Atley's Journal

Atley ate waffle and a bite of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of Shepard's Pie with meat, carrots, potatoes, and green beans.  She ate whole wheat tortillas, and she ate her cherries. This first picture is left over from yesterday, but I was impressed with how well Atley was doing on this activity.  It's a puzzle of shapes, but also using colors which is how she is was able to make it work.  But it's exposing her to lots of shapes as well and I was happy to see how hard she worked at it.  Second picture:  Linnea was having fun running and working hard to keep up with Atley and Nora.  They were racing from the big window to the gate and back again; over and over.  I took this picture when they slowed down long enough to play with the school buses.  Notice that 2 of the 3 (Nora and Atley) are busy on their phones.  Yup, that looks about right!  :) This next note is a little crude, so brace yourself!  ...

Atley ate two servings of French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate no "whole 30" chili with meat, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and no tropical fruit. First picture: Avi went into the preschool room first and when Nora and Atley followed Avi said, "I can't hear!!"  Haha!  And they hadn't even started their singing/reading thing!  That was funny and she knew she was being funny!  Every book Atley read out there was either "To grandma's house we go" or "Way up in the arctic."  And it was borderline deafening!!  :) Atley went potty on the toilet this morning and as she came into the play room she made a LOUD announcement!  "Hey guys!!  I went potty!!"  Which was pretty cute except the only ones not with us in the bathroom were Svea and Linnea.  They didn't seem to care much about Atley's announcement!  Haha!  And Atley didn't s...

Atley ate most of whole wheat English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork chop meat, ate whole wheat toast, bite of beets, no sweet potatoes, and ate applesauce. First picture: Atley and Linnea were the only ones here and Atley was out reading preschool books and when Lauralea came upstairs Atley moved beside the kitchen entrance to jabber at her.  Second picture;  Atley was being sweet to Svea and Linnea.  When she was done with the book she asked Svea if she wanted to "touch it."  The snow and snowflakes on the pages are "touch and feel." Atley also asked the little girls; "When I'm done do you wanna read it?!?"  :)  That was sweet Atley. I just thought this next picture was cute because these two were sitting side-by-side with the same toys, doing the same thing, and each had a stuffed animal too.  (I guess I can call Elmo an animal! Ha!)  Speaking of these two they were sitting about this close ...

Atley ate most of Chex cereal and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of ground beef, half of whole wheat hamburger bun, no tomatoes, no avocado, and no oranges. Atley kept her diaper dry this morning so that was awesome; two trips to the potty.  We've been doing group sessions in the bathroom;  it always seems to help the next ones see the potty routine!  Here's how I would classify them: Avi is the "veteran" of the group, Atley is the "rookie," and I'll call Nora the potential "prospect."  :)  Good work this morning Atley! We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so everything is new once again!!  First picture: Atley and Nora were looking at books and singing.  All Christmas songs!  For example; In the picture Atley has a "Care Bears" book and she's singing, "The twelve Days of Christmas!"  "And a partridge in a pear tree!" Next picture: What do you think these two are singing...

Atley ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, whole wheat elbow noodles, no green beans, and ate her applesauce.  At the breakfast table Atley was coughing and Nora (very sweetly) asked; "Are you ok Atley?"  No answer.  Again; "Are you ok Atley?"  No answer.  Avi said, "She's ok."  (ha!)  Nora; "Are you ok Atley?"  Again Avi answered, but this time said, "She's not ok."  Nora said, "Gary!!  Atley not talk to me!!"  Me: "Atley, please answer Nora. We answer when someone talks to us."  (I guess I was caught up in listening and being entertained by the entire exchange!!)  Haha! This first picture cracks me up!  Atley has been doing lots of this "eyes closed" look lately and it amuses me!  The music was playing here so we'll just assume she was feeling the music!  Ha!  She actually may have been because Music has been her language for a long time.  There is s...

Atley ate whole wheat bagel (toasted and buttered) and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate half of hamburger & sausage pizza, ate all of her whole wheat pizza crust (cut into little pieces), with peppers, pineapples, olives, and tomato sauce.  She also ate a large serving of pineapple on the side. Avi, Atley and Nora were all in the preschool area reading books.  They (Nora first) found a book that reminded them of halloween and Nora said, "I go trick-or-treating like a monkey!"  Haha!  I loved how she worded that.  So Atley said, "I go trick-or-treating like a rabbit!"  Avi said, "I go trick-or-treating like a skunk!" This next picture was kind of entertaining!  I just happened to be taking a picture of them and then the following happened: Atley apparently touched Nora and this little couch has SO much static electricity this time of year!  Nora yelled: "Don't shock me Atley!!  Don't shock me!!  Atley just hu...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pork chops (they were very soft - and delicious - from being marinated), ate whole wheat tortillas, bites of carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and bites of fruit salad. Atley and Avi were in the preschool room for a couple of activities this morning.  Atley just wanted to read books and Avi was playing with the little camera.  It looks like she making some technical adjustments with the settings.  Sounds good to me!  Haha!! I debated (with myself - ha) to include a story about this morning, but I decided it wasn't appropriate for the Blog!!  If that makes you curious you can ask me about it and I'll be happy to share!!  Here's a teaser;  It's hilarious!! Last two pictures; Atley and Nora were "going to sleep" with the blankets and stuffed animals on the mattress.  There is something about Atley's personality that makes Nora laugh and have fun. ...

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and ate dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate no chicken, a large serving of brown rice, no stir fry vegetables, and no oranges.  As the kids were waiting for breakfast I was whistling loud and they were guessing the tunes.  Nora and Atley were nailing them in just a few seconds every time.  (Avi was asking me to stop!  Haha!)  It reminded me of a game show on TV called "Name that Tune" from MANY years ago!  haha! Atley was looking at a book and asked, "Do you like candy canes?"  Me; "No, not really."  She said, " We do."  So I asked, "Who are  we ; who likes em?"  It was pretty cute and I was curious if she could answer the "we" question!  She nailed it and told me who she meant!!  She said, "Avi, Atley, Svea, Nor Nor, and Linnea!"  Haha!  Good job!  That pretty much covers everyone!! Here are some pictures from this morning; Atley was p...

Atley ate whole wheat English muffin and no oranges for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, peas, and applesauce.  Plus an extra big serving of more noodles smothered with applesauce. These first two pictures are left over from yesterday afternoon.  I'd just put ponytails in Atley and Nora's hair.  As I've previously mentioned Nora always wants Atley to recognize her hair when I'm finished.  This time Atley also said, "Look at my hair Nor Nor!"  So Nora examined it and said, "Can I touch it?"  Atley, "Yes."  Then Atley asked, "Can I touch your hair?"  Nora, "Yes."  So we reconstructed the scene so I could take photos and they cooperated so well!!  Isn't this cute!?!  :)  We always call Nora's pony a "whale spout" when it's fixed like this.  :) This morning Atley yelled, "SVEA'S WALKING!!  SVEA'S WALKING!!"  So I guess that makes it official...

Atley ate two servings of french toast and a large serving of strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she didn't have a bite of "hearty paleo stew" with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.  She ate crackers and tropical fruit.  Someone told me that "Nana" might be able to see these Blogs more clearly.  :)  Hope your procedure went smoothly and was super successful.  I know many who've had it with lots of success stories.  I told Megan I can remember my Grandfather getting that procedure back in the 1960's and that was a completely different story then!  Thank God for all the great medical advancements we've seen in our lifetime!!  And I'm thankful for the successful heart procedure Atley's Papa went through as well. Atley and Nora were at the window looking outside and talking.  Atley pointed across the street and said, "That your house Nor Nor!!"  Nora said, "NO! I live with my Daddy, Momma...

Atley ate waffle and grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, bites of whole wheat tortilla, a large serving of corn, and half of baked cinnamon apple. Atley yelled, "Svea has a boogie Gary!!  Svea has a boogie!!"  Then she started to stick her finger in Svea's nose to chase the boogie!!  Stop Atley!  I'll get it!!  Just telling me about it is plenty of help!! Thank you Atley for telling me!!  :)  Actually Svea had a big boogie in each nostril and I'm sure it felt better when I was done even if she did yell at me!!  :) Atley knows all the rules and likes to yell out all the violations she sees!!  Pretty typical of this age group, but they have a much harder time applying the rules to themselves!!  Ha!  Anyhow, this morning Atley yelled, "Linnea threw the animal out the gate Gary Sanks!!"  Haha!  That made me laugh!  Thank you Atley Condra!!  I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I freque...

Atley ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground turkey, whole wheat hamburger bun, no avocados, no tomato, and ate cherries. We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so it was a super busy morning like it always is on these Mondays!  Or as Atley called it; "New toy Monday!!"  I like that phrase too!!  I took this first picture shortly after Linnea arrived and Atley arrived soon after as well.  They were busy busy busy!!  Atley, in the background, was playing with the iPod - haha - my usual joke!  A very cheap imitation, but it still plays music!!  Second picture: Atley is working to pull up a tutu, but I like how she's keeping one foot on her purse - guarding against possible thievery!!  :)  (You can tell she's a Daycare Veteran!!) Next pictures: What are you guys doing on the mattress?  "Watching a movie!"  :)  Avi said, "We're watching Frozen!"  Then I also heard "No...

Atley ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of hamburger stew with green beans, tomatoes, and carrots.  She ate whole wheat dinner roll, and ate her apricots.  Atley began lecturing Nora at breakfast: "Say please Nor Nor, say please!"  Haha!  I've been working with all of them, but of course Atley is probably the biggest violator so we'll see if it's a case of the "pot calling the kettle black" or if Atley has made some kind of miraculous conversion!  (I know where I'm placing my bets!!  Ha!)  Also at breakfast I was trying to feed Svea, not having much success, and then she started crying.  Atley said, "Hey Gary!  Svea's crying!"  Oh really, well thank's for the heads-up Atley.  Did you happen to notice I'm standing right in front of Svea?  Haha! This was one of those mornings where Nora came in and immediately started laughing at everything Atley was doing!!  (And I LOVE tho...

Atley ate french toast and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, peas, and most of strawberries. First thing this morning Atley asked if she could go get water.  I keep their water bottles available for them and when she was out there she immediately noticed the three chairs at the table were arranged differently!  "oh oh!"  Ha!  Yup, the Cline kids visited last night and they did awesome getting everything put away!  Except for those chairs and Atley nailed em!!  She rarely misses something that's out of place or something new!! First picture - I was teasing Atley and pretending to sit on her because she was in my spot!  I had the camera on selfie and you can see my pant leg and my shoulder against the back of the couch.  I better take this picture before she loses all of her air!  Just kidding!  We were having lots of fun!  Second picture: Then Lauralea sat with us for ...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and most of mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with pasta sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate bites of cauliflower, and no fruit salad. A follow-up on yesterday's story about Nora wanting Atley to recognize her ponytail after I fix her hair.  Sure enough, I fix Nora's hair today, she gets down and first thing; "Look at my pony Atley."  Atley said, "oh."  Haha!  However, that was totally enough for Nora and that's all she wants; just for Atley to respond to her.  So cute. First picture: Avi has a stuffed raccoon and they were chasing and "tickling" each other.  And they were taking turns with the raccoon!  So fun to hear them laugh and giggle.  Following picture:  It's been quite awhile since they've played with the big blocks, but all of a sudden this morning the three older ones had built this tall tower and they called it their "castle."  Linnea was hanging out movin...