Diapers & Coffee • All Posts

2026-03-28T12:49:00Z

V’s been really into Frozen in recent months, and wants to be Elsa and shoot her ice powers everywhere all the time. I was at an open house in her classroom last week and one of the kids told his mom, “That’s V. She puts ice on us.”

2026-02-25T22:23:00Z

Between being married to a teacher and being the parent of a 4- and a 1-year-old, sometimes I think I am forever doomed to be picking up writing and coloring implements, like Sisyphus cursed to an eternity working a minimum-wage job at OfficeMax.

2026-02-07T12:39:00Z

V: “We have 20 o’clock until the dinosaur egg hatches!”

2025-12-07T14:45:00Z

V: “The oceans are going away. The bad guys are taking them.”

M: “Oh no. What are we going to do?”

V: “When P grows up and becomes a dad, he’s gonna eat the bad guys.”

2025-11-17T17:48:00Z

V: “It smells like a cup of coffee growing on a vine out here.”

2025-10-06T22:08:00Z

V: “I’m not a tough cookie; I’m a tough four-year-old!”

2025-08-29T20:18:00Z

When I posted this photo from several years back to Glass today, V saw it and asked, “Is that Moana 2?”

2025-08-12T11:44:00Z

2025-07-27T21:26:00Z

Every night:

V: “I want ‘Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens’, and then ‘Goat Herd’, and then ‘Sound of Music’ where the naaanny sings, and then Moana 2 music.”

S: “OK. Hey Siri, play V’s playlist.”

2025-07-03T16:08:00Z

In a rickshaw with traffic zipping and horns blaring all around us

V: “Why is India so loud?”

2025-06-28T17:01:00Z

S: “V, did you just squish your brother again?”

V: “No, I just used him as a step stool”

2025-06-19T12:20:00Z

V, after running into the back of my foot: “Ow! You hurt my bike wheel!”

2025-04-29T21:31:00Z

V: “I was getting sweaty.”

S: “You were getting sweaty?”

M: “From what?”

V: “From the moon.”

2025-04-13T14:01:00Z

“I call him little tiny cute monster ’cause he steals remotes.”

2025-04-13T09:57:00Z

V: “This bike has safety measures!”

M: “What safety measures are on your bike?”

V: pointing to the brake line “The safety measures are inside this cord.”

2025-04-12T17:34:00Z

(Discussing chocolate coins from the scavenger hunt at her brother’s birthday party.)

“Our treasure was coins. I ate all my coins. I was greedy for my coin treasures.”

2025-03-09T13:26:00Z

(After tripping and putting her hand in some very green bird poop)

V: “I landed in some bird broccoli.”

2025-01-04T21:06:00Z

I renamed the Roomba recently because V has been on a Moana kick and it seemed appropriate. It has made the notifications entertaining.

2025-01-03T19:00:00Z

V: “I’m a wayfinder!”

M: “Is your bike kind of like your boat?”

V: “No. Boats don’t have wheels. Bikes have wheels. So bikes are not like boats.”

2025-01-02T17:26:00Z

M: “So when are you going to be hungry?”

V: “I’m gonna be hungry in, like, 7 minutes.”

2024-12-26T18:06:00Z

V: “Are you making a castle?”

M: “Kind of. What would you think about me making you a castle?”

V: “I think it’s a little tricky, but very creative.”

2024-12-18T12:48:00Z

S: “I called it [lasagna] ‘basanya’ too when I was her age.”

V: “I call it ‘soup pizza!’”

2024-12-17T09:49:00Z

We’ve been making plans to go back to the US for the kids’ preschool years at least, to get them in English preschools and spend some time closer to the other side of the family. The recurring news of school shootings like yesterday’s is one of the main things that gives us pause.

I can try to reassure myself that millions of kids go to American schools every day without getting shot—but the fact that I have to is not OK.

2024-12-13T08:50:00Z

V: “Are you gonna take your purse?”

S: “I’m gonna take my black computer bag.”

V: “That’s definitely your purse.”

2024-12-08T22:16:00Z

V, tucking herself into a pile of duvets and blankets under the Christmas tree: “This is where I sleep now.”

2024-12-03T19:17:00Z

“We’re waiting outside the store if you can’t keep your mouth off the Christmas decorations.”

2024-11-16T20:35:00Z

S: “Put the dinosaurs back in the bin.”

V: “This is not a dinosaur.”

S: (Sigh) “OK, put the dinosaurs and the pterosaur back in the bin.”

2024-11-06T10:26:00Z

“Mommy, I just can’t wait for Daddy time when you go to your meeting!”

2024-10-05T18:48:00Z

V: “This helicopter doesn’t fly.”

S: “Why doesn’t it fly?”

V: “Because it’s a toy.”

S: “You got me there.”

2024-09-04T22:20:00Z

S: “Do I need to start taking things away?”

V: “I want you to take something away.”

S: “OK, let’s start with your hammock.”

V: (As I’m taking down the hammock) “Next time start with something else. Next time you should start with a toy.”

S: “Next time, think about it before saying you want me to take something away.”

V: “Next time I’ll tell you to take away my doll house, and then my hot dog truck…and then the last thing will be my hammock.”

S: “That’s not how this works.”

2024-08-29T20:09:00Z

M: “How much do you love your little brother?”

V: “I love him as fast as a velociraptor runs!”

2024-08-11T12:44:00Z

“I told Siri not to play the bad guy song. But the bad guy didn’t know why I told him not to sing. That was the funniest part—when the bad guy said, “I want to sing!” but I said “No.”

2024-08-10T18:33:00Z

V: “No, don’t shower.”

S: “Well I’m very sweaty and very dirty.”

V: “Oh, that sounds like a problem.”

2024-08-05T11:04:00Z

“I think the dinosaurs were eating ice cream and then it ran out, and that’s how they died.”

2024-08-04T15:16:00Z

“It’s sticking to my neck because I’m so sweaty. I’m like a stick of glue.”

2024-07-31T19:30:00Z

Running in circles around the restaurant: 🎵 “I’m almost a grown-up lion!” 🎶

2024-07-20T15:00:00Z

“I wonder if God was being silly putting salt in the water.”

2024-07-18T23:41:00Z

“If I have a pet mosquito, it will probably want to bite my bum. Then I’ll have to tell it, ‘No biting bums!’ … That’s the funny thing about having mosquitoes for pets.”

2024-07-14T19:31:00Z

S (to V): “You’re very sweaty”

M: “I know, she’s melting.”

V: “Kinda like ice cream!”

2024-07-13T13:31:00Z

(After counting to twelve)

“Do flowers come after twelve?”

2024-07-11T00:10:00Z

“The name of my dance is ‘T-Rex eats eggs.’”

2024-06-29T21:29:00Z

I called V to come put toppings on her pizza.

She responded, “OK, I can come because my dinosaurs are eating right now.”

Her dinosaurs:

2024-06-23T19:42:00Z

“I’m too full. The meat didn’t scoot over.”

2024-04-01T20:11:00Z

(V points to the floor at the fork she just dropped.)

V: “Meow”

M: “What are you asking for, V?”

V: “Meow”

M: “‘Meow’ doesn’t mean ‘please pick up my spoon.’”

V: “No it’s not a spoon. It’s a fork.”

M: “Oh sorry. I guess something was lost in translation.”

S: “Cats don’t use spoons or forks so the distinction is lost on them.”

V: “May I have my fork please?”

2024-04-01T19:30:00Z

“That dog woofs a lot. Every night and every day when I go out that dog is woofing. He’s nice but he’s a little woofy.”

2024-03-21T13:46:00Z

V: “I peed in my green dress. That’s why I changed.”

M: “You didn’t pee in your green dress; you spilled oatmeal on it.”

V: “No but—oatmeal is kind of like pee.”

2024-03-01T19:20:00Z

S: “Why are you eating your toe?”

V: “Because the food isn’t here yet.”

2024-02-21T23:17:00Z

V: “A cat hissed at me today.”

S: “Why did a cat hiss at you?”

V: “It just wanted some alone time.”

2024-02-20T08:29:00Z

S: “V, you really should go potty so you don’t have an accident.”

V: “In a second, OK?”

We’re raising a two-and-a-half-year-old teenager.

2024-02-17T16:58:00Z

(Holding her Spider-Man doll) “Spider-Man has baby bad guys in his tummy.”

That’s what we get for letting her watch me play Spider-Man while also expecting her baby brother.

2024-02-11T08:26:00Z

V: “Elsa doesn’t wear tights.”

M: “The cold doesn’t bother her anyway.”

V: …

M: “She has ice powers so she doesn’t need tights.”

V: “But how will I have ice powers if I wear tights?”

2024-02-04T19:56:00Z

“No, you don’t need a blanket! You have long sleeves!”

2024-01-27T22:25:00Z

M: “V, don’t squish the noodle with your foot.”

V: “I’m trying to pick it up with my toes.”

2024-01-26T09:28:00Z

Last night, reading the story of Jacob wrestling the stranger in the DK Children’s Everyday Bible:

As night fell, he prayed to God that his life might be spared and no harm would come to his family.

V, after the story: “Why is night falling?”

S: (skimming the story and realizing what she’s asking about) “Oh, that just means night came.”

V: “Why did night come and fall?”

V

2024-01-20T18:26:00Z

A couple years before I had a kid of my own, I saw Joanna Stern’s video about protecting your child’s privacy by refraining from sharing identifiable photos on social media. To have your photo publicly available on the internet—especially when explicitly identified as you—comes with all kinds of ramifications that warrant consideration, and I’ve come to believe that respecting someone’s right to privacy means getting clear consent before sharing a photo of them online. A young child is simply unable to comprehend the situation or give that consent.

So when Megan and I were expecting and we began thinking about how we would handle baby photos, I showed her this newly-relevant video. We agreed we wanted to keep photos of our daughter in which her face is clearly visible off the public web, at least until she is old enough to understand and agree to having her photo shared. Sharing photos with family and friends has been via group messages, emails, or a shared photo album on iCloud. Any photo I’ve shared of my daughter here (or on social sites like Glass) has had her face partially or completely obscured.

At the outset of this blog I also briefly wondered about openly naming her on a public website. At the time I decided it was probably alright—your name being on the web doesn’t come with as much baggage as photos. Many people I follow (with much larger audiences than mine) who are careful about photos of their kids readily refer to them by name on podcasts, blogs, or social media. But there are still others who go further and stick to initials or nicknames (like “Thing 1” and “Thing 2”) for their kids. Arguably, their right to privacy and consent extends even to keeping their name from being available and readily searchable on the internet. That thought has continued to turn over in my head since starting this blog, so I’ve decided to follow through on it and scrub my daughter’s name from the site. I’d used her first initial, “V”, in some posts, particularly ones documenting brief conversations; now I’ve replaced all instances of her full first name with that initial.

Maybe someday, she’ll want to have a prolific online presence, with her name, image, and/or voice all over the internet—but that’s for her to decide, not me.

2024-01-14T21:10:00Z

V (to Megan): “You always brush my teeth.”

M: “I brush your teeth when Daddy’s away.”

V: “I think Daddy’s gonna go on a date.”

M: “Who’s he gonna go on a date with if I’m brushing your teeth?”

V: “…Nick.”

2023-12-16T22:52:00Z

Bedtime can be an ordeal sometimes.

2023-11-10T23:39:00Z

While playing catch: “It’s like volleyball, but I don’t have kneepads. I have eyepatches!”

(She wasn’t even wearing her eyepatch at the time.)

2023-10-05T20:41:00Z

V, wagging her finger: “No more tickling! It’s bedtime.”

2023-10-02T23:30:00Z

“You have little pieces of beard peeking out of your mustache.”

2023-09-16T21:31:00Z

Trying to switch gears from the children’s encyclopedia to the Bible story book we read at bedtime:

“Which Bible story do you want to read?”

“Does it have an airplane one in it?”

2023-09-10T23:23:00Z

“I’m feeding you Spider-Man. He’s crunchy.”

2023-09-06T00:11:00Z

I quoted One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish during bedtime the other night: “Today is gone. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.”

V responded, “My book said, ‘Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.’ That was in my book.” It was her first “referenced acknowledged.” I’m so proud.

2023-09-04T14:55:00Z

V and I were about to cross the street from one grocery store to another when we passed a driveway where there were some workers cutting some metal or something. It was loud and sparks were flying. They were a safe distance away, but as I looked away for a moment V tripped and reached up to me to pick her up. It took me a second to realize that the tears weren’t only in reaction to the fall but to what the workers were doing.

I carried her across the street, and as I opened the store door she asked, “Shall we hide from the little pieces of fire?”

2023-08-23T08:00:00Z

Post by @splunsford

View on Threads

Cameron Roth on Threads:

My 3 year old is throwing a tantrum in bed because “I forgot how to sleep”

My response:

Our 2-year-old’s new thing is “I can’t walk. My legs don’t work.”

2023-05-30T23:49:00Z

Megan: “V, are you poopy?”

V: “No.”

I start checking her diaper.

V: “Daddy no check diaper.”

M: “What will Daddy find if he checks your diaper?”

V: “…poop.”

rebeccapurple

2023-05-23T13:13:00Z

I came across this almost-nine-year-old post yesterday, linked to from an innocuous article about CSS color formats. It’s a response to the proposal that a named color be added to the CSS spec as a tribute to the writer’s daughter.

This morning that tab was still open, and I clicked through to the Rebecca category on his blog and started reading through the archive of posts he’s written in the years since. I fell apart almost immediately. I couldn’t help but see the face of my little girl as I read the words of another dad who’d lost his on her sixth birthday.

I can’t begin to imagine what it would feel like if something happened to my daughter—the unspeakable pain that Eric and Kathryn Meyer have lived through. It’s the pain foreshadowed by Hamilton and Burr singing “I’ll make the world safe and sound for you” to children they would each lose in their lifetimes (spoilers for American history). I hope Megan and I never have to live through that, but in a world where the unthinkable happens far too often, it’s a specter that’s never far enough away.

When I set up Diapers & Coffee I used a template as a starting point and just left the colors as they were, including whatever shade of purple it used for links on hover. It seemed appropriate—for this blog especially—to update my CSS and make it rebeccapurple.

2023-05-11T22:37:00Z

Me, while brushing teeth: “Please put your tongue away so I can get to your teeth.”

2023-04-25T20:52:00Z

We just got an expansion set to add to our wooden train tracks collection—not because V was feeling a lack of train tracks, but because her dad, the engineer, was running out of layouts to build with the pieces we had.

2023-04-02T21:28:00Z

“V, do you need to go potty?”

“No.”

“Well, you should probably try.”

…

“I sound like my dad.”

2023-03-21T23:36:00Z

I got curly fries with lunch today. It was nice to get them without having to worry about a toddler wanting my fries and refusing to eat her own food—even if it’s something she’d really like if it weren’t competing with fries. I never used to have to worry about that.

2023-03-20T00:29:00Z

We made grilled cheese and tomato soup the other day. V also asked for some frozen berries, and then she asked for some apple juice. Before long she was dipping blackberries in her tomato soup and mixing tomato soup into her apple juice. By the end of the meal it was one big bowl of tomato-apple-blackberry soup.

2023-02-20T00:29:00Z

I was just sitting in V’s room, holding her in my arms until she fell asleep and I tucked her into bed. I started thinking about wanting to cherish these moments. I’ve so enjoyed watching her grow, and learn, and interact; and I look forward to seeing her learn to do new things and express herself in new ways. I look forward to all the things we’ll do together—but I want to appreciate these moments now, while I have them: when she still fits in my arms (if barely) and falls asleep on my chest.

Diapers and Coffee

2023-02-19T17:53:00Z

I was making coffee in our upstairs kitchenette for brunch one Saturday. The dryer was running, full of a load of cloth diapers. I had already made a comment about it smelling like diapers in here, and now my wife came back up the stairs and said, “Now it smells like diapers and coffee in here.”

“Diapers and Coffee sounds like the name of a parenting podcast.”

Well, here we are. Not a podcast—at least not yet—but it was too good a name (and diapers.coffee was too good a domain) to pass up.