In the hottub

Last night, Rhona went to get her hair done, so it was just me and the kids. After dinner, we had ice cream, which makes both kids extraordinarily happy. Then, I told Autumn we could watch TV.

"But you NEVER let us watch TV!" She said.

I guess I'm the guy who never lets them watch TV. It's not true, they watch TV with me all the time, but Autumn's perception is still being worked out. If someone is mean to her at school 3 months ago, then they were mean to her yesterday. Or, the other day.

For her, the idea of time isn't that well established. Today, tomorrow, last week -- these are concepts as alien to her as the theory of relativity.

so we watched TV. Then, after TV, me, Gavin and Autumn took a dip in the hot tub. Autumn again:

"Dad! TV and now the HOTTUB?"

Last night, I was dad of the year.

Autumn says

This morning, Autumn came down the stairs in her outfit for school. She was really loving it, and said this:

"JT is going to eat me up when he sees this"

JT is her friend in school.

Here it starts.

A walk in the woods

So yesterday, the Hames family took a walk in the woods. We even took Lucy, if you can believe it. And if you wonder why someone would even need to believe it, you haven't met Lucy.

Anyway, off we went.

Now, I'm a city slicker. From the moment I moved to Toronto, I neer wanted to be anything but a city guy. I love cities. I like old buildings, and I love to people watch. You don't get people in the woods. Not in the number necessary for some good old fashioned people watching.

Plus, there's mud in the woods.

Still, fresh air, nature, yada, yada. It's not the worst idea in the world to get out there and puddle through mud, look at trees, and follow the pink path. So we did.

And the kids, as you can guess, loved it.

I wonder, when I look at them, if they'll get a moment like I got when I moved to a big city. A moment of awe at the magnitude of everything. The crowds at the subway in rush our -- so big sometimes that I had to stand back and watch a few trains go by before jumping on. I like cities.

But that walk in the woods was fun. And I can't wait to go off again with Rhona and the kids. Here are a couple of shots of the experience:

Autumn, checking things out.


Gavin walking on a log. "Stick, daddy. Daddy, stick." The lad likes him a stick.

Lucy, loving the water.

Gavin and the potty

Big news tonight.

While we were finishing dinner, laughing, and taking food to our mouths like we were machines, Gavin looked at me and said "Poopy"

Poopy? Now? Have you gone? Are you going? Hold it!

I think all those questions came out in one continuous sentence. Gavin, still getting his feet wet with this whole talking thing, just stared.

I simplified.

Do you have to go poopy?

He nodded.

So we rushed to the potty, I put him down, he held on and voila.

Poop there it is.

He'll be 2 in June. And he pretty consistently goes on the potty when we place him on there at the right time. Tonight was the first time he let us know the right time.

Boo-yaa.