#toastbaba

[rosegardeninwinter]

First time dad Peeta headcanons? 🥺 He’s the kind of guy who dreams of being a dad, so I can totally see him waking up at night to feed the baby, or insisting on changing the diapers of his baby girl while Katniss takes a nap. Enthusiastically making soft baby food. Crying along with Katniss when the baby is wailing because she’s teething.

I just 😩♥️

Just in time for Father’s Day 🥺

Peeta as a Papa is a concept that brings me to my knees ...

Like we think a lot about Mama Katniss but ... Papa Peeta 😭

This boy who suffered so much and lost so much, building a family with the girl he’s loved so long ... it gets me

He’s not a boy now of course, though: he’s a man, and he’s a father, from the moment the pregnancy test comes back positive and from the moment he catches his tiny, squealing infant of a daughter in his hands and holds her to his heart, her teeny fingers curling around his thumb

He’s frightened at first, despite his joy, wondering what if he messes this up?

Katniss assures him he won’t

And he throws himself wholeheartedly into being the best Papa to his little girl

Mostly because they’re a little concerned about any nightmare induced thrashing, they place the baby in a cradle beside their bed, soft with bunting, and they are both probably too quick to respond to the barest hint of movement or sound at first

But they learn to take it easier after a while

Katniss does her best not to wake her husband when she’s feeding their baby, but he often stirs anyway, and keeps her company, dozing against her shoulder and patting their baby’s bloomer clad bottom to soothe her

It goes without saying that Katniss breastfeeding sends her husband

You can be sure when his little girl cries he does not hesitate a second to scoop her up and cradle her close, rocking and bouncing and singing to her

Their daughter loves her Papa and feels so safe in his warm arms

He helps Katniss with the baby’s diapers and with laundry when she spits up or has other accidents

They both baby wear I don’t make the rules except I do and the rules say I need Papa Peeta Mellark with a baby strapped to his chest or back as he makes dough

Or the baby in a wicker basket on the kitchen table as he prepares dinner for when Mama gets back from foraging

They absolutely make homemade baby food

And Peeta helps with baby bottles ... him rocking his baby girl as she suckles on the bottle and makes those tiny baby grunts

He does that little thing where he pretends to eat her cheeks or her tummy just to hear her excitable, bubbling baby giggles

They’re both so stressed when the baby is teething and they try everything to calm her (cold teething rings, a whiskey dipped pacifier) because seeing their precious lamb in pain is just a lot to handle

He reads with his baby girl ... imagine her sitting on his lap and her chubby fingers turning the pages importantly even though he hasn’t finished reading it

He bathes his baby girl (sink baths when she’s a tiny wee infant! Katniss holding her while Peeta scoops warm water over her head and teeny little body!) and his heart melts at her blue eyes watching the soap suds in awe

He dresses her too! And does all the baby creams and powders ... he is a fastidious Papa

They pick flowers together and she baby babbles with great enthusiasm as she hands him buds that have been squashed by her eager hands

When when she and Katniss sit at the screen door to watch Peeta come up the path home, their baby shrieks with joy and bounces up and down in her Mama’s arms and bats at the screen

When she starts crawling she knows how to find her Papa and is nearly always underfoot or hauling herself up on the couch to flop into Papa’s lap

Them teaching her how to walk and her stumbling into her Papa’s arms and him sweeping her up and over his head to coo praises and then cuddle her up for kisses

Katniss finding them napping together on the rug in the (painted by Peeta of course) nursery, the baby’s thumb in her mouth and her little nose pink and her long eyelashes just like her Papa’s as they curl together in a patch of sunshine with Peeta’s hand on his baby’s back and the baby’s small hand absently twirling her Papa’s hair ... and Katniss wanting to cry because here is her dream come true: Peeta and his child ... safe

There’s so many more but I have to go cry excuse me 😭♥️

[rosegardeninwinter]

I need something soft... 🥺

@paintedpeeta could chime in, too, maybe?

*Mrs. Doubtfire voice* help is on the way, dear! help is on the way!

four soft images for you, to begin, and perhaps @paintedpeeta can add (and perhaps I’ll then add even more ☺️)

Peeta and his two year old daughter playing hide and seek, and he knows she’s hiding in the laundry Katniss is sorting in the living because he can see her blue eyes peeking out from underneath the sweaters and sundresses and he can hear her giggling

Katniss and her son playing in the rain and mud puddles in bare feet, making big splashes and laughing, Katniss sweeping her rosy boy up and gobbling his cheeks, despite the downpour

Katniss and her daughter making hot chocolate for themselves and for Papa, Katniss holding her daughter up so she can stir the mugs and drop marshmallows (a treat sent from far away) into the yummy treat

Peeta and his son tending to the garden, Peeta showing the outdoorsy little boy which flowers need special care and which ones are weeds that need pulling, and the both of them gathering bunches of yellow wildflowers to bring to Mama and sister

[rosegardeninwinter]

*runs in my pink ugg boots*

Hello, ma’am, good evening 🥳.

Something we never discuss :

How do you think Everlark treat their babies differently? Like does Katniss teach her daughter to hunt because she sees herself in her first born? Or does she see Peeta in her son and want to take care of him the way Peeta never was? Etc and so on and ya get the point 😂😂😂

*pulls up a chair and crosses my legs, my neon green crocs on full display*

In my mind (and this is pure conjecture), their son is totally a Mama’s boy, her tiny Peeta, her chubby baby sunshine. I think the two of them hunt, and it’s the most beautiful mirror of her and her own father, only with sunny curls and freckles following her through the woods instead of her father’s dusky features. That said, he adores his Papa, and the two of them have legendary roughhousing matches, often culminating in the toastboy being chucked in the lake much to his squealing delight.

The girl is a total romantic in my mind, someone who loves flowers and dancing and creativity. She’s a better artist even than her Papa, and he teaches her to bake and paint almost as soon as she’s old enough. But she is also her Mama’s angel, and the two of them talk a lot (often over iced tea). The toastgirl can make Katniss crack up laughing like no one’s business and she always brings Mama her secrets.

I think they’re very good parents, if a little overly protective and cautious, but I don’t think they treat their babies super differently? I think they want to encourage them to do what brings them joy, because that’s a luxury they can afford now.

Many more toast-thoughts in the toastbabies, toastbaby, and toaster strudels tags (linked below).

[rosegardeninwinter]

toastbaby Bryony out and about

stop it 🥺