Day 1803

Chinchilla can now roll both ways, rotate on his back and on his belly, push himself backward, and sort of almost wiggle himself in a mostly forward direction.

He's also remarkably fast at it.

So all of a sudden, nothing on the floor or near the floor is safe from drool.

Day 1802

And just like that, the baby has rollcomotion.

Day 1801

The only time I want a video baby monitor: when the baby first learns to roll from back to front, and they insist on doing it when you put them to bed... and then they scream about the indignity of lying on their bellies. Then don't roll over! Or roll back over! Or just go to sleep, you little weirdo! I've seen you fall asleep flopped over in what looks like a desperately uncomfortable position!

Sigh. You get them nicely sleep trained, and then they learn rolling and it all goes out the window. Because babies are monsters.

Day 1800

The problem with trying to take pictures of the baby while he's lying (on a blanket) on the floor: the dog photobombs all your shots in an attempt to get snuggles.

Day 1799

Feeling thankful to not live where hurricanes do, and to have a dry house.

And to have a daughter who thinks a snugglefish is basically the same as a cuttlefish.

Day 1798

Today we learned that Chinchilla *does* know how to make strange, at least on days that we keep waking him up from naps.

Day 1797

Lizard tripped while we were out for a walk and scraped her knee. She spent large portions of the walk running at full tilt, enjoying the heck out of life.

She was reportedly very brave while getting her knee cleaned and bandaged.

But then.... the lack of nap hit, and suddenly she was limping and in dire need of hugs and cuddles.

She even told me I was allowed to sing, which would normally be indicative of end times.

Moral of the story: only take your kid for walks if they've had a nap. Or don't plan on being able to use your arms until after they're in bed.

Day 1796

Let a toddler watch tv for three days in a row at bedtime, and suddenly they are trying to make you take them up to bed instead of resisting every step of the way.

Also, the baby knew his daddy had disappeared and was SO happy to see him appear again.

Lizard was so excited about daddy being home that she had to sing instead of sleep.

Day 1795

I love going for walks and watching my daughter boldly striding off in search of adventure... and then getting distracted by a leaf.

<repeat>

Day 1794

The good news is that I've lasted for more than 24 hours with all the babies by myself and no one has died or been grievously injured. The bad news is... there's still plenty of time left before Husband comes home to rescue me...

Day 1793

If you give kids the opportunity to show how awesome and helpful they are, they'll do their best to rise to the challenge.

Day 1792

Toddlers are apparently not built to be sympathetic toward sleepy parents.

Day 1791

Trying to figure out what might be scary to a two year in half-remembered movies is a tricky business.

Day 1790

Good thing Lizard has an unfailing love for playgrounds, or she might never have forgiven us for not taking her to the "Russian pabillion".

Day 1789

My daughter called me her big hero today, so I can pretty much die happy.

Day 1788

Signs you might need more sleep: you think you are typing with your eyes open...even when you have to keep opening your eyes to fix all the typos.

Or when you accidentally pick up the wrong baby.

Day 1787

I am incredibly thankful that I get to raise my kids in Canada.

Day 1786

Sometimes I feel like we should make a spreadsheet to track the variables when Lizzy is presented with new foods. SHOW ME THE PATTERN, UNIVERSE.

Day 1785

An evening of food and culture, and I think Lizard was most excited about getting to clap a lot.

Day 1784

It's terrible to think how many of the wonderfully silly things my daughter does I will someday forget.

Day 1783

Turns out sleeping training goes better if you aren't trying to change everything at once.

Day 1782

An evening of triumphs for Lizard with a sad end. She pooped in the potty, and she happily tried and ate turkey and beets..... and then ralphed it up all over the place.

Day 1781

Life with kids is so hilariously variable. A day can start with a blowout diaper and a kid falling out of bed, and face first onto a dollhouse, and then down stairs... and that doesn't mean it's going to be a bad day. It's pretty much guaranteed that there are giggles coming your way.

Like when your kid takes a stab at singing there's a hole in the bottom of the sea.

Day 1780

Chinchilla was obviously concerned that I would find the house too quiet after Lizard returned to daycare after our staycation; so he gallantly squalled instead of napping.

Day 1779

Our daughter waved blithely at the cougar that suddenly sprinted across it's cage. A few hours later, she told me that her milk scared her (because it made an odd gurgle while she was drinking it).

And we're still putting a bunch of thought into what movies we think will be okay for her to watch.

Day 1778

Our daughter is learning words so fast she's getting away with being a sass monster because the sudden use of new words is so funny.

Day 1777

Our silly Lizard can't decide whether she wants to talk more about being scared by the dinosaurs at the museum, or about how the dinosaurs were her favourite and when are we going back?

Day 1776

The only knowledge of museums my kid has is from a terrible joke I keep repeating to her. She still got more excited about the museum than the zoo.

Day 1775

My two and a half year old can say oryctodromeus. She says her job is "toys and elephants". Maybe I should be teaching her to say 'palaeontologist'.

Day 1774

One of the hardest things about being a parent is having to stand firm when your kid is pushing boundaries, even if you are exhausted and fed up. Because a kid will forget the million times you said no, and remember forever the time you said yes... and will assume the yes is a given every time thereafter.

And boy will you ever hear about it if you say no...

Day 1773

<Lizard being an infuriating toddler to delay bedtime>

Mommy, can I smooch you?

<smooch>

Are you happy now?