I picked Ami' up from daycare this afternoon where I found him fast asleep. The daycare folks woke him up and he pretty much flopped himself down in my arms without any fuss. Asked him if he was ready to go and he nodded his head and that pretty much sums up just how cool he's been in dealing with me since my return. By the time we made it out of the parking lot, he was asking whether we were going to the store, mentioned a few times that he wanted to eat some fish, and pointed out every "big truck" we passed dutifully. Too bad it's middle of winter here in STL, because today would have been a great day to hang out at a playground. We spent most of the afternoon at a local mall, before grabbing some chow. Just another sign of how much he's grown in the four months since I last saw him, upon passing a Denny's restaurant, he immediately pointed to it and said "Daddy I want pancakes." So off to Deny's we went, where he ate most of his grilled cheese sandwich, while taking to bites from my pancakes. The language development is really amazing to me. At one point in the mall he threw a ball and almost knocked something off a shelf in Dick's. I told him to be careful and he immediately turned to me and said "I'm sorry daddy." Obviously Napi has been on the ball with the training, and I'm sure the daycare has a lot to do with him pulling together his sentences now. The other thing that stands out to me is that he gets that I don't always get his sentences. So even if I nod my head in agreement with something he's said despite the fact that I don't have a clue what he actually said, he'll recognize that and continue repeating the sentence. Again, this is probably par for the course for any parent with multiple kids - but for a first time dad like me, this stuff is remarkable.
As far as his health is concerned, the respiratory problems that surfaced shortly after his birth continue to plague him. It looks like he'll definitely be dealing with this stuff for the immediate future. My hope is that he'll eventually grow out of it. He has a nasty wet cough going right now, and he's still getting nebulizer treatments; pretty much the standard Ami' winter experience.
