Day 2319

Lizard and Chinchilla were pretending to have 17 babies, and were working together to put them to bed. Seeing them reading and singing to their stuffies, and picking up their “cradle” to rock it back and forth together made me feel like we must at the very least be setting a good example.

Day 2318

If you give your kids flashlights, they will run around shrieking exploring the pretend forest. This will keep them occupied and thoroughly entertained, but will also get really annoying.

If you suggest they go camping in the pretend forest in an attempt to quiet them down, they will look at the four blanket options and promptly start fighting and crying over one blanket.

Until one kid gets so upset she refuses to camp, and shuts an imaginary door to leave her brother alone in the forest. When he pretends to open the imaginary door, she will rage scream in his face.

You will think longingly of the days that they were exploring the forest, and the loud noises were at least happy noises...

Day 2317

Two pants is one pant too many to wear.

I should not be colder than Curiosity.

Day 2316

Our kids today: in really great moods, aside from all the crying.

Day 2315

If you don’t mind incessant roaring, I’d recommend suggesting your kids be lions and getting them to hunt for stuffies.

Also, apparently stand mixers are pure magic to little boys. “Go round! Go round!” He doesn’t care if anything needs mixing, he doesn’t even have to see it to start remembering its glory. It’s just magic. Like the vacuum cleaner.

Day 2314

Every type of pasta is Lizard’s favourite type of pasta.

She’s almost not wrong... but only because we don’t feed her the stupid pastas.

Day 2313

One of my favourite things is Chinchilla’s unbridled enthusiasm for pizza.

Day 2312

Lizard’s new thing is getting us to spell out words for her one letter at a time so she can write them down.

Words like ‘tyrannosaurus’ ‘pterodactyl’ ‘person’ and ‘triceratops’.

Day 2311

Still gobsmacked by Lizard asking how to spell kangaroo ... and then asking whether it’s an uppercase k or a lowercase k.

Day 2310

Babies successfully sat on. Car successfully not crashed.

Bertram has a new snuggle buddy.

And now I have had enough excitement for the week.

Day 2309

That feeling when it’s Monday night and you’re already falling asleep on the couch...

Day 2308

Took the kids to get passport photos. Lizard had a lot of trouble not smiling; Chinchilla is a natural for passport photography.

Day 2307

Chinchilla loves babies. Or at least baby cousins. Now if only we could convince him to be as gentle (or at least as not-bitey) with his sister...

Day 2306

We’ve officially entered the realm of the kids staying up late lying in bed chatting and giggling together.

Day 2305

Lizard told me to decide what we would have for dinner while at work, but not to tell anybody. I asked her if it was top secret.

Nope.

“Bottom Secret.”

She has also started showing her brother how to write letters, because he is obsessed with “doing letters.”

“Let me show you how to do an A. Now you try!”

Day 2304

Lizard, having discovered that Ottawa has beds - even kid beds! - has decided she would like to go there “at some point. That would be very exciting for me!”

“...so when are we going?”

Day 2303

Lizard’s vocabulary is expanding to include an astonishing variety of colloquialisms and her questions are getting increasingly challenging to answer. “What’s a spreadsheet? What’s a process?”

And then she’ll say thing like “Tell me everything about your day at work. I’m listening.”

Day 2302

Four year olds with exciting news are irrepressible.

Day 2301

Achievement unlocked: babysitters found!

We might actually sometimes leave the house without children in tow!

Day 2300

Some people are much harder to surprise than others.

Day 2299

My daughter is old enough to have sneaky suspicions.

Day 2298

Yoga: affirmations and ab explosions.

Day 2297

Contrary to Chinchilla’s firmly held belief, not everything is purple and not every animal roars.

Day 2296

Distracting your children with tacos and/or pizza so you don’t have to go for a walk in the cold: A+

Having to listen to them fight over new toys inside instead: C-

Getting to eat pizza and tacos: makes it all worthwhile.

Day 2295

It’s almost as if exercising almost every day and eating well for a year makes you healthier. Curiouser and curiouser.

Day 2294

The best way to start your day is to finish your coffee, then get out of bed because it smells like the bacon is ready.

Day 2293

We converted the crib into a bed for Chinchilla today, so I guess we don’t have a baby anymore...

Day 2292

Never run out of chicken fingers.

Day 2291

Lizard has invented the Destination Cookie Party.

Although it turns out that she thinks a destination is a person or a furry animal that is a destination elephant. Or “it’s a kind of thing where everyone gets lots of cookies in total.”

Regardless, I’m on board.

Day 2290

Adulting! With adult friends! At adult dinner!

Day 2289

It’s a grumpus rumpus!

But at least we managed to get a bunch of tidying and laundry done.