November 30, 2011

Joslyn ate peaches and most of whole wheat bagel for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, mac-n-cheese, lettuce salad, and corn.

Frosty the Snowman song was playing and Joslyn got all excited about that and was saying, "the no man!"  :)

Holy cow!!  Everyone was really testy for awhile this morning.  After everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!) had pooped then things basically returned to a sense of normalcy.  Of course a couple of them had to poop twice.  So that's basically what we did all morning.  :)

The big excitement this morning was the police were everywhere for about 3-4 hours.  They were searching house-to-house for a fellow who'd stolen a car, ditched it at Walmart, took off running, and had already broken into three different houses.  So there were lots of Police searching and everyone with guns.  It was probably way more interesting for Lauralea and I than for the kids, but they were watching out the window a lot too.  So I'll include a picture of the police car blocking our street.  :)

And of course I have to include a picture of "choir practice."  They all are very enthusiastic about being able to shake the jingle bells.  I think we should do our 'Christmas Video' before the "newness" wears off.

November 29, 2011

Joslyn ate blueberry muffin and bites of pears for breakfast.  For lunch she had 1/2 of tuna and crackers, ate sweet potatoes, and oranges.

We have these little flat toys that came with a 'post office toy' that I think were meant to be 'letters'.  Anyhow Jadey calls them her, "homework".  Now everyone, including Joslyn, are calling them their "homework".

Baby Riley was getting tired and starting to fuss just a little and Joslyn said, "baby howling!"  I guess she's heard that phrase a few times when she's screaming her head off.  :)

Joslyn was not listening and started to scream when we asked her to do something and she wasn't about to calm down so she ended up taking a break in one of the back rooms.  We have cardboard in the windows in that room so it's dark in there for nap time.  Apparently Joslyn had turned the light switch off and couldn't get it back on and she was in a dark room all alone.  (it's not a conventional switch)  I went back to see what the 'howling' (now that was some real howling) was all about and she was quite ready to be a listener.  Two hours later she was still saying, "I turned the light off."  :)

She was taking some toys to the other side of the room for me and was saying, "I good listener."  She was being a good helper picking up the toys.

We were practicing some Christmas songs this morning.  We want to do a little video of the kids singing four or five Christmas songs using tunes that they already know.

November 28, 2011

Joslyn ate fruit salad and most of chex cereal for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of roast beef sandwich, drank tomato soup, ate 1/2 of apple slices.

We did the 'switching of the rooms' and the kids all liked exploring the differences.  Joslyn basically settled right into playing with the dolls, doll blankets, and food toys.  She was trying to 'feed' Thomas with a spoon, but he chomps down pretty hard on it and she had to tug mighty hard to get her spoon back. So she moved on to something else not quite as difficult.  :)

I thought it was so cute that she called me Grandpa Gary so I kept asking her if she loved Grandpa Gary.  She answered with an enthusiastic "yes", but after the umpteenth time she got tired of the question.  :)

I'm not sure what Joslyn was trying to do, but she was in the process of making some kind of an adjustment to Kenzie's shirt that Kenzie did not appreciate.  And so she was yelling for me to make Joslyn stop.

I was singing, "Skip to the Loo my Darling..."  Later I heard Joslyn singing "my darling."  :)

November 23, 2011

Joslyn ate whole wheat toast and mixed berries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hash brown casserole, biscuit, and kiwi.

Joslyn had a doll blanket over her head and was spinning around in circles.  I haven't seen her do that for quite a while, but it used to be a favorite game.  It's usually quite entertaining.  :)

She read lots of books, was feeding the dolls again with the full milk cup thing covering their face, and playing with the doctor toys.  She had the stethoscope up to her ears and was breathing into it.

She and Morgan were looking at the posters and 'discussing' them.  I heard Joslyn talking about "Pooh Bear."  And we do have a poster of pooh bear that they were pointing at.

I took down the pumpkin on the patio and replaced it with Frosty the Snowman.  So that was the big event for the morning.  "Where pumpkin at?  Where pumpkin at? ......  '

Joslyn ate dried apricots and 1/2 of whole wheat bagel for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, pasta/pea salad, and applesauce.

I was on the floor doing something and Joslyn came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a love.  It was very precious.

Morgan bit Joslyn on the arm, not too deep, but I applied a cold cloth to it and you soon couldn't tell where it happened.  Morgan was taking a break and Joslyn said, "Morgan howling."  Then when everything was better Joslyn went over to Morgan, pulled up her shirt sleeve, and had to show her the offending spot.  Joslyn said, "you bite me," and they started laughing about it.

Joslyn played with lots of the usual things she likes in this toy exchange; the airplanes and filling them full of little people, stacking the blocks, the lego trains, etc.

She also played with the dolls and was feeding them.  I had to take a picture of it so you could see what she uses to feed them with.  It's a cup with 'fake' milk in it and she covers the doll's face with the cup.  :)

November 21, 2011

Joslyn ate dried cranberries and bites of bran flakes cereal.  For lunch she ate pizza, most of steamed green beans with bacon bits, ate tropical fruit.

Kenzie was really examining Joslyn's owie on her forehead and Joslyn was bending her head down so Kenzie could get a good look at it.

I guess the highlight of the morning was all the kids lined up at the window watching the city workers scoop up the leaves with a couple of front-end loaders and dump them into a dump truck.

Joslyn had a good morning, did not bump her forehead, and did not fuss as much as others with their runny noses.  One thing she did that was cute was talking to herself in the mirror.

She did some of her usual play with the train legos and with the dolls and their blankets.  She was wrapping the dolls and using the fireman's hat for the doll bed.  Except she frequently wanted all the dolls for herself and no one else was to touch them.  Uh, right.  :)

November 18, 2011

Joslyn ate most of her breakfast:  Malt-o-meal cereal and raisins.  For lunch she ate most of her noodles and ground burger with spaghetti sauce, bites of lettuce salad, ate 1/2 of mixed fruit.

Joslyn played with the dolls a lot.  They were all calling their babies, "baby Riley."  Joslyn had a bottle and was feeding her baby and singing to her.  She said, "I singing Riley Roo."

The first thing Joslyn did was play at the legos table of course and then it was on to the doctor toys.  She had the stethoscope up to her ears and was talking into it.

Oh yes, in case we forget to mention it, ask us about Joslyn trying to pull up her own pants after trying to go potty in the toilet.  We just wanted to talk to you about clothes that are easier for her to pull down and up.

Little Aaron was here today and Joslyn was following him around, trying to hug on him, and chanting his name.  "Aaron, Aaron Aaron...."

Yesterday Lauralea sat on my lap at snack time and we weren't even thinking about Joslyn.  She started howling like Lauralea had stolen her only friend.  So today I had to do a test:  I sat on Lauralea's lap and the results were the same.  :)

November 17, 2011

Joslyn ate blueberries and 1/2 of raisin english muffin for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken and crackers, 1/2 of potato salad, ate cherries.

Lauralea was taking everyone potty again today.  Joslyn has been trying, but no successes yet.  Here is what we're going to do:  we're doing this for two weeks, keeping track with a chart and stickers (in the lunch room so you can monitor it too), and evaluate it then.  If anyone is interested and having success we'll continue with those; the ones who are not yet successful we'll wait for a few weeks or more and then try it again.

We got out some different dolls that go with this toy rotation. Joslyn, and several others, were thrilled.  She and Jadey both think they need to pack around at least two dolls which doesn't leave enough for everyone.  So that was a bit of an ongoing situation.

They all watched LOTS of crows in the neighbor's yard for at least 10 - 15 minutes.  The kids were all banging on the window, but the birds were just far enough away that it didn't spook them.

Joslyn did some drawing with the magna doodle on the couch.  I took a picture for you to see.

November 16, 2011

Joslyn ate a biscuit and 2nd's on peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she had baked beans, most of her dinner roll, ate steamed broccoli, and pineapple.

Jadey pooped on the toilet today so Lauralea took Joslyn and three others in there to have a peeing session.  Joslyn tried to pee (until she turned red), but she wasn't successful.  Actually we do count that as a success when they try that hard.  This is the first time any of thSem have really showed any interest in going potty, so we'll see how it goes.  I think it's funny how we can go for a long time and no one is interested, then one person goes and everyone is interested.

Morgan was trying to get Joslyn to do "rosies"with her.  (ring around the rosy)  But Joslyn had better things to do and told her no.  Well not quite in that polite of tone.  :)

Joslyn likes playing with these airplane toys in the back room.  It's a fairly large toy and she was filling them with little shapes.  Actually the shapes go with the 'shape sorter' container and the little people go in the airplane.  But she was filling the shape sorter containers with the little people.  Hey, we do the best we can.  :)

November 15, 2011

Joslyn ate waffles and hash brown casserole for breakfast.  For lunch she had most of her shrimp, ate brown rice, peppers, and oranges.

We were singing and playing the jingle bells and tambourines.  She joined in the choir and wanted the jingle bells on her wrist.  (Some velcro around their wrists and others are on curtain rings and fit right over their wrists).

She played with the legos train pieces again and spent lots of time putting them together.  (and yelling at whoever tried to disrupt her).  Several times she said, "I did it!"  (It was usually Kenzie or Thomas she was  guarding against).

We were singing our "Good Morning" song to everyone and she wanted us to sing to her.  She said, "um good morning, Jos."

Everyone was at the window watching a crow that was strutting around outside.  He left when everyone started slapping at the window.

November 14, 2011

Joslyn ate cheerios and 1/2 of banana piece for breakfast.  For lunch she ate toasted cheese sandwich, drank tomato soup, and ate most of apple pieces.

We did a toy and book exchange and Joslyn especially like the new set of larger logos we got out.  They have train pieces that go with them and she worked hard hooking those together.  She was proud when she got them hooked the first time.  "I did it! she said.  (over and over.)

She did a good job at the breakfast table holding her head over the bowl of cheerios and going "straight in" with the spoon.

She played with the dress up clothes and had two purses draped around her head.  They were filled with toys.  Then she put on two of the vests.  She got one of the vests shoved through the sleeve hole of the other vest.  Before it was all over, it looked like someone had stuck her in a straight jacket and she was yelling for help.  She was a little distressed by the time I got it all pulled off.

I was busy this morning and i didn't shave until after the kids were here.  (electric razor)  They were all crowded around and Joslyn said, "What doing Gary?"

November 11, 2011

Happy Veteran's Day!  Thank God for Vets!

Joslyn ate most of her oatmeal and 1/2 of her dried cranberries.  For lunch she ate ground beef, noodles, peas, and applesauce.

Yesterday afternoon Joslyn and Morgan were playing in the wagon and trying to coax Emily into pulling them around.  So Emily gave it a try and basically couldn't budge them.  :)

Joslyn read lots of books and especially liked the 'potty' book.  The funnest part is the 'flush me' button that kind of does sound like a toilet flushing.

She and Morgan were studying the family posters and discussing them.  Then they moved to the 'funny faces' poster.  They were using a toy for a pointer and would point to each child, identify them, and then 'talk' about the funny face.  They did that for about 5 - 10 minutes.

She jumped on the mattress in the back room, read more books back there, and played with the food toys. The vegetables are in two pieces and hook together with velcro.  They like using the 'knives' to cut the vegetables apart.

November 10, 2011

Joslyn ate blueberry bread pudding and blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey burger, green beans, and kiwi.

Lauralea and Joslyn were playing a game and I heard Joslyn say, "buzzy bee get Lauralea," and then she was laughing.  Very cute.

She was snuggling with Lauralea for awhile and she got the hiccups really hard and then she started laughing again.  It was pretty funny.

She was sitting in front of baby Riley and talking to her.  Then she started sucking her thumb and just sitting there looking longingly at the baby.

Joslyn and Kenzie got into a confrontation about something and they were face-to-face with their "claws" out.  It looked like a real cat fight.  :)

She was asking for help to put on the bear mask and the lion mask.  They were so cute I thought I better include some pictures.

November 9, 2011

Joslyn ate toast with jelly and 2nd's on dried mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate beef-bean burrito, sweet potatoes, and tropical fruit.

She was talking on the phones and was nodding her head vigorously and emphatically saying, "yes yes...."  Some kind of serious discussion with someone.  :)

She fell off the little step in the big room, hit her chin, screaming loudly, me holding and comforting her, but not once did she take her eyes off the legos piece that she had dropped.  No one had better take that!

Joslyn, Kenzie, and Jadey were playing with the animal masks.  They try to get them on by themselves, but the masks usually hang up on the ponytails.

They were also making "coffee" again.  (one of their favorite games.)

Joslyn likes the little flashlights that blink when you hold the button down.  She takes them in the igloo in the back room because it's fairly dark in there.

November 8, 2011

Joslyn ate cinnamon roll and dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate scrambled eggs, waffles, most of hash browns, and ate melon.

While the kids were waiting their turn to wash for breakfast Morgan was 'combing' Joslyn's hair and Joslyn was ok with it.

Morgan and Alayna were peeking over the edge of the couch at Joslyn and Joslyn was cracking up about it.  That's been one of her favorite games for a long time.

She played with the legos again; almost always the first thing she does.  They were also filling the sinks with food toys and stirring it all with a spoon.  (making lots of noise with the metal sinks.)

She was sharing the rocking chair in the back room with Thomas, but that turned into a 'mauling' so Joslyn vacated the chair in a hurry.  :)

Here's a short video of the kids singing a song.  I wanted to show Thomas' mom how he is participating and I thought everyone would enjoy this.

November 7, 2011

Joslyn ate kix cereal and mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she had the ham sandwich, steamed broccoli, and mandarin oranges.

After a time change we always expect some fussy kids, especially later in the morning closer to lunch.  But everyone had a great morning and no major meltdowns.  Yea!!

After she arrived she immediately went to the legos table and was engaged in building some tall towers until breakfast.  Peyton tried to grab them and Joslyn didn't even scream at her, but said, "don't touch it!"

Lauralea sings with them as I set up breakfast and she'll ask each child what they want to sing and Joslyn always says, "twinkle star."

She also said, "help please" when her tower fell.  So she had a good morning using her words instead of yelling.

They were pairing up and dancing when we had the music on.  She and Morgan were holding hands and it was really cute.

November 4, 2011

Joslyn ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she had bite of meatloaf, ate french bread, bite of carrots, ate dried apricots.

Kenzie likes to show off and Joslyn likes to laugh so they make a good pair.  This time Kenzie was just ducking down in the box and jumping up.   Then at lunch time it was Joslyn's turn to show off and Emily was the audience.

Joslyn and Morgan were sitting side-by-side talking on their cell phones and Joslyn was doing the same motions that Morgan was doing.

As usual Joslyn spent lots of time with the legos.  She built a tower and put a legos Pooh Bear on top.

Then she joined Kenzie and Jadey in their game behind the igloo.  It was kind of a cross between hide-and-seek, and peekaboo.

November 3, 2011

Joslyn ate grapes and 2nd's on cinnamon toast for breakfast.  For lunch she ate chicken, 1/2 of dinner roll, ate mashed potatoes, and cherries.

She was happy because I put a new light in the pumpkin.  Everyone has enjoyed it so much I think we'll leave it up until Thanksgiving.

This has nothing to do with Joslyn, but just out of the blue this morning Morgan says, "Where'd Melnie go?"  (It was cute how she said your name and I spelled it the way she said it.)  Then she goes over to Joslyn's family poster and finds Melanie in the poster and points to you.  :)

Alayna was trying on all the different masks (and there are lots) and Joslyn sat there watching her and chuckling.

Joslyn loves the legos and works on them every day.  Like I've said before she plays with them more than anyone.

Several of them were drumming and it was cute so I took a picture.  I will attach it and (as this is the first time) you can let me know if you see the picture.  Look how hard Emily's working at it; her tongue is out.

November 2, 2011

Joslyn ate peaches and most of whole wheat bagel for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ham, mac-n-cheese, lettuce, and corn.

We've continued to work with them to say, 'here I am' when we call their name.  Joslyn is doing good with that and says, "here am".

We also did our daily pledge again and she was the star today.  :)  Maybe we can get her to do it when we meet on Friday.  (they never perform when we want them to.)

She started taking other kid's toys about 10:00 so she spent some time alone in one of the rooms.  When I went to get her she was poopy.  This is not the first time that has happened with her.  We have another child that's going through that same stage;  whenever they have to poop they start being a turkey.  We've seen that with lots of kids!  Not everyone goes through it, but many do.

I saw her tummy and I made the mistake of mentioning it and she tucked her dress under her chin and pretty much kept it there for the next 30 minutes at least.  So we all got a good look at her belly for a long time.  :)

November 1, 2011

Joslyn ate blueberry muffin and pears for breakfast.  For lunch she had tuna and crackers, sweet potatoes, and oranges.

Everyone was just a little bit irritable this morning;  not too bad, but just wanting what the other person had, whining when they didn't get it, etc.  (We always expect that after a holiday or when something has been different.)  Joslyn did snuggle a couple different times;  just came over on her own and get some extra loves.

Joslyn liked playing in the back rooms;  jumping on the mattress and then running across the room and doing face-plants on the mattress.  They all line up and say, "1, 2, .. go".  (Or whatever number comes to their head.)  Then she played with the flashlights, cars, and the little ramps for the cars to go down.

Joslyn, Kenzie, and Morgan were in the igloo laughing and giggling.  I'm not exactly sure what it was all about, but they seemed to be having a good time.  At least they weren't yelling at each other so that was good.  That's what I wrote in my notes and I had no sooner written that and the yelling started.  :)