We finished emptying the old raised beds and filling the new one. I planted lettuce, beets, peas, radishes, and chives, using popsicle sticks as markers. W- did all the heavy lifting, including moving the patio stones out to make way for sod. A- was as happy as we'd ever seen her: arms deep in the dirt, crawling around, making friends with earthworms. It was awesome.

A- is becoming more independent, and more insistent on doing things her way. She wasn't too keen on me brushing her teeth last week. I was concerned about her enamel hypoplasia, so I did some more research. After coming across the risk assessment guidelines by the AAPD, I e-mailed our dentist a few questions so that I could properly calibrate my level of concern. To wit: Should W- and I firmly restrain her in order to brush her teeth thoroughly? What about the fluoride varnishes or toothpaste? Should I use xylitol wipes for her teeth, and should I find xylitol mints or chew xylitol gum myself? (Apparently xylitol is good for controlling caries and reducing maternal transmission of mutans streptococci.) The dentist quickly sent me a reassuring reply. We backed off a little, wiping her teeth and gums with a washcloth whenever she didn't tolerate brushing. Eventually she let me brush her teeth again. It took about five days to get her used to the addition of xylitol wipes to her bedtime routine. I used them myself, and then eventually she let me use them on her teeth.

We went on a few outdoor excursions. I took her to Riverdale Farm to see chickens, ducks, turkeys, horses, cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. It was a bit chilly and she was sleepy, so she stayed in the carrier. I'll take her there again when the weather warms up.

She was more active at Oaks 'n Acorns. We checked out their Baby Explorers demo class. The room had a variety of ramps, shakers, scarves, beanbags, and tambourines, and a tunnel for the babies to crawl through. A- was one of the older babies there. She warmed up quickly and crawled around, although she didn't give the tunnel a try.

We also went with Jen and E- to the park. E- got lots of walking practice, and he had fun in the playground. A- enjoyed swinging, too! She was so happy. Jen shared her orange with us, and A- liked the taste. Then we went back to Jen and Ewan's place, where we had some yummy sandwiches before heading to PAT Mart for some bitter melon.

Since we'll be spending more time in the sun this year, I bought two hats and some sunblock. I bought some glycerin in preparation for making home-made bubble solution, too, and I've been learning about the science behind bubbles.

There was no parent advocacy workshop because of the Easter break. The early literacy workshop was sparsely attended again this week, so I got to ask the facilitator about all sorts of professional development and emerging research.

Big leaps for A-. She points with an extended finger now, instead of with all her fingers. She recognizes words and remembers locations, even for toys that have been rotated out to the top of a bookshelf. W- has been reading her a small cloth book about clothes ("coat", "socks", etc.), and she's taken to pointing at the book, pointing at the item, and asking us to help her put her coat on. W- also helped A- kick a stray ball around the backyard (well, kinda kick) before returning the ball to the neighbours. She seems to be doing the hand motions for the "Turn around, clap clap" part of one of the nursery songs from the baby time at the library. And A- is working on whistling! Wow! I've been inspired to work on whistling, too.

We nearly lost her conformer on the way back from the supermarket. The risks of taking a sleepy baby out for a walk! I checked the carrier, and then I retraced our steps through the store. I couldn't find it! I started going over my backup plan, and then I thought to pat myself and A- down again. Then I heard the clatter of the conformer hitting the sidewalk… A- must have been holding the conformer in her hand all that time. Neat!

Turkey was on sale at the supermarket, so W- roasted one and we're slowly going through it.

I filed my taxes and prepared W-'s, although we're still waiting for J-'s paperwork before finalizing his return.

Playing Borderlands 2 with W- got a lot more fun when we switched to both playing sirens, especially once we got ourselves Legendary Binder class mods. We're more aware of where the other person is on the map and how they're doing, and it's fun coordinating phaselocks so that tough enemies don't even hit the ground. Even with our limited discretionary time, it's still nice to play video games together.

Next week: winding up workshops, the JFRC potluck, and meeting up with the family home visitor.

Blog posts

• 2017-04-17 Emacs news
• Weekly review: Week ending April 14, 2017

Sketches

• Journal
  • 2017-04-17a Week ending 2017-04-14 #journal #weekly
  • 2017-04-15a Saturday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-16a Sunday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-17b Monday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-18a Tuesday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-19a Wednesday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-20a Thursday #daily #journal
  • 2017-04-21d Friday #daily #journal
• 2017-04-21a Imagining early literacy for us #parenting #education #literacy #learning
• 2017-04-21b What do I want from activity programs #parenting #activities #classes
• 2017-04-21c Program timeline #parenting #classes #activities

Focus areas and time review

• Business (0.6h – 0%)
  • Build (0.5h – 88% of Business)
  • Connect (0.1h – 11% of Business)
• Relationships (2.9h – 1%)
• Discretionary – Productive (9.1h – 5%)
  • Drawing (2.6h)
  • Emacs (0.6h)
  • Coding (0.5h)
• Discretionary – Play (4.8h – 2%)
• Personal routines (20.7h – 12%)
• Unpaid work (68.8h – 40%)
  • Childcare (55.3h – 32% of total)
• Sleep (61.1h – 36% – average of 8.7 per day)