Day 1956

It seems like the babies play with each other more and more every day, and it is such a joy to watch Chinchilla’s delight in his big sister. He’ll learn to walk just so he can chase after her and try to share in her fun.

Day 1955

Chinchilla is not the youngest baby anymore! Lizard has already decided that she’s going to give her new cousin three toys. I don’t think she knows which ones, she just knows there will be three.

Day 1954

Finding new ways to make the baby giggle is one of my favourite hobbies.

Day 1953

Dear Daughter,

If you’re pretending to hop like a bunny while going up stairs, and you slip, hit the floor, bite into your lip, and start bleeding all over the place...I would not recommend LATER THAT SAME DAY trying to hop up the stairs like a bunny.

You might make your mother’s head explode.

Love,

Your Mother

Day 1952

Life would be immeasurably better if tired babies would just sleep, and hungry babies would just eat. Why do I have to coax you and trick you into doing what you want to do?!?!

Day 1951

We watched Bambi with Lizard (and Chinchilla! His first movie!) tonight. She did not at all clue in to anything happening to Bambi’s Mom... but she is now quite concerned about forest fires. And wanted to confirm before going to bed that we are safe from forest fires.

Day 1950

Chinchilla is learning about being contrary and exploiting loopholes.

He knows he’s not allowed to crawl into the bathroom, so he’s trying to walk in.

When I tell him no, that he should not crawl into the room he’s going into, he’ll stop, look at me... and then race off into the room as fast as his limbs can carry him. And then he giggles like mad when I pick him up.

And maybe... a first word that isn’t a mamamama/dadadada noise? Banana = a na-na!

Day 1949

Our dog’s neediness can be a little frustrating, but boy does he ever make up for it with our kiddos. He has the patience of a saint for little grabby hands. If reincarnation is a thing, that dude is coming back as a mother-flamingoing unicorn.

Day 1948

The baby seems really committed to the ludicrous notion that he only needs one nap. After he’s finished his morning pooping, and has had lunch.

Apparently morning naps and morning poopings are not compatible.

Day 1947

NO NAP MONDAYS ARE NOT A THING!

Day 1946

The baby might be teaching himself to fall asleep on his own, just so that we have the chance to have a little giggle party after the bedtime nurse. If so, I’m totally on board.

Day 1945

My three year old likes saying “I would prefer not to”.

And apparently swimming lesson exhaustion does not pair well with bladder control.

Day 1944

Insufficient naps and head bonks for all the babies!

Babies: I’m not saying the lack of naps caused the head bonks, but the correlation is strong enough that you might want to make sure you get enough naps... just to be safe.

Day 1943

Baby jails (“playpens”) are the best. Chinchilla has had waaaay fewer head bonks than Lizard had. And he’s spent enough time standing and cruising around in jail that I can let him loose around furniture without serious incident. There are some advantages to being the second child.

Day 1942

When we only had one kid, we didn’t have to worry about the kid getting hit in the head with a bicycle.

With one kid, the rule was ‘no bikes in the bathroom’ and now I guess we need ‘dont Carry your bike near your brother’s head’.

Day 1941

The debate begins! Is he saying mama to me? Dad’s to you? Just making noises? When can we make this official?!?!

Day 1940

Lizard has discovered a super effective delaying tactic during meals: say she has to pee and/or poo. The trouble is, we can’t not take her because she keeps actually doing what she says she has to do. But seriously... how much pee can one tiny girl even hold?!

Day 1939

I wonder if everyone has this much fun talking to their three year olds, or whether our kid’s language skills crossed with bananas three year old make it extra entertaining.

Day 1938

Lizard had her first swimming lesson! Now we can start to find out whether being a water baby is genetic.

In related news, we found a really efficient way to thoroughly tire out our daughter.

Day 1937

Universal Law of Parenting #816: When you find a new meal that is (reasonably) fast, healthy, delicious, and made from things that your kids normally likes, then it is decreed that if you love it, your kids will hate it.

Day 1936

Chinchilla is in a perfect storm of development: he’s growing, he has teeth coming in, he’s afraid of being abandoned, and his needs are getting more complicated but he can’t communicate them. Poor guy is exhausted but doesn’t want to be left alone... and is frustrated when he’s around people because he can’t tell them what he wants.

I feel sorry for the poor little guy, but I’m also getting pretty fed up with being yelled at.

Day 1935

Had a French vocabulary test while I was chopping veggies for dinner. We got some French books out of the library for Lizard, including a ‘first words’ picture book. She was flipping through it and for each page would say “what’s the nother word for <_____>?”. And I’d tell her, and she’d say thank you (and if I didn’t say you’re welcome fast enough she’d say THANK YOU louder), and flip to the next page.

So that’s one way to brush up on your French.

Day 1934

The relaxing day of yoga is much less relaxing when the baby tries to cry through it instead of napping. (He did eventually fall asleep, and I did eventually sort of relax.)

But even better than relaxing yoga, I got really tremendous hugs from both my babies today - although at the time, one was asking to be called Mister Astronaut.

Day 1933

Chinchilla might be starting to understand ‘No’, which might make life a little easier... even if his response to hearing it is a tremendous pout.

Day 1932

We took Lizard on her first two excursions without diapers, and they were both a huge success.

She wasn’t terribly concerned about the Christmas tree coming down, but she definitely wasn’t a fan of having pine needles EVERYWHERE. (She liked them much more when they were all sitting around the tree and she could “help” sweep them up).

Got some French books out of the library and she’s SO into them. 

Chinchilla was showing off his waving skills. I think he’s seriously considering adopting “Hi!” as his first word.

Day 1931

Chatting with Lizard is getting so fun. She comes up with such fantastic, hilarious things. Sometimes it takes some leading questions, and sometimes she pops right out with totally random stuff. I love the food words she strings together to describe the meals she makes for us. Today Husband got to eat “orange ice cream with muffin in it”.

Bertie has officially fallen for the baby. He wants to stay in the room with him while he’s sleeping, instead of hanging out with the rest of us.

Day 1930

The relaxing and rejuvenating effects of yoga are somewhat mitigated by a baby screaming and jumping up and down a couple feet away from your head. Or a baby pushing buttons on their toys so you can hear a fire truck singing a little ditty instead of hearing what exactly you’re supposed to be doing with your left foot.

Day 1929

My day involved more of other people’s bodily fluids than I prefer.

Day 1928

Does it count as a first word if the “HI!” (with wave) is aimed at the cupboard?

Day 1927

Lizard is back to daycare, where someone who knows what they’re doing can work on her potty-training for the bulk of her waking hours.

Why is it so hard to make yourself start exercising, even when it feels good to do? Apparently the evolutionary advantage of conserving energy is stronger than the advantage of being fit enough to have energy, and to do stuff with it.

Day 1926

Day Three of Lizard in underwear = Lizard’s first skid marks. If it had been accident-free, I’d really feel like an idiot for waiting until now to pottytrain.