Because A- has been interested in a book about animal noises, we went to Riverdale Farm so that she could see farm animals in person. It was busy because of a Halloween event, but the barns were manageable. A- liked looking at the chickens and ducks.

We went to the ROM with Jen and E-. The coat check person still recognized us even though we’d been focusing on the science centre for the past few months. The kids had lots of fun pushing door buttons, swapping food in the lunch room, walking, running, and jumping in the hallways, although there weren’t as many things to interact with at the ROM as there are at the science centre. Still, it’s a good place to walk around indoors. A- wanted to push the stroller, so Jen helped her. I accompanied E- while he checked out the automatic doors.

When we went to the science centre this week, A- spent quite a fair bit of time dropping my cards through the slats in the bench. She also played with all her usual favourites: the water table, the ball maze, and the pretend supermarket.

We passed by the Children’s Book Bank before the Make the Connection parenting workshop at the Parliament Library. I was delighted to find toddler-oriented versions of “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma” in a series called “Cozy Classics”, so I snapped those up.

Last week’s parenting workshop focused on language. We’ve been doing a good job at labeling things with simple, clear words, and A- has about 140 words that she regularly uses. I’m going to work on remembering to keep adding more advanced words as she uses words correctly.

At the library, A- liked checking out books by herself. She brought the books to the express checkout, climbed up on the step stool with some help, put my library card under the scanner (with a little help), put the book on the pad, tapped the right buttons on the screen, and put the book in my backpack.

One of the books that she loves reading is “Into My Mother’s Arms.” She’s gotten really good at pointing out things in the background when we ask her to: the shopping cart, the watch, the swing… She even labels some of them out loud, like the way we’ve been doing while reading.

She gestures along with me for songs like “The Grand Old Duke of York” and “Three Little Monkeys Juming on the Bed,” and she even chimes in with the words she knows.

I learned a new song at music class: “Down by the Station.” Also, she’s starting to warm up to music class again. She shook the shakers and waved the scarf around during the dance activity, yay! I picked up another song that’s season-appropriate, too: “Down, down, yellow and brown, the leaves are falling all over town.”

A- likes riding in the laundry basket. She can now climb into the laundry basket all by herself.

I don’t have to worry about reminding A- to go to bed. There were a couple of times last week when A- initiated our bedtime routine (bath, brush teeth, story, bed) all on her own.

Speaking of routines: I brought blueberries as a snack, and she asked for a spoon. She’s getting the hang of things.

She’s getting better at rinsing and spitting. One time, she started shaking her head after dinner, and she shook her head all the way up the stairs. It turned out that she had taken in some water and was rinsing her mouth, and she spit out the water after I lifted her up to the bathroom sink.

I checked out Once Upon a Child, a consignment store. Value Village is closer and easier to browse, though, so we’ll probably do most of our thrifting there. I’ve also checked out Salvation Army and other thrift stores in the past, but Value Village seems to have the biggest selection even though the prices are a little bit higher.

I cooked risotto for the first time. It was a lot of stirring, but it was an interesting texture to add to our food vocabulary.

I sewed a yellow vest with reflective ribbons for A-‘s Halloween costume. I made a cardboard bulldozer to wear as a hat for mine. W- helped me hot-glue and paint it. It was much easier to work on the workbench than on the floor. Good height, and I didn’t have to shoo away cats or worry about leaving things around that curious toddlers might get into.

My brother-in-law’s dad passed away. We sent our condolences, and Kathy helped us send flowers to the wake.

Our sleep and routines have finally settled down enough for me to carve out time to do Emacs News. Yay!