Elliott - 8/31/2015

Elliott had bites of cheerios and two servings of banana for breakfast.  For lunch he ate cheese sandwich, no tomato soup, ate lettuce salad, and no broccoli salad.

I took this picture of Sophie and Elliott after he had taken a phone to Sophie, handed it to her, and then started talking on his phone.  It was so cute.  Also, I just want to mention that Elliott has been a good playmate for Sophie and he has provided her with lots of social interaction and entertainment as well!!  Bye Elliott.  Sophie and all of us at Little Treasures love you and will miss you.  We wish all the Minckler Family the very best as you start this next stage of your family life.  I pray it will be a great blessing for all of you.

Two or three times Elliott was stretched out on the yellow bench reading books, playing with a phone, or listening to music on an "iPod."  (Not!)  Cooper went over to him and said, "Hey lazy bug!"  Ha!  Elliott has been a fun playmate for Cooper too and I know Cooper will miss him!  He's a rough and tumble little fellow and he almost always loved it when Cooper would play with him.  Cooper and all of us love you Elliott!!

Elliott was sitting on the yellow bench all alone reading books and playing with a phone.  Cooper joined him first and then Reid decided to squeeze in as well.  Elliott didn't mind at all and actually acted like he didn't notice!  (That's a good example of his temperament!)  There are lots of children that wouldn't sit squeezed in there for one second!!  (at any age and especially at Elliott's age!!)  They are all on their phones again!!

We played outside and Elliott was sitting on one of the bikes trying to reach the pedals.  He was watching Cooper and Reid and was trying to copy them.  He's right at the age where he's starting to experiment more and more with playing like the bigger boys and I'm sure you see that at home with big brother as well.  Your Gary loves you Elliott and I'll always remember your time with me and keep lots of precious memories in my heart.  Love you!

Elliott - 8/28/2015

Elliott ate oatmeal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  He watched Reid and Cooper put their cranberries in their oatmeal and he did the same thing.  For lunch he ate ground beef, elbow noodles, at least half of his peas, and ate applesauce.

You can make up your own caption for this first picture.  I'm going with; "Morning Meditation For Toddlers"  They were playing side-by-side and copying each other's antics.  And laughing.  :)

Sophie watched the boys (Elliott, Cooper, and Reid) push stacks of blocks around the room and she started doing the same thing. Then they built this block sidewalk and she immediately crawled along on it and was grinning all over.  I took a picture of a traffic jam and Cooper was saying, "I'm coming through!!"  Cooper and Reid do a good job of running around Elliott and Sophie (rather than over the top of them!) and they actually have minimal conflict!

Elliott had a pretty good morning although he probably did more whining than usual.  However, as soon as I'd recognize him, hug him, or pat him, then he was good to go again.  I know he's being a bit more sensitive than usual during this time.  It always amazes me how these tiny little people can pick up on stress.  And they have no way to express it except through behavior!

Elliott - 8/27/2015

Elliott had bites of raisin english muffin and ate blueberries for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bites of turkey slice, no sandwich bun, ate green beans, and strawberries.

Cooper and Reid both bring their personal blankets with them to Daycare and of course Elliott knows which blanket belongs to each of them.  He will frequently fetch the blankets.  Actually, it's one of his favorite games - get the blanket and it return it to it's owner.  This morning he took Reid his blanket, but he said, "ere (here) Reid, ere Reid."  That was a first!  Nice job Elliott!

Here's a picture of the Modern Daycare!  Three of the four kids are on their cell phones!  Ha!  I'm telling Reid's Mom (She works for AT&T) this is her new target group.  Soon after this picture Elliott was getting into Sophie's space and she screamed (loudly with a high pitch) at him and it was effective!  He looked at her and was backpedalling!  So (unfortunately) the scream worked!!  :)

I also wanted to mention (before Elliott leaves Little Treasures) how well he has been doing with helping me pick up the blocks.  As a matter of fact, he loves helping and he's really good at it.  I position myself at the block shelf and he brings blocks to me and we do it the same way every day.

Everyone had fun crawling in the tunnel this morning.  You can see Elliott sitting in there looking around.

Elliott - 8/26/2015

Elliott ate half of his breakfast: jelly toast and banana.  For lunch he ate beef & bean burrito, half of sweet potatoes, and half of tropical fruit.  It's interesting how he's been eating way more of his "meat" dish lately.

Here's a picture of Elliott being a true friend; feeding Sophie the doll bottle.  :)  She was a willing participant and they did this several times.  Watching these two kids interact is so cute.  Sophie will hold something out for Elliott to "look" at, but NOT to take it!  (Very typical of this age.  They aren't trying to give it to you.  Although sometimes it works if they know they'll get it right back.)  She'll hold something out, but not let him take it.  He gets the most puzzled look on his face.

We got out the sit-n-spins for the kids this morning - suggestion by Kenzie.  (She's coming here after Kindergarten and today was a short day for her.)  Elliott, of course, experimented with this toy that kept moving!!  And here he is standing up on it!!  Geez!!  I probably don't need to tell you that right after I took this picture Mr. Crash went off head-first!  Then Kenzie built a "train" out of the blocks, but I had to inform her that the Little Ones (Elliott and Sophie) didn't have to sit in their assigned seats!  :)  Ha!

We were at the window waving bye to Sophie's Dad Pat and Elliott was copying Cooper - waving and blowing kisses.  Very cute.  Also, I wanted to mention (again) the importance of routine for Elliott. He totally thrives with it.  Even with things that may seem insignificant to us adults.  :)  For example, when I say it's Story Time, I am getting the books ready, my back pillow in position, and Elliott is pointing up at my foot stool.  He knows what is coming next.  :)

Elliott - 8/25/2015

Elliott ate bites of cinnamon roll and ate canned prunes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bites of this combo; scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheese, and sausage.

Elliott spotted Cooper's shoes laying on the floor.  (I'd not yet noticed them - or I would have had Cooper take them to the Changing Table or his Cubby.)  Elliott picked them up, carried them to the gate, and deposited them over the gate.  Well done Elliott.

He did his usual morning routine; reading books first and then on to various toys.  He likes playing with the little xylophones like you see in the picture below.  Hey, I get to beat on something and it's acceptable!!  :)

I took this picture when Elliott was saying, "Hi and Bye" to Lauralea.  He said her name over and over this morning and was actually doing a pretty good job with it.  Saying it about the same way as I do!!  Ha!  With two syllables instead of three, but getting both "L" sounds.  "Lor-lee."

He had fun playing outside and looking at Reid's big dog.  And it is BIG.  They just live around the corner and Reid's Dad came to get him about 11:00.  That dog can stand at our chain link gate and rest the bottom of it's chin on the top of the gate.

Elliott - 8/24/2015

Elliott ate bites of kix cereal and most of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham sandwich, several bites of peas, and maybe a bite of mandarin oranges.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids stayed very busy all morning.  Like I mentioned to Mommy Kimberly first thing this morning Elliott was TOTALLY focused on the book rack and charged right by the toys shelves without a glance!  In the picture below Cooper had the little play house jammed full of food toys and Elliott was reaching through the window to check it out.  There is another play house identical to this one, but Cooper was making this play house look WAY more fun!  :)

Micala played with Elliott for several minutes this morning and he was loving it.  Look at that big grin in the picture.  Love it!  Elliott also joined Sophie at the window and immediately started slapping the window with his hand.  So she gave it a go too!  They don't hit the window hard enough to do any harm - to the window or their hand.  (However, banging on the window with toys is not allowed.)  :)

Then shortly before lunch Cooper was scooting around on the floor using his head like a snow plow. Elliott was fine with it for awhile, but he was also getting tired and hungry too, so the morning was quickly coming to an end.  :)

Elliott - 8/21/2015

Elliott ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch he had three or four bites of meatloaf, ate flat bread, carrots, and apricots.

This picture is from yesterday afternoon and we were all giving Layla goodbye loves because she's leaving today....hard day!  I asked Elliott if he wanted to give her a kiss bye and (as you can see in the picture) he came pretty close. He loves the babies and I think he'll like being a big brother.  (Once the shock of not being the baby in the family wears off!  Ha!)

He was definitely enjoying being the center of attention this morning.  I took this next picture when Lauralea was still here and he had our undivided attention!  He was just ricocheting from one thing to the next.  However, if we laughed then he would try to duplicate the antic!  It was all pretty funny and we were doing lots of laughing!  He was bouncing on the mattress when I took this picture.  

Several times this morning he took a big stack of books to the yellow bench to sit and read.  He was also talking on the phones and just jabbering away.  I talked to my Mom and had her on speaker phone and Elliott was saying, "hi hi hi hi hi hi......"  Ok, you get the idea.  Pretty much non-stop! Then he got one of the play phones and kept right on saying, "Hi hi hi hi hi..."

Elliott - 8/20/2015

Elliott ate a couple bites of cinnamon toast and three servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch he ate baked chicken, no dinner roll, ate hash browns, and canned cherries.

Elliott and Sophie were pretty cute together this morning.  She coughed and he immediately started doing fake coughs.  That was funny!  Then she went over and sat by him on the yellow bench and started looking at books with him.  Isn't this a cute picture!

The story behind this second picture; Sophie had dropped one of the little books on the floor and Elliott immediately got down and retrieved it for her.  Very cute.  Except he just put the book on the bench and when he sat down he was sitting on the book!  Sophie was trying to pull it out from underneath him.  He was finally able to get it (again) and I took the picture when he was setting the book in her lap!  Super cute.

Cooper was on the floor playing with Baby Layla and Sophie and Elliott came over to play in the same spot of course.  This setting made me laugh because the four children are playing in about one square yard area.  To be licensed for Childcare there is a requirement of x number of square feet per child.  Some times it's very necessary!  Other times, such as in the picture, not so much.

Elliott does some terrible crashes!  It's a good thing he's a tough little guy, or he'd be crying all the time!!  Most of the time he ends up laughing.  I laughed at him yesterday and then he was trying to do the same thing again!!  Outside this morning he was trying to climb up the handle of the wagon and crashed.  That made Cooper laugh and he said, "That was cool!  How'd he do that!?!"  :)

Elliott - 8/19/2015

Elliott had a couple bites of "maple french toast mini bagel" and ate two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate ham, mac-n-cheese, bites of corn, and a couple bites of nectarines.  When he tried the nectarine he reacted like it was pretty tart.  :)  Also, I wanted to mention that he ate his ham first.  It wasn't that long ago he wouldn't even touch the ham.

Elliott was pointing at his crotch and jabbering this morning and he was getting quite demonstrative as he was wanting me to take care of his issue!!  Ha!  From the way he was acting I was pretty sure he'd probably pooped and sure enough that's what he'd done.  Thank you for telling me Elliott!!

These next two pictures are of Cooper and Elliott having fun this morning.  Elliott was grabbing Cooper from behind and trying to drag him down.  And he was very persistent about it and kept doing it over and over.  I'm sure this is something you probably see on a regular basis with your boys and that's only going to increase I might add!!

They ended up on the floor several times and as you can see from the picture below Elliott was laughing hard and having so much fun!  Cooper would take him down and Elliott would come back for more!

Elliott was working hard packing these blocks over to help work on Cooper's "barricade" as he called it.  They also had fun playing outside and were running their dump trucks up and down the ramp on the patio.

Elliott - 8/18/2015

Elliott ate most of his waffle and ate pears for breakfast.  For lunch he ate two servings of tuna and crackers,  ate sweet potatoes, and I don't think he ate any mandarin oranges.

He was down on the floor talking to Baby Layla first thing this morning and she grabbed his shirt.  And like most babies she has an awesome grip.  He had a surprised look on his face and it was pretty funny.  Just a side note - It was probably about 10 minutes later when she was laying at my feet and I didn't realize she'd grabbed my shoe lace.  I maintained my balance when I took off, but it was surprising how tightly she hung on!!

I took this first picture yesterday afternoon and Cooper had laid all these boards across Elliott and Elliott was happy to just sit there.  Then Cooper crawled under them too.  They probably played with the wagon this way for almost 30 minutes minutes.

I know I've mentioned about Elliott being a good listener here.  Sometimes I have to help him listen, but overall he has been doing an awesome job.  Probably the best example is keeping the toys on the "toy side" of the room.  He TOTALLY has that concept down and knows exactly what I expect.  He will occasionally test it, but he'll also respond immediately when he realizes the rule still stands.

When we went outside Cooper was warning Elliott to stay away from the apples that fall off the neighbor's tree.  Cooper is deathly afraid of bugs and bees and he said, "Watch out for apples Elliott!" (I told Cooper early in the summer to watch for bees around the apples.)  Reid, on the other hand, has decided (along with Cooper's help) that it's his job to pitch the apples back over the fence.  So Reid said, "Reid do those; throw like baseball!!"  Ha!  And he did!  When he was done he came back and reported in to Cooper; "Did it Coop!!"  :)

Elliott - 8/17/2015

Elliott ate bites of chex cereal and most of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch he ate beef sandwich, no tomato soup, and ate two servings of lettuce salad.  

Elliott always comes charging over at the same time that I'm fixing Sophie's hair every morning.  I have a little water sprayer and he's not satisfied until I spray some water mist into his face.  Then he goes away happy, chuckling to himself.  He makes me laugh!

Elliott was sitting on the yellow bench reading several books.  Sophie went over to join him and he immediately gathered up all of his books and relocated!!  Ha!  I was wanting him to wait a few seconds so I could get a picture of them, but that wasn't about to happen!!

And a few minutes later another very similar story!!  Elliott had been on one side of the blue bench and Sophie on the other side.  They were both thumping their hands on the bench and laughing.  It was so cute.  Elliott ran off when I got the camera and wasn't about to cooperate for a photo shoot!  :)

He has been doing so much jabbering lately.  I can't understand what he's saying, but he's doing lots of talking!!  He was pointing at the arm of the chair and telling me some BIG story when I took this picture and it was very cute.  

Elliott - 8/14/2015

Elliott had bites of oatmeal and ate canned prunes for breakfast.  For lunch he may have had a bite of hash brown casserole, ate biscuit, and maybe a bite of mandarin oranges.

For some reason Elliott didn't like it when I left the room.  He usually doesn't squawk when I have to clean up the lunch room or whatever, but this morning he yelled if he even thought I might have to leave the room!  :)  So I was trying to be sensitive to that!

Reid was using the blocks to slide down the little ramp at the climber inside.  Elliott joined him and was copying what Reid was doing.  Elliott gets such a kick out of every thing and thought this was extremely funny!

Elliott was playing under the climber and stuck his face in the dirt!  So of course I had to take a picture, but he REALLY didn't want to slow down so I could take the picture!  But I managed to slow him down enough to get one!  And he wasn't happy about it and I have the proof!!  :)  (See picture!!)  My Mom called me on the phone and I was telling her what Elliott was doing and Cooper was listening to our conversation.  So, of course Cooper decided to do the same thing so we could then talk about him!!  And he stuck his sweaty face in the dirt!!

Elliott is doing so good at keeping the toys on the "toy side of the room."  He totally gets it and when I have to remind him he charges right back with the toy.  Very good Elliott!  I'm impressed!

Elliott - 8/13/2015

Elliott ate whole wheat cinnamon toast and bites of cantaloupe for breakfast.  For lunch he ate turkey slices, bite of dinner roll, ate green beans, and mangoes.

Elliott loves to pester the other kids and get reactions.  He doesn't seem to care how negative the reactions are - he just thinks every thing is hilarious.  Two examples from this morning; He was getting in Sophie's space and she was pushing him away.  She just happened to be pushing directly on his throat.  He laughed wildly like that was the funniest thing ever!  Next example - Reid and Cooper were playing in the igloo.  Elliott joined them in there and immediately started trying to pull Reid's blanket away from him; without much success I might add!!  Again, the raucous laughter!

Elliott and Cooper were pushing the swivel/rocker around and around!  Cooper was doing a good job of stopping for Elliott to catch up when it was necessary.  Boys being boys - anything that's a bit wild and crazy!  You guys know nothing about that, right!?  :)

We played outside and Elliott was going down the slides head-first on his belly.  He especially liked it when Sophie was at the bottom of the slide trying to go up!  Ha!  Then I took this picture when we came back indoors.  Playing with the baby saucer is the highlight of his day.  It's usually "off limits" so that just makes it all the more enticing!!   :)

Elliott - 8/11/2015

Elliott had bites of "maple french toast bagel" and ate apricots for breakfast.  For lunch he ate chicken, elbow noodles topped with shredded cheese, half of his peas, and ate applesauce.

Elliott had a great morning and stayed engaged with toys and activities.  I took this picture below when He and Cooper were being silly and flopping face-first onto the mattress.  As you can see by the picture Cooper was "helping" on his face-first approach! They did this over and over and Elliott would wait in anticipation for Cooper to pull him down as well.  Silly guys.  I was monitoring this closely and they were having a blast.

Lauralea had parked in front of the window when she came back to the house and that's who Elliott was waving at.  He was laughing like a silly boy because he was waving/smacking the window and then roaring like a wild man.  Even from the side-shot picture below you can see the delight on his face.  He's such a fun-loving little guy.

This picture is pretty self-explanatory!  Can you say, "child labor laws?"  I thought I'd get a jump-start on getting the leaves picked up in the lawn!  (And they think it's a game!)  Cooper's approach was to put them in the dump truck first and then into the garbage can.  Which was just fine, but even when he was parked beside the garbage can like in the picture!  Ha!

Elliott - 8/10/2015

Elliott ate bran cereal and dried cranberries for breakfast.  He did so good with his spoon at breakfast again.  I know I've mentioned this several times, but I really am quite impressed.  And besides doing so well with it, handling his own spoon helps him to eat more!  For lunch he ate cheese pizza, half of corn, and ate tropical fruit.

Elliott was busy playing, but when he heard us saying, "bye" to Lauralea he came zooming around the changing table saying, "bbyyyyyyyyee, bbyyyyyyyee,....," over and over.  It was pretty cute; like he was chanting or singing it.

We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and so Elliott was very busy all morning.  I usually don't do too many "special" things on toy exchange Monday; the children are always very engaged with the new toys.  Cooper was making piles of toys and stashing them around the room.  I took this picture when Elliott found one of Cooper's stashes.  He raided the stash and Cooper wasn't even aware of anything missing!  :)

Elliott and Cooper mauled Micala again this morning.  She didn't have to work until this afternoon and the kids like it when she hangs-out with us.

Elliott - 8/7/2015

Elliott ate malt-o-meal cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch he ate bites of ground beef, ate a large serving of elbow noodles, bite of apple slice, and ate a large serving of mixed fruit.  He fed himself the malt-o-meal cereal at breakfast and did a great job with minimal spillage!

I know I've posted a zillion of these pictures of Elliott building with the blocks - big blocks and little blocks.  However, this is what he does EVERY day and for long periods of the day!  I do think he's quite exceptional at this!!  This was his first project today and I'm always impressed with how elaborate they are!!  And he totally stays on task for a long time.  He also read lots of books and jumped off the climber with the big boys.

We haven't played in the tunnel for a long time so we took it outside and tried it in several different locations.  Elliott liked to stop in the middle of the tunnel and hold up traffic - well at least until Cooper started crawling over the top of him!!  :)

Elliott played on the climbers outside, pulled and played in the wagons, pushed the dump trucks up and down the sidewalk and around the yard.

Elliott - 8/6/2015

Elliott had bites of raisin english muffin and ate two servings of blue berries for breakfast.  He loves his blueberries!  (See picture below!)  For lunch he ate everything: chicken, crackers, sweet potatoes, and canned cherries.

I also wanted to mention that his little butt was a bit sore and red when I changed his poopy diaper this morning.  Hopefully these blueberries will not make it worse, but it was pretty sensitive already for him.  I lathered a thick layer of cream on and hope that too will help some.

Micala played with the children for quite awhile this morning and I took this picture when Elliott and Cooper were mauling her.

I've been working hard with Elliott to listen when I talk to him.  He has been responding quite nicely I must say!!  Here are a couple of examples from this morning.  When it was time to go back in the house and get ready for lunch Elliott was pretty busy with the dump trucks.  Everyone else had come in the house and I went back out and said, "Time to come in Elliott."  He immediately put down the truck and headed right over.  Nice job Elliott.  He also totally understands that we keep the toys on the "toy side" of the room.  He's got that concept mastered and takes the toys right back when I have to remind him.  Again, nice job Elliott.  Another good example would be when I need to change his diaper and he always responds when I give the direction.

Elliott - 8/5/2015

Elliott ate half of his biscuit and ate peaches for breakfast.  For lunch he ate a large serving of baked beans, ate bites of dinner roll, half of peas, and ate his pineapple.

The first place Sophie and Elliott played was at the book rack reading lots of books.  Elliott loves his books and it's a great example for Sophie!  He was crawling behind the book rack (there's an exposed part of the heat vent behind there so the book rack isn't against the wall) and he read books there.

I decided to post the second picture too so you could see how he was reading books.  There is not enough room to sit down, so standing up is apparently just fine!

Cooper was playing in the clothes rack and Elliott tried to get in.  Cooper said, "There's not room for two!!"  Hmmm...I turned around and Sophie was playing in there with him.  I guess there was room for two after all!!  It just has to be the right person!!  A little later Elliott tried to get in again and this time Cooper said, "There is not room for three!"  (At least he has the correct count!)  Elliott didn't care and as you can see in the picture below he found a different way to play.  He was sticking his hand through the crack and they were trying to grab him.  :)

He was being so funny playing "peek-a-boo" with himself in the mirror this morning!  He was on the floor peeking around the couch.  He'd see himself in the mirror and just start roaring with laughter.  Dang, that was so cute!  Then he was sitting in the swivel-rocker I moved into the Daycare room and Cooper was spinning him around and around.  That was accompanied by some loud raucous laughter!!  :)

Elliott - 8/4/2015

Elliott ate half of his waffles and ate hash browns for breakfast.  For lunch he ate a large serving of cheese and chicken quesadilla, carrots, and about half of his mandarin oranges.

Almost every morning I spray a little water on Cooper's bed-head and comb his hair.  I will occasionally spray Elliott because he thinks it's hilarious!!  This morning I sprayed Cooper's head and I heard Elliott (behind us) immediately start chuckling.  He is so silly!!  Cooper said, "I want you to spray Elliott!"  I think he also wants me to spray him!!  :)

Explanation for picture below: Cooper held out his blanket to Elliott (That is proof positive that he likes Elliott!) and said, "Hang on to this!"  Then he was leading him around like a puppy!  (Notice Cooper is carrying something in his left hand.  It's a page from classified ads of tractors.)  He was running back-n-forth past Elliott holding out the tractor page trying to entice Elliott to make an attempt to grab it.  Cooper said, "I got right past Elliott!"

Yesterday afternoon I was laying on the floor in front of the central air cooler vent and I said, "This is where I like to lay my head!"  Reid saw me and yelled, "Get on him!!"  (And that's the reason I RARELY get on the floor!  Ha!!)  Boy, Elliott's eyes started gleaming and he headed right for the piling on process!  It was so cute.  I actually love to play that way with the children (the boys especially love it), but it always gets too chaotic and especially with the babies here!

Elliott - 8/3/2015

Elliott had bites of breakfast: cheerios and banana.  For lunch he ate cheese sandwich, no tomato soup, and ate his lettuce salad.  I tried a straw with the tomato soup several times before, so this time I crushed up crackers, but he still turned up his nose at it and didn't try.  Ha!

He had a good morning and played pretty well although there were moments of fussiness, which is totally expected after coming back from being sick and cuddled as well.  By the way, he chewed the end off his frog binky, but I have another just like it - minus the frog - and he was satisfied with it.  He did his usual morning routine; reading books, stacking the large blocks, and played with the smaller legos.  He likes sticking the 'skinny legos' through the hole in the table and then chuckling about it.

Cooper also played with Elliott and I think he missed seeing Elliott most of last week!  He would run beside him, get in front of him.  Run beside him, get in front of him.  Run beside him, get in front of him.  And they were both laughing and giggling.  It was a very cute interaction.  Outside, Elliott and Cooper spotted apples that fell into our yard and Reid pitched them back over the fence.

I ask the kids to leave the 'blue balance beam' in place and not move it.  Elliott has never tried it, but found out this morning that he can easily do it too!  So I had to document it with a picture, but he listened well and left it alone.

He got on the floor and was being sweet to Baby Layla.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but he was laying his head on her head and it was super cute.  After I took this picture he was sticking his fingers in her mouth.  Uhhh, that's not such a good idea!  And he listened to that instruction too.