Hiking to a New Life (Chapter 40 posted 5-6-24)

[Kat5]

20 minutes ago, christi said:

Good addition, thanks for sharing.  🙂

Thank you very kindly! I still haven't made a recovery of sorts. But I managed to get a chapter put together. Plus I thought it was too cute not to work on when I'm able to use my laptop every here and there.

[Kat5]

30 minutes ago, Bingoh said:

Amanda saying he has to be grateful bc she didn't wipe his mind at first sight?

Please remember that all Amanda has known her entire life is Amazonian society, and all of the "normal" that comes with. She is not a typical Amazon. But she is absolutely still an Amazon. 

(Plus, part of the whole idea of the story is to show a growing/developing relationship from two points of view.)

 

Edit: I still maintain that the Diaper Dimension looks like a fantastic flight of fancy... until you peek under the table cloth to see what's holding it up. Then you see how scary it would be for someone our height.

[SGTbaby]

Very sweet and loving. I am glad glad Mike is coming back. Definitely going to add to some mischievousness. Looking forward to it!!

[Guilend]

Very good chapter. I love the different interactions.

[CDfm]

On 12/24/2023 at 9:37 AM, Kat5 said:

It might take a week or two before I can use my laptop again. Need a surgery. I'll get back to posting as soon as I'm able to, because it turns out that sharing this story has been great fun.

I am not entirely sure if this is you or the laptop needing a surgery.  I will just hope it’s the laptop needing some work.  However, to be safe I will also wish you a successful surgery and speedy recovery. 
The story is awesome.  I am really enjoying it. They say that the road to a man’s heart runs through his stomach. Apparently Amanda has heard the same thing.  I am glad to see Mike involved with John and Amanda more as the story goes on.  
I am always ready to read more but totally understand you needing time to get everything right with you first.  I will gladly wait and appreciate anything that comes. 

[Kat5]

2 hours ago, CDfm said:

I am not entirely sure if this is you or the laptop needing a surgery.

I had a surgery. Good news is that it went well but recovery is going to take ... a bit longer than I had thought.

I try not to overshare on the internet, but maybe let me admit that I've been operating with not ... functional eyeballs.

[CDfm]

16 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

I had a surgery. Good news is that it went well but recovery is going to take ... a bit longer than I had thought.

I try not to overshare on the internet, but maybe let me admit that I've been operating with not ... functional eyeballs.

I am glad to hear it went well for you.  I will keep you in my thoughts for a complete and speedy recovery. 

[babygamerboy]

18 hours ago, Kat5 said:

Please remember that all Amanda has known her entire life is Amazonian society, and all of the "normal" that comes with. She is not a typical Amazon. But she is absolutely still an Amazon. 

(Plus, part of the whole idea of the story is to show a growing/developing relationship from two points of view.)

 

Edit: I still maintain that the Diaper Dimension looks like a fantastic flight of fancy... until you peek under the table cloth to see what's holding it up. Then you see how scary it would be for someone our height.

I agree. Plus Diaper Dimension should be that, as though they're trying to "help". The help amazons/bigs offer and enforce can be worse than death to some littles. So while some people are ease in and not worry about their brain being scrambled or had their gender changed by their new "caretaker" like John. We have seen that not everyone is given such of a luxury like when saw all kidnapped/newly adopted littles while Amanda was getting the adoption papers done and all.

Plus doubt that time will be the last time John runs into such littles and bigs, he was having panic attacks just seeing what was happening to them. Hell he had some from just trying the little changing table and crib. What happens when he sees more of the "crueler/stricter" parents and how the handle their forever babies? Also since we know with how green Amanda is with caring for littles. She might get some bad advice from another "caretaker". Especially on things that might need a more immediate action. Which would be funny to see how our "little hero" handles it.

From panic attacks that causes a "fight or flight" response causing him to run off. To more embarrassing reactions during a public diaper change. Especially if Amanda isn't careful. As we know some "little" products though they look the same, aren't for babies but for littles. So an innocent buy on Amanda part can end up cause some uncomfortable feelings and reactions from John part, and we have seen and heard that the bigs have a set view on how people are supposed to act and especially how "adopted littles" are supposed to act, and we know John might not like their views on that. So can't wait to see when we reach that point and the actions of everyone involved.

Like I mention before. When done right, those peaks behind the curtain of the so called "fantastic flight of fancy" can be great little shocks about how bad their world can be. Though I am sure plenty of people here would love to take their place.... At first. Not everyone would get an Amanda now. Some might get the ones John and Amanda were sitting next to and themselves more of a baby doll than a person, and from how the director was acting. Even if she didn't like most of those parents. I have a feeling that man captured and made into a sissy baby/baby girl didn't get out of his new parents custody.

[Kat5]

4 minutes ago, babygamerboy said:

I agree. Plus Diaper Dimension should be that, as though they're trying to "help". The help amazons/bigs offer and enforce can be worse than death to some littles. So while some people are ease in and not worry about their brain being scrambled or had their gender changed by their new "caretaker" like John. We have seen that not everyone is given such of a luxury like when saw all kidnapped/newly adopted littles while Amanda was getting the adoption papers done and all.

Plus doubt that time will be the last time John runs into such littles and bigs, he was having panic attacks just seeing what was happening to them. Hell he had some from just trying the little changing table and crib. What happens when he sees more of the "crueler/stricter" parents and how the handle their forever babies? Also since we know with how green Amanda is with caring for littles. She might get some bad advice from another "caretaker". Especially on things that might need a more immediate action. Which would be funny to see how our "little hero" handles it.

From panic attacks that causes a "fight or flight" response causing him to run off. To more embarrassing reactions during a public diaper change. Especially if Amanda isn't careful. As we know some "little" products though they look the same, aren't for babies but for littles. So an innocent buy on Amanda part can end up cause some uncomfortable feelings and reactions from John part, and we have seen and heard that the bigs have a set view on how people are supposed to act and especially how "adopted littles" are supposed to act, and we know John might not like their views on that. So can't wait to see when we reach that point and the actions of everyone involved.

Like I mention before. When done right, those peaks behind the curtain of the so called "fantastic flight of fancy" can be great little shocks about how bad their world can be. Though I am sure plenty of people here would love to take their place.... At first. Not everyone would get an Amanda now. Some might get the ones John and Amanda were sitting next to and themselves more of a baby doll than a person, and from how the director was acting. Even if she didn't like most of those parents. I have a feeling that man captured and made into a sissy baby/baby girl didn't get out of his new parents custody.

Wow. You just summarized all of the major points perfectly and succinctly. 

I'm the author of the story and I couldn't have summed it up that well!

All I can do to show my gratitude is to have you pick a name of a stuffy that shows up in a few chapters. (Not that it's related to any plot points, or that I have a lost of plot points for 40ish chapters)

DM me if you want (I don't know how to do it, only respond) and I'll tell you what you're naming.

[christi]

<grinning>  Littles REVOLT!  Find a way to hamstring the Amazons!!!  Run away.  Help your poor downtrodden little friends to escape!  SUICIDE if you must!  But throw off the chains of your oppressors!!!

 

 

[Kat5]

3 hours ago, christi said:

hamstring the Amazons!!! 

But Amanda gets a pass because Xerxes loves her. I always trust a dog's judgement.

[christi]

I've certainly heard it said a lot that animals are good judge of character / people.  Now that you brought it up, I wonder if there's any fact to base that on?  Huh...  Off to search.......

[Kat5]

Okay. Here it is. The beginning of the adult content that some of you have seemed curious about. Obviously more and more of these sorts of situations will exist in the future, because that's just human nature.

 

Chapter Twenty Five

 

John stood stark naked watching over the side of the tub as Amanda leaned and fiddled with the knobs to try to keep the pressure from the shower head low enough that she felt comfortable letting him stand underneath it.

 

He was still a bit embarrassed about being naked in the presence of a ten foot some of giant woman, but after a couple dozen diaper changes and a few baths that included scrubbing of … places, and one that turned into an interesting science demonstration (that he sort of understood) he felt that he might be getting a bit more used to it. Begrudgingly.

 

Finally content with the water pressure and temperature, Amanda looked down at him. He felt himself blushing under her gaze. Maybe he wasn’t that used to it yet. But he was certain that he didn’t get a choice in it either way.

 

“Okay.” she said as she picked him up and swung him over “Let’s see how this works out.”

 

He felt himself lowered into the tub and stood there outside of the spray of water.

 

“Go ahead and step into the water and see if that's okay.” He could hear the caution in her voice.

 

So just in case, he held his hand in the stream of water. He immediately stepped into it and let it run down over him. It was a honestly on the verge of being too strong to be comfortable. But it was his first shower in a while so he sighed in relief.

 

“I take it that you like it?” he heard from his left.

 

“Ohhhh yeah. Can it be just a tiny bit warmer, please?” was all he could say.

 

With a slight adjustment he felt the water start to warm up just right.

 

“Ahhhh. Blissful shower, how I missed thee.”

 

While he stood there enjoying the hot water running down him like a comforting embrace, he didn’t even notice Amanda get some shampoo in her hands until she started scrubbing his head. It felt really good so he didn’t bother to open his eyes.

 

There was some grumbling to his left and he heard some shuffling around, but he contented himself to rinsing the shampoo out of his hair unaided.

 

When a hand tapped him on the arm and he heard the word “Lift” he turned to look at Amanda. It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at before he started blushing.

 

Amanda arms and chest were wet from the shower, and she'd needed to take off her shirt. So she was towering over him and leaning down in just a bra. He turned away from her and held up his arms for her to scrub him.

 

As she scrubbed his body she turned him around and scrubbed all over, oblivious to the fact that he was getting a face full of boobs. That was definitely not helping a growing problem that he’d been developing over the past several days. He swallowed hard when she bent over to get his legs, putting her chest in his face.

 

It was starting to sink in that she thought of him as a little, not as a grown man.

 

When she was done scrubbing him to her satisfaction, he interrupted her “Umm… Amanda?”

 

With a smile she answered “Yes Sweety?”

 

Clearing his throat, he asked “May I have a ten minutes alone?”

 

“What in the world for?” came the question with one of her eyebrows raised.

 

And then her eyes tracked down lower on his body.

 

“Oh!”

 

John cleared his throat “Ten minutes?”

 

“Umm… yeah … you uhhh… I’ll give you five.” she said as she stood up.

 

“Just … leave the bar of soap.” he pointed as she got up.

 

The bar of soap was left on the rim of the bath tub and as she went for the door she said “Five minutes, or call if you need me for … other things”

 

And just like that for the first time in what seemed like forever, at least a weeks worth of hours or more, he was left alone. He spent several moments staring at the door in bewilderment. That was awkward.

 

After thirty seconds or so had passed he realized that he didn’t have much time. Thinking fast he used the bar of soap to lather his hands up a whole lot and, awkwardly at first, got to work.

 

He finished what he needed to handle with what he figured was a few seconds to spare. All of the embarrassing evidence sorted itself out down the drain. He didn’t know if she was serious about that five minutes to the second, but he wasn’t about to push his luck. And so a few moments later the door cracked open, but only slightly.

 

“Are you done?” Amanda asked cautiously.

 

“Uhh… yeah, I’m done.” was all he could really say.

 

Slowly the door opened, and she came back over and knelt by the bath tub. Still shirtless, she went right back to business by using the conditioner on his hair.

 

As she was filling up a cup and rinsing him off extra thoroughly he tried to speak.

 

“I’m sorry ab…” He started before she held up a hand.

 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s natural, and honestly something you need to do. I should probably ask how often you used to do that before you came here, so we can … plan accordingly.”

 

Now he was blushing again as he tried to think of what to say. And since he couldn’t think of a good answer, he did the only thing he could think of.

 

“About once a week. Sometimes … more.” John lied, and he lied hard.

 

With a nod Amanda agreed “Okay, we can do this once a week. There may also be some other ways to settle this, we’ll just have to figure it out as a family. I can even ask the research group if you want me to?”

 

Aghast, John exclaimed ”No!” before clearing his throat and answering more calmly “I mean no thank you. That’s not necessary.”

 

With a nod and a gentle smile she turned off the water and reached into the tub with a towel to wrap him up and lift him out. He was placed on the bath mat and scrubbed vigorously dry with the towel.

 

When she was done, she pointed to the toilet and asked “Do you want to try the potty?”

 

With a nod to her he was immediately lifted up. After everything he had been through he somehow still had a shy bladder. It took until she was about to give up for him to get some pee to come out. She wiped him with some toilet paper before picking him up and wrapping him back in a towel.

 

She paused at the sink long enough to sit him on the edge of it and brush his teeth. He was never offered the tooth brush, but with the awkward moment so close behind him, it seemed like she was just in a hurry to move along out of the room without it being awkward for either of them. And honestly he was grateful for that, so he did his best to cooperate and help speed it along.

 

With an affectionate kiss on the forehead she carried him out of the room and over to the changing table, thankfully without mentioning the previous incident any further.

 

He didn’t even complain or comment as the bar flopped over him and the wrist bands went around his wrists. And within a minute he was taped up into one of the seemingly ridiculous overnight diapers.

 

Just then her phone buzzed in her pocket and she looked confused as she pulled it out. She looked at the message on the screen and then her eyes went immediately up to stare at the wrist band locked onto his left wrist.

 

“What?” was all that John could mumble out, confused and trapped on the changing table as he was.

 

Amanda shook her head and assured him as she put her phone away “Nothing is the matter. Now what would you like to wear to bed? A onesie or just a shirt?”

 

As she bumped the table and freed his wrists, he answered “I guess … can I wear one of those big baggy shirts?”

 

With a kiss on the forehead she answered with a “You look adorable in them, so you absolutely may!”

 

And with that she carried him out of the room. One of them was wearing pants. Neither of them were wearing a shirt. With a glance across the room he could see that while she had left him alone she had closed all the blinds and curtains.

 

They were in Amanda's bedroom for less than a minute before he was in a light blue baggy shirt that went down to his calves. Looking down he started to second guess his decision, but it honestly seemed way too late to change his mind now.

 

And before he knew it he was on the living room floor while Amanda was walking away toward the laundry room. Taking the chance to try to stand up, he struggled and stood bow legged with the giant overnight diaper between his thighs for almost an entire minute before flopping back onto his rump.

 

Frustrated, he tried to crawl and immediately his choice of shirt came back to haunt him by getting under his knees. Now defeated he settled for just sitting back up and pulling his shirt out from under him.

 

He didn’t have long to wait before Amanda came back into the room with an arm load of things. She had Rupert, his stuffie shaped like a black dog. She had a paci in one hand. And she had a fresh warm blanket out of the dryer draped over her arm.

 

He must have looked up at her quizzically, because she smiled down at him “It’s time for snuggles before bed time.”

 

And just like that he was scooped up and carried over to the rocking chair. She leaned back and propped her feet up, then rested him against her warm chest. He didn’t even look a his lips were poked with a pacifier. He simply opened his mouth almost out of habit and in it went. He didn’t suck on it or anything, just let it stay there. Then Rupert was put in his arms and he was told “Hold.” So he took Rupert.

 

And finally a good smelling warm blanket was pulled over him, pinning him against a large soft chest. As she slid him up with his head resting against her breast he felt himself surrounded by softness and warmth.

 

With a smile behind his pacy, he mumbled “I couwd get uthed to thith”

 

He only realized he said it out loud when he heard a question from above him “What was that?”

 

He looked up and pulled the pacy out of his mouth to answer “It was nothing, I was just mumbling to myself”

 

Amanda took his hand holding the pacy with her thumb and forefinger and gently guided it back into his mouth. Then she simply shimmied around into a comfortable spot and began to gently stroke his back. John had no way of knowing about doctors and/or child psychiatrist instructions to condition him to relax and make associations with things that would calm him down.

 

All John needed to know is that he was enveloped in warmth and had a head on a giant chest. He could hear her heartbeat against his ear. Without any frame of reference, he had no way of knowing how long he had been there in his warm and loving cocoon.

 

But eventually he must have either started to doze off or he had simply zoned out. He surprised when Amanda started to move a bit underneath him.

 

She whispered to him “Would you like your milk cold like usual, or would you like to try it warm tonight?”

 

Without even having to give it a moments thought, he knew immediately that warm would go well with his happy little cocoon he had going on.

 

“Warm, please.” was all that he said.

 

He could feel her taking a few steadying breaths underneath his head, as though she were working herself up to something.

 

The last thing he expected was for her to reach up and work a bra strap down to her elbow, pulling a bra cup out of the way. He found himself staring at a nipple.

 

Suddenly he was a lot more awake. Still in a daze, but definitely no longer on the precipice of sleep. He looked up at her and then down at the nipple. She helped him by reaching down and pulling the pacifier out of his mouth and then using a finger to guide his head toward the nipple.

 

“Uhhh…” he felt really confused about this situation. On one hand … I mean it was right there. This was, in a way, the metaphorical mother load. But on the other hand it was also suddenly a less metaphorical mother load.

 

He didn’t look away from the nipple inches from his face, but he could feel her scratching his scalp gently as she whispered “This is where you get milk from. Take your time, but this really has to happen. For both of us.”

 

As the nipple bumped his lips he habitually opened his mouth just like he had for the pacy. And in the nipple went. And he didn’t suck on it or anything, he just stayed there in place frozen with confusion.

 

Trying to look up, he couldn’t really see her face, so he settled for asking around the nipple in his mouth.

 

“Why awe we doing thith?” was as clear as he could ask it.

 

And slowly, patiently, Amanda explained “When an Amazonian woman spends time around a little, she starts to produce breast milk. And honestly the pressure is painful. I really need them emptied. The good news for you that it’s the most nutritious meal you’ll have in your entire life.”

 

John just sort of numbly nodded with a mouth full of nipple. By now he was salivating as a result of having something in his mouth so he swallowed. And when he swallowed he got a little squirt of milk.

 

It tasted familiar, to say the least. It tasted like what he’d been having in the bottle, but being fresh it seemed ten times better. It was warm. It was rich. And the flavor was mind blowing. It was like milk and honey and sugar all just mixed up together. Genuinely, it was too good to process all at once.

 

He couldn’t even stop himself as he started to nurse. Every part of his brain said that he wanted more of it, and he wanted more of it now. Kind of awkwardly at first, but with just a few moments he had a rhythm and was getting a mouthful of milk just as fast as he could swallow.

 

He didn’t even realize he’d stopped getting milk out until she had to put a finger against his mouth to break the suction and he was only free of the nipple for a second before he had already been shuffled over to the other side and another one, already dripping with milk, was put against his mouth.

 

The last sensations he could process was being bundled up in a blanket while he nursed, with his arms around his stuffie. As he felt himself getting full, the world started to fade away. He never even knew he fell asleep.

 

 

…..

 

 

Slowly, and very groggily, John opened his eyes. It was a little dark in his room. His arms and legs were wrapped around something bigger than he was. So he squeezed it experimentally, finding that that it gave way under his grip.

 

Stubbornly pushing himself sitting upright, he found that he had a pacifier in his mouth. So he let it fall out and looked over at the large thing next to him.

 

It was a pillow. It was longer than he was tall, but it was absolutely a pillow. So he did the first thing that came to his mind.

 

He raised himself up onto all fours and climbed on top of the pillow. And there he sunk into it like he was laying on a fluffy cloud.

 

And with a great big stretch with all of his limbs he scratched his scalp and one of his legs for a moment before drifting off to sleep.

 

As he drifted off, it was like he’d had a very unusual dream.

[Guilend]

5 hours ago, Kat5 said:

raised himself up onto all fours and climbed on top of the pillow. And there he sunk into it like he was laying on a fluffy cloud.

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one that wishes he had a big enough pillow to actually do this lol.

[Kat5]

28 minutes ago, Guilend said:

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only one that wishes he had a big enough pillow to actually do this lol.

Not at all! Imagine a big fluffy pillow and a fluffy knitted throw blanket in the corner of the living room for when you want to just randomly turn off the lights and flop into it for a spontaneous nap.

[babygamerboy]

13 hours ago, Kat5 said:

Not at all! Imagine a big fluffy pillow and a fluffy knitted throw blanket in the corner of the living room for when you want to just randomly turn off the lights and flop into it for a spontaneous nap.

Just got a new mattress for myself for Christmas, and it just like that. Been loving it every night. Also love the awkward scene when it took Amanda till she saw Mr.Winkly up and fussy to figure out his problem. Could see her check online for some helpful solutions and pick some troll items and makes things embarrassing awkward at times.

[CDfm]

Wonderful chapter.  I thought you handled the need for relief for John very tastefully. I honestly wasn’t expecting Amanda to also introduce the breastfeeding right after that though.  I guess it was pretty apparent to John that Amanda didn’t consider him in any sort of a sexual way so he wouldn’t get things confused when she removed her bra. 
I continue to really enjoy the story and looking forward to seeing more. 

[SGTbaby]

I love the sweetness towards the end of the chapter. The shower scene was handled awesome by Amanda and I feel like that text was from the research group…lol.great job!

[christi]

Good chapter. I keep thinking about myself in John's position which means you're doing a really good job pulling me in.  Thanks for sharing.

[Kat5]

12 hours ago, SGTbaby said:

I feel like that text was from the research group

That's not going to be an awkward conversation at all!

2 hours ago, christi said:

which means you're doing a really good job pulling me in.

This is honestly the biggest compliment I could ever hope for!

[Guilend]

Why did she ask him about needing help or advice with taking care of his sexual release? He's been taking care of it himself for years. Does she think he really shouldn't be touching himself, does she want to take away his sex drive, what's going through her mind, like she sees him as a child young enough to be in diapers and treated like a baby yet she didn't bat an eye at leaving him in the shower alone so he could touch himself. Which in the shower I can tell you, can be a bit dangerous, unless you have a slip resistant mat at the bottom to stand on lol.

[Kat5]

14 hours ago, CDfm said:

Amanda didn’t consider him in any sort of a sexual way

I mean ... he's a little. To her that would be beyond immoral to consider for even a moment

5 minutes ago, Guilend said:

Why did she ask him about needing help or advice with taking care of his sexual release?

I think maybe we have a difference in life experience here. When she offered to help with 'other things' she was referring to anything but that specific thing. Momma's know what their boys are doing, but they would greatly prefer if they did it in private. We don't want to walk in on our children doing *that*

[Guilend]

13 minutes ago, Kat5 said:

think maybe we have a difference in life experience here. When she offered to help with 'other things' she was referring to anything but that specific thing. Momma's know what their boys are doing, but they would greatly prefer if they did it in private. We don't want to walk in on our children doing *that*

Yeah, I get that, but given that she and other Amazons decided to adopt Littles, then barely give them privacy, even using baby monitors, her seeing it or hearing it is bound to happen. As teenagers, usually we have enough privacy to handle it. Usually in the shower or when we first wake up in bed, but he doesn't shower himself and he has a baby monitor in his room so there's no privacy for him to take care of it without her seeing/hearing it. So she should start getting used to it. Unless she starts giving him more privacy and him possibly hurting himself in that time or they need to talk about it and come up with a way for him to tell her what he needs so she can give him that privacy, or just get used to seeing or hearing it lol. A man will do many things to get relief, some could be questionable lol, and in this dimension he could put himself in danger to try to get that privacy if they don't discuss it.

[Kat5]

36 minutes ago, Guilend said:

or they need to talk about it

Communication is very important! Let us see how they get through this together.

[babygamerboy]

58 minutes ago, Guilend said:

Yeah, I get that, but given that she and other Amazons decided to adopt Littles, then barely give them privacy, even using baby monitors, her seeing it or hearing it is bound to happen. As teenagers, usually we have enough privacy to handle it. Usually in the shower or when we first wake up in bed, but he doesn't shower himself and he has a baby monitor in his room so there's no privacy for him to take care of it without her seeing/hearing it. So she should start getting used to it. Unless she starts giving him more privacy and him possibly hurting himself in that time or they need to talk about it and come up with a way for him to tell her what he needs so she can give him that privacy, or just get used to seeing or hearing it lol. A man will do many things to get relief, some could be questionable lol, and in this dimension he could put himself in danger to try to get that privacy if they don't discuss it.

Were we all understand that all adults, even littles have urges they need to take care of. Some big might give them the privacy to do such things. Others might think littles shouldn't be doing such things and find way to keep them "innocent". So they might use stuff to keep their noodle soft and tuck into their diapers without much relief. Or might have something they put or use on their "forever charge" in to deal with that, hell they might find their "O-face" adorable or feel a big should relieve all their little issues. So they the ones solving the problem.

Got to remember, some of these "caretakers" aren't the "wholesome parents" they would like to show themselves as. As I think, being a "forever-a-parent" give them a bit of a pass on being the "most matured adult possible." The classic, doing goofy things with their kids and no one bats an eye. Maybe some will find  that "cute and mature" playing with their little like so. Plus let's be honest most tend to treat littles like babies till they realize even if they are as small as their babies. They not really babies and toddlers now.