Double Happiness

Today was a happy day. Not only did we get a new President, and not just any new president but the absolute best possible president that we could ever dare to hope for, we also got a snow day! So instead of furtively watching the inauguration online at work I was able to spend most of the day in my pajamas watching all of the inauguration coverage.


And of course I got to play in the snow with Ben.

He wasn't sure what to make of the snow at first. He really didn't like it when he did a face plant and ended up with cold, wet snow all over his face (alas, I have no picture of that). But once he was dusted off he seemed to enjoy walking around in this weird wet substance that he'd never seen before.

In other news, Ben started a new daycare last week and so far it is going well. Now that Ben is older it's a little easier to leave him. I've also started to think of daycare as "school" and that helps. Plus he really seems to enjoy being around other kids, even if they are snot-ridden and germ-infested. (He acquired his first cold of 2009 after only 3 days of school last week, so I am perhaps a little negatively biased towards the other children in his class at this point. )

We also had his one year check up last week and he is doing great on all counts. He weighs almost 25 pounds and is 29.75 inches. So he is a little above average in weight and a little below average in height. I don't know where he gets that from.

One of the most amazing things right now is how we are increasingly able to communicate with him. He does his own personal sign for more whenever he wants more food or if he wants me to read a book again. It's kind of like a clap versus the standard ASL sign. Harold also taught him to wave his hand in front of his nose whenever he has a poopy diaper, which is pretty funny. In addition to the signs, he also just seems to understand the things we say to him. When I ask him if he's ready for a bath, he heads down the hall to his bedroom to get ready. When we ask him what a duck says, he says "quack, quack" though of course it sounds more like an actual duck squawking than a person saying "quack, quack" with proper enunciation. But he says the same thing every time we ask him so that counts in my book. And today, miracle of miracles, I asked him if he was ready for a nap and he walked into his room on his own. I followed him and put him in his crib with a book. I then walked out of the room without even a peep from him! This is a major napping improvement.

Ben will also say something that sounds like "Hi Da-da" when he sees Harold, though he has neglected to express a similar greeting to his Mama. At this point I'm not holding it against him, but I may reevaluate that in a couple of months.