Camped out in Chitaqua

My daughter? She's great. She actually just played her first hockey game. The hockey gear was bigger than her but man Ilya and I were so proud. Wait, actually I have photos – gimme a sec.

Our son actually got the lead in the school play. Yeah Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer himself. I mean yeah, it's the nursery school play. No no, you have it right – he's just over two and a half. He beat out all the four-year-olds for the part though, crazy right? Wait, I have a video, I'll send it.

"He would hit his head all over again just to be alone in that quiet hospital room with those careful fingers and those concerned eyes."

Like, Shane and Ilya finally get their son to settle down for the night, and it's been a tough one with tantrums and excuses and lots of self-regulation from the dads.

And when Shane and Ilya collapse onto the sofa, exhausted, Ilya starts crying.

"He's just like me," he explains when Shane asks him what's wrong. "And even though sometimes he's difficult like tonight, it's so easy to love him. So why did my father make it sound like it would be some big punishment?"

And Shane's heart completely shatters and he pulls Ilya closer to him, holding him so tight in that way that soothes them both. And he presses a kiss to Ilya's curls, fighting back his own tears as he finds the right words.

"It wasn't ever a 'you' problem, baby. Never."

And for the first time ever, Ilya realises just how much he'd internalised that the childhood he got was his fault and how none of it was true. He was easy to love too. Even if his father just wouldn't.

A 22-month-old female scaredy cat tiger appeared to get the shock of her young life when she encountered a dead leaf floating on a pool of water in the Bandhavgarh National Park, India. Clearly unusure about just what was approaching her, the partially submerged youngster’s tail shot up in the air and with teeth bared she let out her most fearsome growl - all in an effort to scare the humble leaf away.

And Ilya is like "No I'm out for drinks with the guys. Did you not see that we won, Hollander?"

And Shane texts back like "Of course I saw, that's why I'm texting." Then a few seconds later: "Download this app right now. Be discreet." with an app store link. And Ilya texts back like '??? 🤨 Shane, have you been hacked?'

And Shane is like 'Just download the fucking app, asshole. This is your reward. Username is Jane2481. Fucking HURRY.'