Day 1591

Dear Lizard,

After your fifteen reminders, I am happy to report that grapes will definitely be part of your dinner.

What I want to know is - other than grapes, which are a given- what do you want for dinner?

(Don't say grapes don't say grapes don't say grapes)

Love,

Your maternal  grape-provider

Day 1590

Operation Eat Like A Family At Least Some Of The Time: so far, success!

It's nice setting reasonable expectations.

Day 1589

Poor Bertram. Lizard has decided that he ought to cuddle with her too. And she's just a little determined...

Days 1588 (belated)

We now have a teeny skier in the house! I don't think her daddy could manage to hold much more pride; it was already bursting out a little.

Day 1587

Lizard had her first bad dream that required parental reassurance last night.

As she said, "it's scary out".

Days 1584, 1585, and 1586

Letting Lizard stay up a little late so she can see her daddy when he comes home = totally worth it.

Lizard slept in a big girl bed at daycare and didn't come home with a full face bruise. Time to re-arrange her room...

First day home by myself since before Lizard was born. It involved lots of dozing and nose-blowing. It was also very quiet.

Day 1583

Turns out if you aren't doing a good enough job cuddling with the Lizard by putting your arm around her while she eats, she'll put her arm around you instead.

Day 1582

Lizard feels strongly that she and the dog should be treated the same. As a result, he isn't allowed to be on the stairs by himself anymore, and if he gets a haircut, she needs one too!

Day 1581

Our Lizard saves up all of her feels for when she is sick.

Day 1580

The strings of disjointed phrases that make up Lizard's sentences are getting longer and longer; I'm looking forward to hearing some tiny haikus!

Day 1579

First blood spilled from babies colliding. I suspect it will not be the last time.

Day 1578

You can lead a toddler to lasagna, but you can't make them eat.

Day 1577

If I were a better photographer, I would do a whole series of Things in Unexpected Places, as inspired by my life with a toddler.

Day 1576

We've created a teeny winter clothes cop. Lizard checks to make sure her parents are wearing coats, hats, gloves and boots before going outside. And gosh darn it, she's going to make sure we keep wearing them!

Day 1575

I know Lizard did cute and memorable things this morning, but all I can think of is that she just wanted to cuddle and hear stories once she got up from her nap.

Day 1574

A two year old comes jam-packed with a surprising amount of feelings.

Day 1573

Nobody will ever believe us that our kid goes totally frigging bonkers when she's overtired.

Day 1572

It's official: we've hit the "I do it" stage.

Day 1571 (belated)

Lizard is showing off her song repertoire. Now playing: "dinky dinky dinky, I love you".

She'll also call out what verse of the wheels on the bus she wants next.

Day 1570

First Lizard would tell us that her stuffies were sleepy. Then she'd say it was time to go upstairs. Then she's say she was sleepy. Then she started giving warnings that she should go to bed soon. I'm excited for when we take one side of her crib off, cause it seems like the next step is putting herself to bed.

Day 1569

I appreciate the bonus cuddling and all, but could we maybe try cuddling while reading books or something? Mealtimes are not *exactly* ideal cuddle times...

Day 1568 (Belated)

The Lizard is obsessed with groceries. We get into the car and she wants to know if we're getting groceries. She loves putting away groceries. And for the first time ever, she managed to sneak something into the cart and get it all the way up to the checkout before we noticed.

It was a silicone baking sheet.

So... she's definitely ours.

Day 1567

Achievement unlocked: long nap at the grandparents' house with a pile of dogs on site.

It's a whoooooole neeeeeewwwww woooorld... shining, shimmering, splendid!

Day 1566

I am absurdly proud that my Lizard didn't cry for her flu shots. I just love hearing from people who deal with kids that my kid is great. Damn straight!

Day 1565

Contender for best serenade: my two year old in the backseat singing "Baby Buga" over and over forever.

Day 1564

Another reason people used to have so many kids: they're a wonderful balm for a grieving heart.

Day 1563

Yes, Lizard, Christmas is okay. No, we didn't put Christmas in the basement. It's just that Christmas is over. It will be back next year.

Day 1562

Being a parent gives you a lot of really weird firsts. Like the first time you brush someone's teeth while they are on a bicycle.

Day 1561

Before passing Lizard markers and some blank paper, I had no idea how many shapes and colours batman came in.