Babble

We have major toy storage issues in our house. Because we don't have a dedicated "playroom" for the girls, and because their bedroom is upstairs (and we're not, most of the time), the majority of their stuff is in the living/dining room, wedged in wherever we can find space for it: on the shelf underneath the coffee table, on the ...

As you may have picked up if you've been reading this blog for awhile, I am a very silly person. Or, perhaps more accurately, I have an intensely silly side which balances out my incredibly serious and sophisticated side (cough cough).   So I am therefore quite psyched that my gals are now entering the age of prime verbal silliness -- ...

This weekend, we went up to Maine to introduce the girls to their new cousin, Deklan, who has now attained the ripe old age of three and a half weeks. He's a cute little dude. On Saturday night, my brother and his wife went out for a few hours, and my mother, Alastair and I babysat for him. I was reminded of how simultaneously sweet, ...

After my recent post in which I goofily tried to set a new world record for the number of times the word "poop" ever appeared in a parenting blog, I feel rather ridiculous for giving bowel movements top billing in yet another installment of the ongoing parenting saga that is Baby Squared. But I must. Because we need your ...

For over a year now, I've read and been told that cooking / baking is a fun activity to do with toddlers. Yes, well, maybe I was doing something wrong, but the several attempts I made at this resulted in chaos, messes, and major intra-sibling brawls over whose turn it was to mix / pour / etc. And the girls didn't quite grasp the concept ...

We're trying to do more of this around the Baby Squared household, as a means of fending off the whacking, kicking, hair pulling, whining, shouting, pants-pooping and other nastiness that seems to have proliferated 'round these parts over the past month or so.   Partially as a result of the suggestion made by several fabulous ...

I don't know if it's the full moon, daylight savings, Halloween, or perhaps all three -- and maybe a molar coming in? -- but Clio has been having a rough time of things lately.   At the girls' preschool Halloween parade / show / party whatever thing last Thursday, she wouldn't wear her costume, started crying when her ...

When I was a little kid, my mother used to tell me "e-Jane" stories. "e-Jane" was the main character, and she had all sorts of e-ventures, wherein she encountered e-goats and e-elves, flew e-planes and climbed e-mountains, and engaged in other silly e-xploits. The "E" prefix wasn't because my ...

I have been yelling at my children lately, and I feel terrible about it. There are different kinds of yelling. There's yelling that's just sort of loud talking -- the kind when I'm trying to make myself heard over the yelling / crying / squabbling of two very spirited two-year-olds. But then there's *real* yelling, where my anger ...

I'm pleased and proud to announce that yesterday morning at 3:09 am, my brother's wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Deklan Patrick. He's my first nephew and the girls' first cousin. That is, the first cousin they've ever had. (Who also happens to be their first cousin.)   I'm all for cousins. I have seven ...