My baby scared the shit out of me yesterday. We have a very narrow (like 12") and 5’ tall decorative bookshelf in a room we don’t use often that was begging to be climbed on. Second kid so we weren’t nearly as neurotic about childproofing etc but anchoring that thing was one of the the few things I knew I had to do right away when she was born, it was practically made as a toddler ladder.

Anyway of course yesterday she tried to climb it, the shelf tipped, and the anchor held. But like god damn nothing stresses like having child proofing tested

I caved and bought an expensive nugget couch. The reason why: Imaginary cats.

My child has a climbing thing inside his playroom Which has a small mat under it. He lately has been saying “Come on mama that silly little cat is stuck in the tree again.” He then proceeds to climb up the ladder, rescue the cat, then climb back down. But he has cats in his hands so he does not hold the ladder. He holds his hands in fists.

He then comes down and we pet the pretend cat.

I just need more cushions, everywhere.

Don’t adopt/rescue imaginary cats. They are expensive and have a bad habit of getting stuck in trees.

Been working a lot and my 3-year-old’s been driving the wife nuts. So as a result I am being driven nuts in my free time as a pressure release valve punching bag for everyone else. Kid still makes it worth it though. I just know he’s at that age where he’s being very difficult.

Baby has now discovered their hands and LOVES eating blankets/stuffed animals. Teething toys just don’t have the right mouthfeel yet. Also only waking up 1-2 times a night now, it’s kinda nice getting sleep again lol. We’ll see if that keeps up.

So big development over here. I got my 4yo into playing a TTRPG called Draw Steel. I call it Dungeons and Dragons because then people will know what she’s talking about lol. Its a perfect excuse to learn the system while also doing some imaginative play.

She is playing a Orc Conduit (cleric) that I’m just flavoring as “magic”. When making the character they have some questions to answer which resulted in: Her “hero” was once a painter who didn’t like doing painting and gave it up to be an adventurer who loves helping pets. She’s on a quest to save a farmer’s daughter from goblins in an ancient tomb. She also has a big dog which she calls “little dog”.

She bested some goblins outside the tomb and then beat up some more inside the first room of the tomb before telling them shell give them gold if they help her. They told her the farmers daughter was with the Queen and that there was a trap in the next hall way.

It’s great fun putting on funny voices and rolling with her goofy self (she attacked a goblin and said it farted lol). Because she negotiated with the goblins she already has the idea that she can negotiate with the Queen. So much fun!

Draw Steel is a really awesome system too, I’m so excited to keep learning it. They’ve really built a system that moves! Combats are fast and exciting.

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Really not enjoying the endless cavalcade of illnesses since our 4yo started preschool. The illness de jour is now a tummy bug. Still concerned with getting COVID boosters. Trying to get them now since who knows what’s going to happen with them. Really awesome that Pfizer’s new vaccine is like a four fold improvement from the last round and I can’t find it any where in my area yet. But they are enjoying school more now, which is great.

2yo has been getting the illnesses too, as expected, but to a lesser degree. They’ve been enjoying having their sibling at school. They have “grandma school.” Their cognition is going off like a rocket, similar to their older sibling at this age. But it’s nice for them to have time when they are in charge and don’t have to share with someone older.

We went to a petting zoo at a fancy winery yesterday and it was one of those experiences that would have been nice but the stress of dealing with kids made it difficult.

First it was really windy, and one of my kids was scared of the wind. I think he was worried about his hat being blown off, but he also refused to wear a hat with a drawstring to keep it on his head.

There also wasn’t any kid friendly food. There were burgers and rolls at food stalls, and your other options were a cafe that had big fancy pizza by the slice or a proper restaurant that was booked out. There wasn’t anything simple like chips (fries) that kids could eat with their hands. I’m not concerned about palate and just having tendies for the kids, but more when they’re not even 3 yet things like burgers are a bit beyond them. They tend to just take them apart and eat the patty with their hands. And this was on a big lawn where there wasn’t really a lot of seating.

Maybe I’ll wait a few more years before going again.

I think I could do with a significant reduction in “Why?” and “What happened?”

I always heard how often kids ask why but until now I figured it was overblown