Happy fall!

[metawidget]

On Oscar's actual birthday, my parents, my sister and her partner came up to help celebrate and see the bigger, more interacitve Vivien. Here are a couple of pictures of her:

Oscar is starting to get the hang of toilet training at home (when pantsless). The Sesame Street DVDs that his grandma gave him for his birthday are a great help — he's not so mesmerized that he doesn't scamper around when they're on, but they give him something to watch while he's sitting still briefly on the potty. Given that doesn't seem to like being the centre of attention while on the potty, this seems like a pretty solid strategy for now.

When it's not raining, we've been getting in a bunch of walking lately — we being the kids and me when Elizabeth needed time to practice for her Can-Con show, or all four of us when we're going somewhere or just need to get out of the house. I really enjoy family walking — when I'm the lone adult, we interact a lot with the neighbours and random shoppers, and when it's Elizabeth and I and optionally the (often sleepy or distracted) kids, we often have nice, relaxed conversations or don't say much but it feels like more pleasant transit time than just about any other means of getting around. Working a walk into something otherwise stressful can make the difference in keeping my chin up, and the fall weather is the best walking weather of the year as far as I'm concerned.