Tag: AAC

My sons’ media of the moment

A spinoff of an ongoing series

Yotos and Tonies. All day every day. Seriously great screen-free stories, learning, and music for the 5 year old, and something to hold and play with for the 18 month old. Great holiday gifts too for the parents/kids in your life.

Card games. The 5 year old has gotten big into Uno and enjoyed learning others like Old Maid and Slapjack. It’s been fun to watch his strategy evolve to the point where I don’t even have to consider letting him win since he wins plenty on his own.

Board games. While at the library a while back with the 5 year old, on a lark we sat down at their public chess board and I started teaching him the basics. He was hooked, so we got our own teaching set for home. Strategic thinking for chess has taken longer to develop but he’ll get there.

Books. The 18 month old’s current favorites: The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss, Find the Duck by Stephen Cartwright, Moimoi—Look At Me! by Jun Ichihara, and more. The 5 year old’s current favorites: the InvestiGators comics series, Pokémon character books, and a variety of library picture books.

The Wild Kratts theme song. Obviously we still watch the show itself often, since it’s usually the 5 year old’s pick for his limited screentime. But for some reason the 18 month old really loves the theme song, so when he gets upset while in the car (which is often), we’ll play a YouTube video that plays the song over and over again. Shoutout to whomever made that video!

December 6, 2024 Add Comment

Recent Views

More photography here.

Partly cloudy in the Windy City:

Feeling reflective at our park:

Fishing class with the five year old:

First time downtown with the lads:

Enjoying the hotel room balcony at Timber Ridge Lodge:

Burgundy boy blending in with the fallen leaves:

October 29, 2024 Add Comment

Recent Views

More photography here.

Shadow play:

The tunnel into Brookfield Zoo:

Garbage Day is appointment viewing:

Barking up the front yard tree:

Puddle hunting:

June 6, 2024 Add Comment

A birthday shadow

Today our youngest turned one year old. He and I are often outside together like in this picture because it’s what makes him feel better when he’s upset. Walking around while holding him will get tougher as he grows and begins to walk, so I’m trying my best to cherish these moments before he goes off to make shadows of his own.

Happy birthday, A!

May 19, 2024 Add Comment

My sons’ media of the moment

A spinoff of an ongoing series

Raffi. His greatest hits have been on heavy rotation as it seems to be the only music that calms down our 8 month old when he’s upset, which is often.

Hamster maze videos on YouTube. The 4 year old is delighted by these. Random but could be a lot worse.

Who Smarted? A fun and educational podcast for kids about all kinds of topics.

Toniebox. As audio players for kids go, we’ve hitherto been a hardcore Yoto family. But several characters the 4 year old loves are only available as Tonies (Wild Kratts among them), so he got several for Christmas. It’s nice to have more variety for listening, even if the overall experience is less ideal than Yoto.

Mr. Men and Little Miss. The 4 year old has been on a kick with this book series. We own an old copy of Little Miss Scatterbrain but we got more of them from the library and he just loves them. He especially loves looking at the grid of characters on the back covers and asking us what each of their names are.

February 2, 2024 Add Comment

2023 in review

See previous year in review posts.

My view from the end of all things 2023:

Here’s what this year looked like for me:

  • The overwhelming and overarching fact of my life this year was welcoming a second child in May. We’ve been living in the wake of that event ever since, for better (cuteness, brother silliness) or worse (his reflux and terrible sleep).
  • On the professional front:
    • In January my job got reduced to half time with a day’s notice, so…
    • I had to pick up a second, full-time job to stay afloat. Worked not-great hours between both jobs for about two months, until…
    • My original job went back to full time. However…
    • After that experience I started looking hard for different job, and…
    • Finally got one, which I started in June and am very happy at.
  • Enjoyed hangout times with friends and family
  • Saw a shooting star at one of said hangout times
  • Saw the Okee Dokee Brothers at Ravinia, and were first in line to get a vinyl signed and picture with the Bros
  • Lots of fun stuff with the 4 year old, including:
    • Raised butterflies
    • Played Super Mario
    • Pondered bathtime
    • Spotted bugs
    • Fostered curiosity
    • Took him mini golfing for the first time
    • Many visits to the children’s museum and local pools
    • Went to a carnival and did a spinny ride for the first time
    • Took him to his first minor league baseball game and on the way out one of the parking attendants gave him a foul ball that had been hit out of the stadium
  • Lots of fun stuff with Cinema Sugar:
  • Celebrated 17 years blogging, which included:
  • Did Halloween trick-or-treating in the snow with a fussy infant in tow but still managed to have a good time
  • Got an electronic adjustable desk for my home office so I can work standing up or sitting down
  • Read 15 books and watched 102 new movies
  • Watched some good TV (Quarterback and Emergency NYC on Netflix) and great TV (The Bear)
  • Added more quality discs to my collection, including the Back to the Future trilogy on Blu-ray, a Babylon SteelBook, and Criterion Blu-rays of Malcolm X, Summer Hours, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Sound of Metal

December 31, 2023 1 Comment