbed her toe (pretty hard - I saw it happen) and didn't even whimper!  She's a pretty tough little kid most of the time!  (When she's not tired or hungry!)  I asked her if she was ok and she asked me to kiss it!  Haha!  Well I've got years of experience doing fake kisses, but Avi stepped up to the plate and gave Atley's toe a kiss.  Oh, that was sweet Avi!!  :) I took this first picture this morning right after Hudson arrived and he was reading books so Atley crawled on the couch and settled right in beside him.  Too cute.  They were looking and studying the books pretty hard - no one was saying anything, but they were certainly enjoying it!! We ordered some stickers last week and the kids have been asking every day; "Did the stickers come yet!?  Did the stickers come yet!?"  They ...

Atley ate bites of kix cereal and half of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, most of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, half of avocados, and ate cherries. Linnea is gonna be back on Wednesday and everyone is asking about her!!  So I'm gonna start with a photo they sent me of Linnea last night.  Lots (10 days) of celebrating birthday #1!!  I like how her plate is upside-down!!  :)  We can't wait to see you Linnea!! We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and like always, the kids were engaged and busy all morning.  Here are some pictures of Atley; first, she had one of the ice cream cones in her hand. There are six different flavors - colors - and the kids really have fun with these.  She also did puzzles and talked to Baby Svea.  Atley was singing "Happy Birthday" at top volume and Avi said, "It's NOT my birthday."  Haha!  So about the crown she's wearing.  Only one person, Hud...

Atley ate oatmeal and no baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she had bites of hamburger stew with the meat, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll and ate apricots. First picture; obviously Atley is not in this picture, but she's part of the story!  Immediately after breakfast Nora was covering baby Svea with some doll blankets.  What you can't see (and can't hear) is Atley off to the side of the picture singing (volume on very loud), "Good night Svea, good night Svea, .... time to nappy now."  :) Pictures from today's activities!  Hudson, Avi, and Atley built this wall of blocks and they were working very hard at it.  What are you guys building?  They all agreed they were "building a gate."  What's the gate for?  "To keep out the bed bugs!"  Haha!  And apparently it was working because I never did see any bed bugs!!  When we came back inside before lunch Avi asked,...

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat toast and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pulled pork, ate whole wheat bun, ate a large serving of peas, and no cantaloupe.  At breakfast Avi was telling Atley; "Get your head over your plate."  Haha!  Yes, she's heard me say that a few hundred times!!  So where was Avi's plate during these instructions to Atley?  Almost in the middle of the table.  Haha! I took this first picture yesterday afternoon.  This is what it always looks like immediately after I lay down the blanket, lay the baby on the blanket, set the toy basket on the blanket, and then tell the kids the blanket and toy basket are for the baby!  :)  Zoom in on Nora's eyes and that tells the story; she's  totally  focused on the toy basket!!  And that's what the others are focused on as well.  It's the only forbidden thing in the yard and all that does is make it more desirable!! The kid...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and bites of mangoes (this mango wasn't very ripe and no one was real impressed) for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate squash, and half of fruit salad. Atley said, "Hey Gary, my nose is running!" Then (almost immediately afterwards) Avi said, "Hey Gary! I wanna see if the salmon is running!!"  LOL!  That made me laugh.  So I wiped Atley's nose and we checked out explore.org.  The kids are loving that site because frequently (including this morning) the fish are struggling so hard to jump up the falls and there were 10 - 20 fish in the air at the same time.  We also counted 13 bears having a feast today. Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.  First; Atley was playing with these little mirrors.  One side makes things appear close and the other side makes objects appear far away.  Atley had other ideas how to play with ...

Atley ate most of whole wheat bagel and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, a large serving of brown rice, bites of stir fry vegetables, and ate raspberries. Atley was waving bye to Momma at the window and you probably saw Atley pointing across the yard.  They point and say some of the most random things when they're at the window waving to Parents!  It's so funny what captures their interest!  Today it was "sprinkler Mommy, sprinkler!!"  Gary actually put out a sprinkler to water some brown grass!  :)  Yesterday it was Big Willy's sprinkler across the street that she was obsessing about!! Atley went potty two times on the toilet this morning (her asking) and was so excited to tell Nora; "I go potty Nora!!  I go potty!!"  I coached Nora on a positive reply; rather than just sucking her thumb and looking at Atley.  Ha! Here are a couple of pictures from Atley's morning.  She has been stacking up...

Atley ate bites of bran cereal and ate raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of chicken, half of whole wheat pita bread, ate olives, no tomatoes, bites of peppers, and ate pears. First thing this morning I asked Atley, "What'd you do at the lake?"  No answer.  "Did you go swimming?"  She answered, "I got a sticker."  Haha!  That made me laugh.  For this age group; it's all about the moment!!  (She came in with a little sticker and she was focused on that sticker!!) First picture; As all the parents know I had this little fish (fake) tank and the kids loved it, but the light burned out and other parts of it were broke (it was a Goodwill Special) so it was trash.  Hudson first, and then the rest of the kids were all asking, "Where'd the fishy go?"  My standard answer; "They all swam away!"  That seemed to satisfy everyone!  This past weekend I got a lava lamp to replace it and that's what the kids are looking ...

Atley ate cream of wheat cereal and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of baked beef kabobs with meat, zucchini, peppers, and pineapple.  She ate a large serving of brown rice and no pineapple on the side. This first picture was taken yesterday afternoon shortly before pick-up time.  We were just playing with the camera and doing selfies and I liked this one of Atley! Atley was working hard taking off Linnea's sandals this morning and she eventually got both of them off.  She said, "I did it!"  Speaking of Linnea, her brother (Anders) has been here several times during drop-off or pickup.  He's basically the same age as Hudson - a couple months younger.  But he's very shy - about the exact opposite of Atley - and hasn't yet interacted with me or any children here.  Atley is very friendly to him, says his name, and tries to engage him.  When they left this morning Atley said, "Hey! Where'd that boy go!?!"  :) I l...