January 10th, 2020
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- Kaizen
- We talked about declining, surviving, and thriving when it comes to our household.
- I re-hemmed the curtains. They’re a little better now, although still not perfectly straight.
- Us
- I updated my investment records and did some analysis. I’m starting to feel more comfortable with using Pandas than with firing up Calc for pivot tables. :)
- I sewed reusable produce bags from 17×20″ gauze pieces.
- I added elastic to the waist of the peasant dress I made for A-, so now it doesn’t feel too big.
- I felt so sleepy because of a bad cold and interrupted sleep. “Now it’s time for our traditional Christmas nap,” I declared. And wonder of wonders, A- actually joined in, even though it took her a little while to settle down. It felt great getting a bit more sleep.
- Sensory
- A- enjoyed catching medium-sized bubbles that W- blew. After I finished cleaning up the kitchen, we went outside to play with giant bubbles. A- was very amused by how W- kicked some of the bubbles.
- We had fun figuring out how to blow bubbles within bubbles.
- Art
- We painted a small Christmas tree. I painted the outline, and A- and I filled it in. We also glued paper ornaments on.
- Self-care and independence
- A- was very proud of how she figured out how to deflate and inflate a beach ball.
- We’re slowly practising having me step away and check in on A- from time to time. She was okay for the first few rounds of 5-10 minutes being away, cried the next two rounds of 10-15 minutes, and now seems to be patiently playing with Duplo. I’m getting sleepy, but I’ll check in with her a few times more.
- A- asked to practise me going away and coming back.
- I checked on A- because she had a hard time going to sleep. After I settled her down with hugs at 1-minute, 2-minute, and 5-minute intervals, I sat beside her to say goodnight. She patted me and said, “Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep.”
- Eating
- A- was curious about the cheese samples at the grocery store. She also proudly bought her own chocolate with her allowance.
- W- made lamb korma. A- liked it.
- Sleep
- We had a rough night in terms of sleep, since A- got a bit handsy. I think it might be time for me to stop co-sleeping.
- More work on sleeping on her own. We’ve been experimenting with my going to sleep early while W- deals with her tantrums. The first night, she tired herself out crying, accepted some comfort from W-, and slept until 7. It was glorious! The second night, she was inconsolable at 3 AM. W- tried to settle her down, but reached his limit. I tagged in and worked on helping her wait quietly in bed (and also have the sense to be under a blanket).
- Emotion
- I got so tired and cranky that I had to ask W- to take over while I slept. He helped A- settle down. He thinks part of this might be boundary-testing, since she’s also a bit pushy with him.
- A- was upset about sleeping on her own. “The room is so empty,” she cried.
- A- woke up in the middle of the night and cried. When I checked on her, she said, “I just want company.”
- One of A-‘s aunts gave A- a Blume doll. She was curious about it and wanted to open it right away, but needed a cuddle when she found out it could only “bloom” once. We spent a lot of time reading and rereading the books they gave her, though.
- The day was a little tough due to some grumpiness about W- throwing things away because he had been grumpy about things on the floor, but W- helped make things right.
- Household
- Busy cooking day! I made lentil puree, falafel, and lumpiang shanghai. A- tried wrapping lumpia too.
- Another cooking day! A- and I made bao following the recipe in Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao, and W- made molasses sugar cookies since A- liked them. A- made her own experimental dough.
- On her own initiative, A- collected the discarded wrapping paper and put them into a large plastic bag as people opened gifts.
- Social
- “I will send you home with some lumpia.”
- A- was a bit tired, but she still enjoyed playing with Ana, the babysitter. After Ana left, A- asked why Ana had to go.
- A- had been talking to me about how she didn’t get along with Gung-gung because he kept asking her for snuggles. It was amazing to see her make an effort at the Christmas party, though. A- and I were playing with the kit of origami paper that we’d brought along. She decided to offer him something that she made, which he received with the appropriate gratitude. She asked him to make something for her. He was initially reluctant (probably trying to get her to teach him instead, but that wasn’t the game she wanted to play), so we coached him to just make something and give it to her. After a few exchanges, they were now on good enough terms to play patty cake. They did that for a bit, and then A- gave him a hug when I pointed out he was in hugging range. A- continued playing with him throughout the day, and even pulled him over by hand to sit beside her at dinner.
- Pretend
- A- had fun pretending she had different dials: silly/serious, awake/asleep, roly-poly/floppy, loud/quiet, and so on.
- A- has been pretending to be A*, to the extended family’s amusement. When they asked when she would be A- again, she said, “Maybe when I go through puberty.” She gave the same answer when asked again towards the end of the day.
- A- wanted to push a button, so I hung a measuring cup from a hook. She pushed it and said, “I requested Mama.”
- Cognition
- A- completed a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle with some help. Neither W- nor I had been sure about opening the puzzle, but A- was determined to try it, and she was proud of being able to finish it. I helped her figure out where most of the pieces went, and she put the pieces together and figured out a few pieces on her own.
- Other
- We bought some more red robot fabric. A- wants me to make a dress this time.
Blog posts
Time
| Category |
The other week % |
Last week % |
Diff % |
h/wk |
Diff h/wk |
| Sleep |
31.9 |
40.2 |
8.3 |
67.5 |
14.0 |
| Discretionary – Family |
0.6 |
4.8 |
4.2 |
8.1 |
7.1 |
| Unpaid work |
3.7 |
6.0 |
2.2 |
10.0 |
3.7 |
| Personal |
5.0 |
4.8 |
-0.2 |
8.0 |
-0.3 |
| Discretionary – Productive |
6.1 |
5.2 |
-0.9 |
8.7 |
-1.4 |
| Business |
2.7 |
1.6 |
-1.1 |
2.7 |
-1.9 |
| Discretionary – Play |
1.8 |
0.0 |
-1.8 |
0.0 |
-3.0 |
| Discretionary – Social |
3.2 |
0.0 |
-3.2 |
0.0 |
-5.4 |
| A- |
44.9 |
37.4 |
-7.5 |
62.9 |
-12.7 |
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Read more about review, weekly
January 10th, 2020
Read more about review, weekly
- Kaizen
- W- got an undercabinet light from IKEA for the kitchen. Nice upgrade. We experimented with adding lights over the sink, but we didn’t find a setup we liked.
- We talked about learning more about photography and making good use of the lenses we have. It makes sense to focus on doing that this year.
- It was so cold at the playground. I was glad to have brought a camera with physical controls, since I could use it even with my gloves on.
- I experimented with focus bracketing. It doesn’t work so well with moving animals, but it’s handy for relatively still things.
- Journal app
- I updated my React app to use the Material UI toolkit and use functions instead of components.
- I switched to using docker-compose. I also mounted folders instead of files, since the file contents weren’t getting updated due to changed inodes.
- I added a navigation bar and an edit form to my React journal app.
- I added picture linking to my journal. I learned the React way of keeping the state in a parent component and passing the props downwards.
- I exported my journal entries for easy reading on my phone.
- I learned how to use MongoDB to save and retrieve entries.
- I added an “Other” field to my journal.
- I added the ability to delete journal entries.
- I read “Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live)”. It echoed some of the things I’ve heard other parents talk about. I’m pretty okay (W- does so much!), but I want to make sure W- doesn’t feel overloaded. I like its four rules: all time is created equal; reclaim your right to be interesting; start where you are now; and establish your values and standards. I also like the point it makes about keeping concept, planning, and execution together as one person’s responsibility for each task. At the moment, my Unicorn Space is coding, and I’m getting better at giving myself permission to spend time on that.
- Us
- Cooking day! I made sticky rice, which turned out all right (even the dried shrimp). I tried a new ice cream recipe, and decided that the ratio of 1 cup cream to 200ml condensed was too sweet. I made fudge with leftover condensed milk. The baked ham was a bit overcooked but not burnt. Decent cooking day.
- I sewed a dress for A- out of red robot flannel. I guessed the length of elastic for the casings at the neckline and waist, and I left myself a bit of extra in case she wants it widened.
- Field trip
- We met up with Melissa and H- at Riverdale Farm. A- liked watching the horse get groomed. She also enjoyed watching the pigs play, and she was very curious about why one pig licked the other pig’s behind. She liked watching the sheep, too.
- Gross motor
- A- pretended to be a can of milk being dispensed down a chute. She rolled and rolled down the crib mattress.
- Luke threw up on the platform, so we needed a ladder to get up there to clean it. Naturally, A- wanted to climb the ladder too.
- A- swung herself on the big kid swing.
- A- dropped a stuffed toy from the tower. We declined to pick it up for her, so she figured out how to pick it up with her feet.
- Fine motor
- A- wanted to play the Boo and Aaa ticket game again.
- Sensory
- A- fidgeted a lot. I wonder if her hair is bothering her… She doesn’t want us to ask about it, though.
- Language
- “Speaking of…”
- “I escaped pants. Now I’m over into the summer wear.”
- “‘Vale’ to you, Mama, ‘vale.'” A- said goodbye in Latin.
- “Merry Christmas. Good night. Thanks for visiting.”
- “Did you capture my mo(tion)?”
- “Why doesn’t J- see her little sister more often?”
- A- was very interested in spelling A*’s name. She noticed that the letter E was missing, and spent some time puzzling over where it would go. She eventually figured it out when I pointed out that there was another label with A*’s name on it. She looked at that and promptly put E in the correct place.
- I tried showing A- Anki flash cards based on a Reddit post I came across lately. She got some words very quickly (cat, A*), while other words took a while. I ordered a bunch of reading resources, and I’ll probably change the deck to be mostly based on those books and her other interests.
- Music
- We played with the sounds that rubber bands made.
- Art
- A- wanted me to rebuild the Santa LEGO thing.
- Self-care and independence
- A- cut her own breakfast sausage with a fork.
- A- kicked me out of her room so that she could sleep.
- Eating
- I cooked salmon and yu choy today. A- liked it.
- A- liked biting the heads off the anchovies. W- took pictures, and A- mostly followed his posing instructions.
- Sleep
- Woohoo, A- slept from 10pm to 8:30am without waking up! She had needed a second settling down.
- A- was a bit clingy at bedtime. Eventually I got grumpy too. I stayed in the room with her and she cried to sleep (not intense crying, though). Might need to work on it some more.
- I set a timer for 15 minutes of focused time. After that, I hugged A- good night. After I left, she cried for about 5-10 minutes, then fell asleep. I think it’s hard for her to sleep while I’m there, so we just have to get used to this.
- A- had a hard time settling down to sleep. After my first goodbye, she cried and cried. I checked back in with her, read her a book, and left again. Eventually, I refused to read her another book and told her that it was okay for her to be bored. After I stepped out of the room, she cried for about five minutes. I think it will be easier if she just gets used to my being okay with her crying.
- Emotion
- A- played with H-. Every so often, A- took a break by asking W- to read to her. It’s interesting to see her go between being social and being more focused.
- It’s surprising how powerful the fear of missing out is. It got A- to finish the vegetables, get into the bath, and so on.
- Household
- We went to IKEA to check out beds. We couldn’t decide on a bed frame, but A- liked the duvet cover and canopy on one of the display beds, so we got a twin duvet, the cover, and the canopy.
- I was getting a little tense about A-‘s cooking experiments. W- reminded me that an egg is just an egg. I calmed down and remembered that buying lots of groceries is just like tuition for raising a cook, so it’s all good.
- Social
- We found out that A-s current favourite babysitter will be scaling back her availability. Need to try a few more people again!
- Lola felt lonely. She said, “The house is too quiet.” A- said, “Our house is noisy. You should transfer to our house.”
- We emailed thank you notes for the gifts that A- received.
- We met up with Melissa and H- at the playground. H- and A- sometimes had trouble taking turns, but for the most part, they got along very well and were able to manage playing together and playing apart as needed. A- had so much fun, she invited them over afterwards.
- We visited Joy and J1 even though we hadn’t coordinated before dropping by. The kids all had fun. J1 was fascinated by the camera and wanted to use it everywhere.
- Although A- got a little jealous around H- at the farm, she still wanted to invite them over to our house afterwards. We had an impromptu dinner party with a good spread (lumpia, scrambled eggs, bitter melon, stirfried veg, carrot sticks). Melissa and I even got to read a little.
- Pretend
- A- waited patiently for her turn with the photo cut-outs at IKEA. She wanted to play in the indoor play area there too, but it was full.
- A- pretended to take a spam phone call and had a long conversation.
- Other
- A- decided against trying the play area at IKEA. Instead, she ate a pizza slice while W- shopped for lights for the kitchen.
- A- was proud of her camera. She took a few pictures with it, enjoyed feeling it dangle from her wrist, and mentioned it several times to Melissa.
Blog posts
Time
| Category |
The other week % |
Last week % |
Diff % |
h/wk |
Diff h/wk |
| Discretionary – Productive |
5.2 |
14.6 |
9.4 |
24.5 |
15.7 |
| Discretionary – Social |
0.0 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
| A- |
37.4 |
38.9 |
1.5 |
65.4 |
2.5 |
| Personal |
4.8 |
5.7 |
0.9 |
9.6 |
1.5 |
| Discretionary – Play |
0.0 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
| Unpaid work |
6.0 |
5.0 |
-0.9 |
8.4 |
-1.6 |
| Business |
1.6 |
0.0 |
-1.6 |
0.0 |
-2.7 |
| Discretionary – Family |
4.8 |
1.3 |
-3.5 |
2.2 |
-5.9 |
| Sleep |
40.2 |
32.1 |
-8.1 |
53.9 |
-13.6 |
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Read more about review, weekly
January 10th, 2020
Read more about review, weekly
- Kaizen
- I worked on putting my journal thing into a container and creating a form for new entries.
- Us
- I went to the dentist. One tiny new cavity – oh well!
- While the kids played, Melissa and I talked about copywriting and pitches.
- I filed HSA claims for some of our expenses.
- I cooked falafel.
- Gross motor
- We made it to the drop-in centre before the first circle time and stayed until closing. A- was fascinated by the pool noodles in the gym.
- Fine motor
- A- was interested in some of the wooden building toys at the drop-in.
- Sensory
- A- liked swishing the dried navy beans around.
- A- had fun dancing with W-.
- A- liked being rolled up and down.
- A- enjoyed sledding down the tiny pile of snow in the backyard.
- A- had so much fun with the cushion-and-scarf fort that one of the other parents of 3-year-olds organized. It was all one big wriggling pile of preschoolers for a little while.
- I made a batch of giant bubble solution and A- had fun catching them on the deck.
- A- kept fidgeting today. I asked her about it and she said her dress was too big, but she kept fidgeting even after she had changed into a T-shirt and shorts for bed.
- Language
- “I’m not a big fan of gray and black.”
- Self-care and independence
- A- really wanted a lollipop. She asked me several times throughout the day. In the evening, we all discussed it. I explained I was concerned about how lollipops mean teeth are exposed to sugar for a long time. We settled on three licks before rinsing the lollipop and freezing it for next time.
- W- trimmed A-‘s bangs.
- Eating
- A- learned about dipping cookies in milk to soften them.
- Sleep
- A- was motivated to go to sleep because she wanted to wake up early the next day to see W-. She whispered a song to herself (Tommy Thumbs are Up, complete with hand motions), tossed and turned a little, and fell asleep.
- I reminded A- that if she wanted to wake up to have breakfast with W- (and be well-rested enough to avoid having a tantrum), she should sleep early. And she did!
- Emotion
- A- had a tantrum about not wanting her cantaloupe cut into chunks. (“I don’t want lines!”) After some time crying on the floor, she accepted our suggestion of trying it with her eyes closed. She ended up calming down completely and having lots of cantaloupe, savouring the experience of eating it with her eyes closed.
- A- was a little grumpy today, hitting me and reflexively negating what I said. We experimented with me translating her “No, you do…” negation as “I need love!” instead, and she seemed to respond well to that. She invented a hand signal for it too, and she used it throughout the night. I guess I need to get better at paying proper attention to her and maybe having a routine of special time / independent time.
- Household
- A- insisted on buying Raincoast Crisps with her allowance. The crackers were pricy, but she decided they were worth the expense.
- So much cooking! We made baked beans, arroz caldo, applesauce, and ice cream in a bag. All of us spent the whole day cooking or eating, and it was great.
- A- gleefully used the apple corer to help make applesauce.
- A- helped tidy up the the water table. The tray was on a chair, and the kids went back and forth as needed. Maybe next year we’ll help her learn to set up the tray.
- A- can seal some kinds of Ziploc bags now.
- A- took the initiative to wash the mirrors in the bathroom.
- Social
- I got really grumpy about feeling touched out in the middle of the night, when A- woke up and kept asking for snuggles. W- woke up to help. Having a bit of alone time helped a bit. A- was calm enough to plead with me, saying, “Please don’t push.”
- We had another problem-solving conversation over dinner. I suggested seeing if spooning would meet A-‘s snuggling needs without triggering my aversion to being handled. We also talked about the idea of using a timer.
- A- was asking the same question again and again, so we talked to her about different ways to keep the conversation going when she can’t think of something to add. W- suggested talking about the weather, and I suggested saying something she observes or saying something positive about the other person. A- took W-‘s suggestion and started talking about the nighttime sky, which led to a conversation about seeing stars.
- A- was really excited about getting face paint on Sunday morning. She sprung out of bed when our alarm went off at 7. When we went to check on W-, I crawled into bed for a snuggle and a nap. A- turned on the lights and loudly sang a song about asking for face paint.
- After the drop-in program ended, Melissa and H- joined us at the library, and then came over to our house to play. The kids were having so much fun playing games like hide and seek that I was even able to cook dinner for all of us.
- “I’m wearing a dress my Mama made!” A- proudly showed it to Mrs. Ewa during Music class.
- After the drop-in program, we joined Melissa and H- for a trip up to a craft store in the Stockyards. A- and H- were able to stay close, be careful with things, and not have tantrums. After that, we visited H-‘s house, where the kids played all afternoon.
- On our way home from playing with Melissa and H-, I asked A-, “Were you and H- good friends today?” She replied, “She’s becoming one.”
- A- cheerfully greeted many people merry Christmas. She also sang Skinnamarink to the parent worker (complete with hand gestures). She was in great spirits.
- A- noticed Lola sounded sad. A- said, “Don’t worry. It’s okay. We’ll always be here.”
- We chatted with Lola, Tita Kathy, and A-‘s cousins in the morning.
- “Ana is on the yes list.” (talking about babysitters)
- Pretend
- A- asked for astronaut face paint, so that’s what we did.
- After reading Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao a few times, A- and I made playdough bao.
- A- was really interested in modeling a toilet connected to a septic tank, complete with having a sewage truck come by, empty the tank, and go to the treatment plant.
- A- enjoyed the big cardboard box at the drop-in centre. “A cardboard box can be anything!”
- Cognition
- It’s pretty amazing to see A- becoming more reasonable. Yesterday, she was on the verge of a tantrum, but she was able to calm down because she chose to keep playing with her friend. Today, she went to sleep because she wanted to be able to wake up early tomorrow.
- A- asked for bedtime stories about a little fairy named A-, so the little fairy helped a Christmas tree by doing addition and the Mama fairy helped the little fairy fix the moon by doing subtraction.
- Other
- A- hummed as a way of trying to whistle.
Blog posts
Time
| Category |
The other week % |
Last week % |
Diff % |
h/wk |
Diff h/wk |
| Discretionary – Social |
0.0 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
| Discretionary – Play |
0.0 |
1.8 |
1.8 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
| Unpaid work |
2.0 |
3.7 |
1.7 |
6.3 |
2.9 |
| Personal |
3.5 |
5.0 |
1.4 |
8.4 |
2.4 |
| Discretionary – Family |
0.1 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
1.1 |
0.9 |
| Business |
3.3 |
2.7 |
-0.6 |
4.6 |
-1.0 |
| Discretionary – Productive |
6.7 |
6.1 |
-0.7 |
10.2 |
-1.1 |
| Sleep |
35.3 |
31.9 |
-3.4 |
53.5 |
-5.7 |
| A- |
48.9 |
44.9 |
-4.0 |
75.5 |
-6.7 |
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