Ian Week #8 Battle Report

We've reached 8 weeks!

Between work, Maia, and Ian these days, time is a surging torrent of molasses that prevents me from itemizing every single change that Ian has undergone. I'm looking forward to the mythical day some time in the future where the two of them will play together while I play 500 games of Hearthstone in a row. Until then, it's sufficent to say that all is well -- Ian continues to grow and has not shrunk, and everyone is still alive.

Review Day: Minecraft (Switch)

Minecraft is the ultimate "dig a hole on the beach" simulator and a perfect game for me to play with Maia now that we've completed Breath of the Wild. She can sit on the couch while I navigate and direct me to build things or explore the world. We don't really go into caves because she thinks I'm going to fall in all of the holes (I usually do), so I spend my evenings on Ian duty mining the ores needed to build all of the bunnies she wants (dad slave labour). Shown below are the Great Peeing Bird statue and Bunny Hill.

I last played Minecraft on the PC in late 2010, and it hasn't changed much. Getting started is as opaque as it once was. The interface and blocky graphics are the same. Crafting is much simpler as you can look things up in an in-game recipe book. The "killer feature" for me that pulled me back in was the ability to play on a big TV screen several feet away. In my waning days on PC, I was regularly getting migraine headaches from staring at the giant pixelated graphics up close. Now, I can pick it up for short bursts of creativity without worrying about ruining the rest of the day.

At the moment, this is a perfect game for my playing profile -- I can pick it up, make progress without much thought, and drop it when kid naps ends (or even play it with the kids). Someday I'll want another Overwatch but for now, this is a perfect outlet for the few brain cells I have left after the rest of life.

Final Grade: B

Ian Week #7 Battle Report

Ian has made it to 7 weeks and is somewhere over 12 pounds at the moment. Having his weekly milestone tied to a Sunday is very logistically convenient, because I can also remember to do other household chores based on multiples (deep clean the bathroom on week multiples of 4, wash the sheets on multiples of 3, etc.)

He is staying awake and alert much more now but still doesn't like being on his own for very long. He also has trouble with digestion and spends a lot of time grunting and whining about the air in his belly.

Just yesterday, he learned how to social smile!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

7:04 AM: Showered and ready for the day.

7:13 AM: Bagel for breakfast.

9:36 AM: Pancakes for second breakfast.

9:43 AM: Enjoying my pancakes.

10:15 AM: Time in the Enrichment Jungle.

10:53 AM: Reducing tank refill time from 6 minutes to 1 minute. "You did it!"

11:59 AM: Tammy spends the morning with us helping out.

2:43 PM: Family nap time after a delicious lunch from Blackfinn Ameripub.

4:47 PM: Afternoon Minecraft time.

5:36 PM: Not sure we can top this bird. Or this castle.

6:14 PM: Dinner of leftovers.

6:55 PM: Summer bugbites, bunnies, and flowers for the vase she made at summer camp.

Stuff in My Drawers Day

For comparison with Maia's house picture from Wednesday's post (drawn at 3 years 11 months), here is one I drew on my mom's birthday when I was 3 years 7 months old.