A- was under the weather (cough/cold/fever), so we stayed close to home.

• Kaizen
  • I made yellow playdough using the recipe from the EarlyON centre. It was a bit softer and stickier than the first recipe I tried, but better than the second. I think hand-kneading it instead of using the stand mixer is definitely the way to go.
  • I switched my phone to monochrome to make it less appealing. It seems to reduce the number of times A- asks to watch her videos.
• Us
  • We cooked a lot: spinach, broccoli, beansprouts, rice and beans, jerk chicken, Indian curry, and Shake and Bake chicken.
  • The cat litter we ordered arrived, but it was sent back because the shipment was incomplete and the shipper couldn't do a partial shipment.
  • I'm not sure why my phone doesn't seem to ring. Maybe the volume is set too low sometimes?
  • A- was napping, so W- and I actually managed to play Borderlands 2 for thirty minutes. There were lots of other things that could be done, of course, but we figured it was important to spend time relaxing together.
  • I cut my hair back to shoulder length.
  • I picked up a few supplies from Old Navy, Nations, and Staples. Toddler gloves weren't in stock yet, but I picked up another pack of white crew socks. The bus made it easier to go there and back.
• Language
  • I asked A- to find words on pages while we were reading. She did a pretty good job at guessing words if I told her what letter they started with or if they were in an easy-to-predict position.
• Sleep
  • A- insisted on being in the carrier in the kitchen so that she could go to sleep.
  • A- wanted to sleep on my lap, so I snuggled her on the couch. One of the cats wanted scritches too, but I asked W- to bring her down. Holding her while she slept was nice and peaceful.
  • A- resisted bedtime by insisting that she was not done with snack. When I set a timer and insisted on putting her food away, she threw a tantrum. Even though she was upset, she decided to go upstairs with me instead of staying downstairs. I managed to help her brush her teeth and have a bath by focusing on what's her job. Once we got settled into bed, she fell fast asleep.
• Emotion
  • A- was terrified of a few books, so we put the worst offender in the recycling bin outside and the rest in the box for donation. She still wouldn't settle, so I playfully introduced spraying away what she was scared about (drawing inspiration from the idea of “anti-monster spray”). That helped, although it didn't completely settle her – she still cried, wanting the garbage truck to come right away and wanting to be far away from the books. A few hours later, she cried about wanting to spray the book away. I handed her the spray bottle and she sprayed the window. She said, “I sprayed it away myself,” and calmed down.
  • A- was pretty upset. She cried about missing nursing. I said no. Eventually she settled down after lots of crying.
  • “I want to be in the not scary sling.” When A- is scared, she wants to be snuggled in the sling.
• Social
  • A- really didn't want to let go of W-, who had to go back to work. As W- gently lowered her to the ground, she said, “I don't want to fall out of you. I really love you.”
  • I had to set firm boundaries about playing with my face. A- was not happy about that.
  • A- was quite affectionate, frequently hugging our cat, J-, W-, and even me.
• Pretend
  • A- interrupted her pretend grocery shopping at home by saying, “I need to go to the supermarket bathroom.” She went to the potty. It's nice how she stays in character…
  • A- liked being in her Tigger costume. I think it's getting a little small for her.
• Self-care
  • A-‘s fever spiked, her breathing was fast and shallow, she was drowsier than normal, and her hands were cool and mottled, so we called Telehealth and they advised us to take her to the emergency room. By the time we saw a nurse, her fever had cooled down a bit, and she was okay with drinking some Tylenol.
  • A-‘s fever gradually subsided and her mood improved. It was a good day to read a lot, though. She fell asleep on my lap while we were reading on the couch.
  • A- didn't want to drink fever medicine. She said it was yucky. I suggested alternating it with small spoonfuls of ice cream to help take the taste away, and she accepted that.
  • A- ate cup noodles with chopsticks. She was able to bring noodles to her mouth and slurp them in. She even climbed down from the table, got the cup of noodles, and cradled it in one hand while eating with the other. She's ready for university!
  • I insisted on 10 minutes to read my own book before I read to A-, and I also enjoyed a few minutes of practising music because I wanted to.
• Other
  • We made it out to the library to return a couple of books before they became overdue. A- walked all the way there and most of the way back. She asked me to pick her up, and then she quickly fell asleep in my arms.

Blog posts

• Adjusting to less focused time
• 2018-10-01 Emacs news
• Interview with Thierry Volpiatto, maintainer of Emacs Helm
• Weekly review: Week ending September 28, 2018
• Weekly review: Week ending September 21, 2018

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