• Kaizen
  • W- replaced the kitchen drawers. I helped take out the old rails and use the chop saw.
  • Baked rainbow trout: Yummy and easy.
  • I managed to put my bike on the hook again, yay me!
  • W- taught me how to use the table saw.
  • We cleaned the sauce cabinet in preparation for painting it, and W- trimmed it to fix the gaps.
  • W- and I built a kitchen shelf out of Baltic birch, and I applied a polyurethane coat to it.
• Us
  • I booked our flights and bought travel insurance.
  • I booked hotels for our stopovers. I decided to stick with the hotel we tried last time. We’ll check out the train in case we need to take it to get to the airport early.
  • I biked to the pool with A- in the trailer. I managed to make it over the bridge on Dundas West, yay!
• Fine motor
  • A- wanted to try sungka with four shells in each pot. She sometimes needed to use two hands, but she patiently did it even when her turns were pretty long.
• Sensory
  • A- and I made sand angels.
  • A- enjoyed swimming with some floaters on. She imitated the other kids in practising how to get into the pool with my help. She also experimented with lying backwards while I supported her.
• Language
  • “Who is my baby?” “Me.” “Who is my wonderful baby?” “Me.” “Who is going to bed soon?” “You.”
  • W- and I were talking about travel plans and whether I might want to spend extra to reduce hassle. He said, “X dollars? That’s not a lot.” A- chimed in with, “That’s a lot.”
  • “I’m not paying attention.”
  • “Wow, very cold.” – A- after splashing herself with a small amount of water which turned out to be cold.
  • I made small sandpaper letters: c, a, t, m.
  • “Whoa, such a cool thing.” – A- swinging around suddenly on some playground equipment
  • A- asked W- if she could climb the ladder, but W- couldn’t figure out which ladder she meant. Some time later, A- saw the platform. She gestured to it and said, “That’s the ladder I was talking about.” It’s nice to see that she can remember and politely clarify.
• Music
  • I signed A- up for the Smart Start music classes at the Royal Conservatory of Music – the regular one, not the one with Suzuki piano. It’ll be her third year doing it, and I’m looking forward to learning more songs and games with her while I’m allowed to attend. It’ll probably be a good intro to independent classes, too.
• Self-care and independence
  • Another kid accidentally threw sand in A-‘s face. A- cried the sand out of her eyes.
  • A- wanted to stay home instead of going to nature class or school, so we played at home most of the day.
• Eating
  • We brought popcorn to the potluck. A- liked lumpia and watermelon.
  • I made heart-shaped pancakes. A- liked them.
  • A- liked the crusty part of the samosas.
• Emotion
  • A- had a tantrum in the morning about not being allowed to help clean up cat poo. When she calmed down, I talked to her about how our brains flip out. At bedtime, she asked me why her brain had flipped out earlier, and we talked a bit more about emotional regulation.
  • At bedtime, A- asked me why she grabbed the kitchen towel from W- a few days ago. We talked about why she locked on to that and why W- decided to find something else to do.
• Household
  • A- wanted to make her bed before getting into it.
  • A- started cutting up one of her old dresses to make a sleep sack for her doll, so I helped her make it.
  • A- was curious about caulking. W- let her squeeze some caulk onto paper.
• Social
  • A- helped pack up at school. She put toys into bags.
  • A- wanted a twig that H- had. They had previously fought over other twigs, which resulted in us talking to the kids about grabbing and stuff. A- looked around and spotted some chalk. She successfully traded a piece of chalk for the twig she wanted.
  • A- approved of slurping noodles and disapproved of slurping applesauce.
  • A- didn’t want to go to the parenting workshop today. She wanted to stay home and make a sleep sack. I said we already had one, and she said she wanted to make her own. She negotiated, outlining her proposal with her fingers: “First, sew. Second, play. Then workshop. Those are choices.” We discussed material choices a bit before settling on salvaging the zipper from one of her sleepers. I broke my serger needles because I was rushing and a bit frustrated, so I put it aside and A- agreed to go to the workshop with me. She had a long nap in the stroller. After we came home, I replaced the needles and played with A- some more.
• Pretend
  • A- pretended to be a pancake cooking on all sides at bedtime.
• Cognition
  • A- did a good job paying for llama food and a temporary tattoo with the $3 I gave her. She felt brave when she fed the llamas, and she helped count up to thirty while waiting for the tattoo to transfer. She was curious about the chickens, but she was a little scared of them too.
  • A- did a good job solving the alphabet puzzle. She easily identified letters and matched them up with the slots with only occasional hints, and she took turns with another kid.
• World
  • I made a cardboard conveyer and we mechanized it with a motor from the Technic set. That was fun!
• Other
  • A- enjoyed picnicking with the babysitter. She also had fun climbing onto the platform we were using to work in the kitchen.

Blog posts

• 2019-06-17 Emacs news

Time