I forgot to mention one other thing:
We were/are huge fans of books on tape. We always get some from the library, that way DD2.5 can "read" them to herself while DH does what he needs to, or simply gets a break.
We got so tired of some of the stories that we actually found an old walkman for DD7 when she was about 2 so that we wouldn't have to listen to the same books on tape over and over again.
She loved the idea that she got a "big kid" thing with having her own tape player - and it gave us some quiet time. - Always a plus with a jabber mouth.
