Svea's Journal

Svea ate oatmeal and bites of baked cinnamon apples for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of hamburger stew with meat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  No whole wheat dinner roll, and bites of apricots. First, I just want to say thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement for me to go to Louisiana for Thanksgiving week.  This is so wonderful for me and I'm really looking forward to traveling there tomorrow.  Thank you all so much. I'm very impressed with how Svea is using her words to ask for help when she needs it.  She's starting to really "get it."  "Help, help, help."  Then she is following that up with a "thank you" and it's adorable.  I think it's beginning to help with her not screeching or screaming so much here and I hope you start to see a difference at home soon too. First picture: Gotta do a book picture everyday.  Momma Molly saw her in the cozy corner at the book rack before she left.  Svea had a stac...

Svea ate most of French toast and most of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of pulled pork, no whole wheat toast, bites of peas, and ate a large serving of strawberries. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  So many kids have done this exact same thing in the past; using the same yellow shape sorter buckets.  Ha!  They love sticking their face in there and experimenting with all kids of different sounds and of course there is a great echo with a bucket like this. Next picture: Avi and Atley were playing under the blue balance beam and Svea and Linnea were checking it all out.  Svea had a great morning and did her usual activities which of course includes tall stacks of books taken to the couch.  Getting the "perfect stack" is almost as important as reading the books.  She got frustrated today because the stack wasn't cooperating too well.  :) Last picture: Svea and Linnea were standing on their heads...

Svea had no whole wheat toast and ate grapes for breakfast.  (I wasn't sure they were coming for breakfast and I didn't have enough frozen mangoes thawed out!)  For lunch she ate a very large serving of ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, no cauliflower, and ate a large serving of fruit salad. This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon.  She was singing to her baby, "rock the baby, rock the baby, rock the baby" while rocking in the chair.  Next picture: Svea used her words very well to tell me she wanted help with this stack of books.  (I love how she always makes a stack!) She was pointing at her stack on the floor; "books, books, books."  I said, "Yup that's a lot of books."  She said, "Help help help."  Ok, where do you want me to put them.  She pointed at the couch and said, "couch couch."  So I did and she immediately said, "Thank you."  More words; Later she was w...

Svea had no whole wheat bagel and ate most of her grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, no whole wheat toast, bites of stir fry vegetables, and two big servings of raspberries.  Atley was watching Svea dinking around in her highchair at breakfast; leaning back over and over, making a kind of "snapping" sound.  Atley said, "I wish I could do that!  I did when I was a baby!"  haha!  I said, "Well I could put you in a highchair!"  "NO!!"  :) First picture; Surprise; Svea with a stack of books.  Atley helped her this time stacking up some books.  Svea is pointing at pictures in the books and identifying several things.  Here she is saying, "Birdie birdie birdie birdie."  (Of course she's looking at the birdie upside-down.)  There is a picture of the author on the back cover of this book and he's bald with white facial hair.  Svea said, "Gary Gary Gary."  Haha!  Love it. Next picture; Avi and Sve...

Svea ate most of bran cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate most of chicken, no whole wheat pita bread, bites of olives, most of tomatoes, and ate pears. This first picture is left over from Friday afternoon and Svea's actions and behavior beside Baby Miles - it was just so cute!  Svea kept putting her finger to her lips and saying, "Shhhh, shhhh, shhhh, shhhh."  He was just grumbling, not crying.  Side note: Svea would be a awesome big sister!  Just saying!! We (primarily Sylvie - ha!) did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend.  Or as Atley calls it, "New Toy Monday!!"  Next picture; This is the first thing Svea played with when she got here; "Callahan's Drum!"  Haha!  Look at Cal, he's saying, "Hey, I was just playing with that!!"  Next picture: Svea with her stack of books.  She wanted me to take the stack to the couch so I did and she said, "Thank you!"  She's been saying, "thank you...

Svea ate cream of wheat cereal and didn't have any dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken fajita with meat, peppers, onions, and spices.  She ate brown rice and pineapple. I do my Blogs at nap time and I just got started when Avi started saying, "Gary, Gary, Gary!"  And she was pointing at her sister.  Svea was dinking around and rolling her blanket into a ball.  Haha.  Your sister just squealed on you Svea.  Thanks Avi.  This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when we went outside.  The little fearless monkey! Next two pictures: Svea reading her books.  This was super cute, but the first picture didn't really capture the moment.  She was reading (loud and with expression) and I took several pictures trying to get a good one with her mouth open.  Didn't work.  Then once she realized I was taking pictures she was being silly and started acting like a clown.  Haha!  ...

Svea ate most of her waffle and two servings of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate Shepard's Pie with meat, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She had no whole wheat tortillas, and ate three servings of cherries. Here are some pictures from Svea's morning at Little Treasures.  First thing - she was trying to engage Callahan in some wrestling maneuvers.  Then in the second picture Linnea and Svea were running in circles on the mattress.  Svea was saying, "I running, I running, I running."  In the third picture I have Miles on the floor with a protective gate around him.  And Svea is peering over the edge of the couch at him. Last picture: I'm sure you see this at home too, but sometimes Svea is so quiet and I'll peek around the corner to see what she's doing.  Usually it's reading books like you see in the next picture.  Lauralea saw her sitting there reading and said, "Wow, she reads books a LOT!!"  She sure does a...

Svea ate most of French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate whole 30 chili, with meat, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, peppers, and spices.  She didn't have any whole wheat dinner roll, and she ate her tropical fruit. This first picture is obviously one of our books and the first line goes like this; "Silly Sally went to town walking backwards upside down."  I just think it's cute (and smart) because Svea always looks at this book upside-down!  Sally is upside-down on every page so it totally makes sense.  :) These next two pictures are from yesterday afternoon when Svea and Callahan were having fun wrestling, playing, and giggling on the mattress.  It was so cute and they were having a blast! Svea had a good morning and did her usual reading lots of books, playing with the food toys, laughing and playing with Linnea, spinning the chair round and round, and jumping off the igloo.  Svea and Linnea were giggli...

Svea ate bites of toasted whole wheat English muffin and ate two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop meat (mixed with applesauce) that I fed her, no whole wheat toast, and ate bites of beets. Ok, there are several pictures today, but it's actually 3 sets of 2 each.  The "before and after" pictures.  First picture Svea crawled up on the igloo with this bandana over her head and I was curious if she'd jump.  Sure enough, no problem.  Haha.  What a goof!  She's a bit too fearless and I think she likes the feeling - because she was standing there nervously giggling in anticipation before jumping.  :) Next two pictures; stacks of books.  What a surprise!  The everyday activity.  She works VERY hard getting her books in a stack just the way she wants them and then she tried to stand up while holding them.  She said, "help me."  Good job Svea.  (Zoom in on her tongue.  Haha!)  The...

Svea ate whole wheat Chex cereal and peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef, no whole wheat hamburger bun, ate avocado, bite or two of tomatoes, and bites of mandarin oranges. Nora is here today (that's possible because Linnea is gone) and she's even in the first picture.  Nora and Atley had the tape measures from the preschool room and were measuring some distances - or at least that's what they were suppose to be doing - and I like how Svea is keeping a close eye on them. As I mentioned in Avi's Blog today Lauralea is doing some testing and most of that happened in the preschool room.  Svea played by herself a lot, pestered Callahan, and did the same sort of things she does when Linnea is here.  Next two pictures; First she read LOTS and LOTS of books, then she filled the side pockets in the chair full of books and started pushing the chair around and around as fast as her legs could go.  And giggling.  Haha. Next picture - Svea...

Svea ate some oatmeal and a few dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate tilapia, no whole wheat elbow noodles, tasted a green bean, and ate applesauce. These first two pictures are leftover from yesterday afternoon.  Svea was playing with the plates and utensils on the couch and here comes Callahan!  He's a quick little grabber with a long fast reach!!  Haha!  Svea had assistance from Linnea (you can only see Linnea's arms) as she was handing the plate back to Svea.  Second picture; Svea putting the bandana over Miles's face.  He's such a mellow little guy that he doesn't care what they do to him!! So speaking of Miles here is Svea trying to get his attention in the next picture.  In the following picture she had his full attention.  Miles has been totally conditioned by sister Nora to be comfortable with kids in his bubble space!!  Ha!! Next picture: Gotta show the girl with her books every day!  That's a ...

Svea had no whole wheat bagel and ate two servings of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger and sausage pizza with the meat, peppers, pineapple, olives, and tomato sauce.  She had no whole wheat pizza crust (which we serve separately), and she ate pineapple on the side. These first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon.  Atley and Avi were standing flat-footed in front of this row of blocks and jumping over them.  And clearing it quite easily.  I was impressed.  That's what Svea is preparing to do; squat down and make a nightly leap!!  :)  Second picture; We were outside and she'd bonked her head on the airplane teeter-totter and was sitting on my lap.  After she recovered we were doing some selfies and I think this is such a cute picture of her. Here's a picture of the fearless little critter on top of the igloo preparing to jump.  She was saying, "Lauralea I jump, Lauralea I jump."  Obviously wanting Laur...