You can tell Banjo Kazooie is a timeless game because my kids just want me to go to the swamp level and turn into a crocodile, which is exactly what I did in the game when it first came out

Being stuck in with icey roads (and doing a lot of ADHD related learning after finally getting diagnosed) has me super aware of my kiddos hyperactive behavior and trouble with emotional regulation. Her experience seems super different from mine (I was a very quiet, sensitive kid), but it can be like looking at a little distorted mirror sometimes.

Had a quiet weekend after heading up to see my grandpa over a long weekend in such stinking hot weather the week before.

I need to have some words with the mother in law reinforcing that the kids’ toys are not to go to childcare as they won’t come back. I have a feeling we’ve already lost a couple of things that way, some of them quite expensive or sentimental to the kids, such as more expensive hotwheels cars we only got that weekend before

Hi everyone, been a while since I posted here.

Nothing much new happening with the fam. 4yo is still in gymnastics and competed in their first meet recently. Not really “competed” per se. They more or less performed a floor and beam routine while their coach tried, and failed, to herd them into the correct area. It was a lot of fun. 2yo is now drawing faces. They have a real knack for drawing and their creativity is exploding recently. They’re finally getting used to 4yo going to school three days a week.

The next battle for 2yo is dropping the pacifier. They’ve been informed we’re not getting any new ones. They’re obviously stressed about the concept of getting bigger. They say they’re still a baby. We try to be encouraging about doing “big kid” things, but it’s a tough transition.

Turns out there was a federation issue with this community to lemmygrad, that is now resolved! Sorry to all the lemmygrad comrades that got cut off. Welcome back!

Upgraded the oldest to a proper booster seat which is a huge boon. She’s very excited because she can finally buckle herself instead of one of us doing it. The new booster is way more practical then we had before and we can give the old one to my parents so they have something to put the little guy in if they want to get out of the house on a sleep over.

Baby Beaver is starting to repeat word sounds back to us. It’s incredible how she can hear us say something, and translate that into the mouth and throat movements required to sound it out. Not such a baby anymore

Now that she’s understanding us more, we’re practicing speaking directly to her and telling her what to do, and what’s going on. We were doing that already, but now it’s with intentionality. One thing that we talked about long before conceiving is that we both maintain a united front when it comes to tone of voice, and disciplinary approach - in particular, Mom should not be the bad guy, and there should be a consistent tone of voice and instructions from both parents. It’s all practice at this point - Little Beaver still doesn’t understand too much, and is getting things figured out. I’ve gotten some good recommendations from people here about books to read as she enters toddlerhood.

Last night I slept the best I have in years because my child left a stuffed toy in my bed - I woke up cradling it like a baby. It brought back a lot of memories.

I used to fall asleep with my newborns, one in each arm, on my old recliner. Not all the time, I know it’s not the safest, but sometimes it was the only thing that could calm them down. It was the most peaceful time in my life by far. They were so small and warm and… now they are almost too big to hold.

Gonna try to channel this feeling in the future, maybe sleep will finally come back to me.

thanks for reading my blog :^)