Callahan's Journal

Callahan ate oatmeal and baked cinnamon apples for breakfast. For lunch he ate most of hamburger stew with meat, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, potatoes, and broth. He had no whole wheat dinner roll, and ate fruit cocktail.  Well it seemed kinda quiet around here this morning. The Nelson girls went with their Grandparents to the lake and it always changes the dynamics of the group when anyone is gone! Cal and Miles were both playing with the same staplers in the picture below. These tools make a pretty loud "clicking" sound when they staple something; or they will just use them as hammers!! Yikes. Never mind; I guess it wasn't quiet around here at all!! Ha. Next picture: I was sitting on the couch preparing some pictures for the Blog and I heard Nora say, "Hey Gary! I'm here next to you!" Which surprised me because I thought she was in the Preschool Room with Atley. She was buried under the pillows and blankets you see in picture. Then you can see Callahan ...

Callahan ate French Toast and no Dried Plums for breakfast. For lunch he ate pulled pork, ate whole wheat toast, peas, and strawberries.  This legos arrangement was done by Atley yesterday and she said, "It's a roller-coaster!" It was still intact when Cal arrived and he looked at it this morning and said, "They are not happy. They are crying." Ha. By the time Atley arrived Cal was taking full credit for creating this himself! Haha. He said, "I made this for Atley."  Here is a picture of typical 2 year old behavior! Initially one of them - this time it was Miles - was screaming because Cal was trying to take his toys. I see that as a "teaching moment" and my response: "Cal, find another toy no one is playing with." I barely get that out of my mouth and Miles is handing the disputed toy to Cal!! I wish I knew how many times in the past 25 years I've seen that  EXACT  same scenario played out!! Goofy kids. (Teaching moment wasted!...

Callahan ate three servings of whole wheat toast and ate mangoes for breakfast. For lunch he ate half of a large serving of ground beef with marinara sauce on top of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, ate most of cauliflower and ate fruit salad.   Have you seen this first picture before?!? Ha. So if you see the same picture over and over you can probably assume that's a favorite activity of the kids. The boys are standing up there together and not yelling at each other which is a step in the right direction. Miles gets a little nervous when Cal joins him and wants some room. Second picture: Cal had asked me to read books and while I was reading books to him Miles was bringing load after load of toys and dumping them on Cal's lap. Ha. That's actually a fairly deep piles of toys there!! Svea has been spending more and more time in the Preschool Room and then about 10:00 she went and ran off some energy in the Daycare Room with the boys and they were all loving that as well. In th...

Callahan ate two servings of blueberry bagel and two servings of grapes for breakfast. For lunch he ate shrimp, brown rice in berry juice, bites of broccoli, and ate marion black berries. Atley made an announcement at the breakfast table: "When I grow up I'm gonna give all my toys to you guys." LOL. Geez that made me laugh. Everyone seemed to be quite pleased with the announcement. Avi said, "She's gonna give me her toys when she grows up." Ha. Typical kid; she assumed she would be receiving ALL the toys herself. Ha.  This first picture is left over from outside time yesterday afternoon. These two were having a blast playing on the little teeter-totter. Then then say something like "we gotta go home" or "we gotta go to the store" and they'd dive off and run clear across the yard to the gate, go to the store, and eventually end up back at the teeter-totter. :) Over and over. Next picture: Cal played with the trucks on the back of the ...

Callahan ate two servings of bran cereal and bites of raisins for breakfast. For lunch he ate most of chicken with avocado, ate half of toasted whole wheat pita bread, bite of cucumbers, and ate pears.   First picture - This one is left over from outside time last Friday afternoon. I always think it's so funny and cute when the smallest/youngest is the designated worker. Miles was pulling the wagon across the lawn and as soon as Svea and Cal noticed they sprinted for the wagon. "Pull Miles, Pull!!" Haha. Not successful; maybe on sidewalk, but not on the grass. Next picture; We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend. As soon as Cal and Miles grabbed a "drill" they headed to the other side of the changing table; totally remembering the last time this toy set was out! We switched the room around and turned the table around boys!! So I showed them the holes they like to "drill' into. Next picture: Well they are back at the changing table, but thi...

Callahan ate two large servings of whole grain cream of wheat cereal and no dried plums for breakfast. For lunch he ate chicken, half of brown rice, bite of broccoli, and ate pineapple. Because of Avi frequently mentioning her love of "cream of wheat" now Atley and Nora are chanting the same thing and eating more than one serving. And so did Callahan. :) I made a total of 8 servings for breakfast and they ate it all.  First picture; Here the boys are enjoying the 2nd outside view they have with the furniture moved around. They were actually watching the birds again in the neighbor's yard. Miles was watching them earlier, but they moved into the neighbor's yard.  Next picture: Cal and Miles running and running around and around on the mattress. They love the mattress and never get tired of it. It's so good for large motor skills; especially balance. When I see a child running on the mattress I know they've got the "walking thing" mastered! Callahan wa...

Callahan ate three servings of waffle and two servings of fruit salad for breakfast. For lunch he ate ground turkey, whole wheat tortillas, bites of sweet potatoes, and ate cherries.  Cal's comment yesterday afternoon made me laugh: He had a big poopy diaper I was dealing with when he decided to offer some solid advice!! "Don't put your hands it it!!" Haha. Believe me Cal; I'm trying very hard to keep my hands clear of it!! :) This first picture is left over from yesterday afternoon when Cal and Svea were loading up their aircraft with a big load of food. Svea was giving orders about where each piece of food should go! Second picture; Cal was the first one here so we had some awesome snuggle time this morning. I love the expression on his face. He looks so content. Next picture: These boys played with these two toys - shot dispenser from medical toys and a carrot - for the LONGEST time! And they kept going back to it! They were trying to insert them into the empty...

Callahan ate two servings of French toast and two servings of oranges for breakfast. For lunch he ate most of Whole 30 Chili with meat, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato sauce, and lots of good spices. He ate whole wheat dinner roll and tropical fruit.  First picture: Lauralea had this paper taped to the Art Cabinet when I got back and I'm not sure what she used it for, but I got some insight into what Svea was thinking about in regards to the poster. Haha. It took a minute for me to realize what she was making reference to!! It was a very random statement in my opinion!! Haha. Svea put her hands on her hips with authority and spoke to Cal with MORE authority: "Cal!! this is the last question!! You cannot have pink by yourself!! It's for everybody and not just you!!!" Hahahaha. What the heck are you talking about and then Avi helped enlighten me. :) Thanks Avilene! These next two pictures go together and it was pretty entertaining and stinking cute!! Callahan ...

Callahan ate two servings of whole wheat English muffin and ate grapes for breakfast. For lunch he ate pork roast, whole wheat toast, ate beets, and three servings of applesauce.  I haven't mentioned anything about changing the Daycare Room around and moving the Doll House and Preschool Reading area. Those changes really helped get everyone engaged while I was gone and made things a bit easier for Lauralea. Today Svea stated it perfectly, "Hey Gary, Why are all these things moving some where else?!?" Haha. Then she proceeded to list EVERYTHING that we'd moved in the Daycare Room. Haha.   First picture: Here are the boys doing what they LOVE to do; playing with the chair. Callahan had it going fairly fast and Miles was trotting hard to keep up. He had his arm wrapped around the arm of the chair and that was somewhat of a help. Ha. Shortly after this picture he climbed up and enjoyed the ride. Ha. Miles is pretty focused if you look at the picture closely.  Next picture...

Callahan ate two servings of peaches and ate corn chex cereal for breakfast. For lunch he ate ground beef, two servings of toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, ate tomatoes, avocado, and mandarin oranges. Well like always it's really a lot of fun to come back to a sweet loving welcome from the Daycare Kids. A couple of random times this morning Cal said, "Gary, I missed you!" Isn't that so sweet!? I give a huge Thank You to Lauralea for giving me the week to see precious family in Louisiana. Here's a picture from the Gulf on Friday and the water was nice and warm. Lauralea had some nice pictures from last week too, but she wasn't able to Post them so I just picked out ones that I liked. These two are obviously from a trip to the park. :) Avilene is giving some good pushes for a wild ride. :) Last picture: We had fun outside this morning here is Miles and Cal playing on the balance beam; Cal tries to walk on it and Miles steps on and steps off over and over. :)

  Calahan ate thirds on banana and all his cheerios at breakfast.   At lunch he ate everything (hamburger, avocado, pita bread, strawberries) and thirds on olives.   I decided to assign a “big”kid to each of the littler ones to help them wash and get ready for meal time.   Calahan was Nora’s and they both loved it. She took him out to the utility room to use that sink and helped him so well.   He then came in, got in his high chair and buckled himself, then Nora got his bib for him, made sure he was buckled, put his bib on and tightened it up then went out to wash herself.   It worked pretty smoothly.     Cal wandered around looking at the new room arrangement saying, “Oh man!” over and over.   I am not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing, but I do know that it cracked me up. He picked out several books and read stories until Nora and Miles joined us.   When they came he had to show them around the “new” digs...

Callahan ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast. For lunch he ate salmon, whole wheat dinner roll, cauliflower, and ate mangoes. Callahan noticed the kettle I was using to cook the brown rice and he said, "Popcorn, popcorn." Ha. He remembered which pan we used to cook some popcorn last week. :) Here's a note from yesterday - not about Cal, but I think you'll like it. :) Avi said, "Hey Gary, this is the hottest day of the year! It's breaking ALL the records!!" Oh really, who told you that? She said, "Hudson told me." Haha. Well then it's gotta be true. (When Hudson was with Tu Tu picking up Cal.) First picture: So the boys were studying a scar on my leg. Haha. Finally Cal asked me; "Why you have skin on!?!" Haha. Because it's better than having skin off. :) Next picture: Two boys on a chair messing with their noses! Haha. At least Cal is not picking his nose; just mashing it against his face. Miles wasn't picking his eith...

Callahan ate French toast and ate strawberries for breakfast. For lunch he ate bites of Hearty Paleo Stew with meat, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes. He ate saltines and  tropical fruit. Miles and Callahan played together basically ALL morning before Lunch. That's pretty typical for "Science with Lauralea" day; even though we did something a bit different today and the big kids did a "Project for Mother's Day" instead. In this first picture they were putting a "cookie" in each bowl and putting another bowl over the top. Presto! Now you got a "noise maker/ shaker!!" And they were rattling them hard. Haha. This next picture made me laugh. Hey Miles, could you find a more congested place to drive your truck? Cal was playing with the legos; in the drawer and then up on the yellow bench. Miles drove his truck through there to the wall and was headed back out when I took the picture. Cal never complaine...

Callahan ate English muffin and two servings of mandarin oranges for breakfast. For lunch he ate ground beef, whole wheat elbow noodles, ate half of peas, and ate applesauce.  I think Svea got some input from sister Avi, but it was still funny to listen to her and Cal. Cal saw a book Svea had and he said, "My book!" Svea said, "It Gary Sanks book." Repeat that (on both sides) about 10 times. Haha. First picture from yesterday afternoon. Big Willy, our neighbor across the street, bought treats for the Daycare Kids. He flagged down the truck and had her back up to our gate. Ha. Thank you Willy! That was very sweet of you. He said, "Hey, it's the least I can do for my fans!" Ha. That's about the truth too. He loves it when they all pound on the window and wave when he's getting his mail! I like the second picture because Daddy Andy was getting a picture so the kids were not focused on me. Next picture: This morning Atley was in the chair and she s...