Nicholas had his 6 month birthday yesterday. I would have posted about it then, but he had his doctor appointment today, and visited his new school, and generally had much more to do. Besides, yesterday was about reflecting on his past six months, and today is about looking to the future.

This being the first day of the rest of his year, or perhaps because he realized that he’s now closer to birthday cake than he is to the womb, Nicholas had an absolutely outstanding day. He didn’t want to wake up at first, but once he did, he was all smiles. We dropped him off for his last day at the ABC Learning Center, and everything pretty much went as scheduled.

Candice and I went to work, and at 11:30, I took the bus to Vet Med to get the car to go pick up Nicholas, then go back to Vet Med to get Candice, and then go to CDL (his new school) for new student orientation. As soon as I walked in to pick him up, Nico was ecstatic. This isn’t entirely unusual; I’ve shown up in the middle of the day before, and Nicholas gets pretty excited. But the smiles just kept on coming.

Back to Vet Med, and then to the CDL, and Nicholas was laughing and talking the whole way in the car. We found a parking spot (a not entirely legal one, but no ticket, so all’s good) and went to his new classroom. Teachers Bonnie and Daniella and Amy were there to greet us, as were most of the other parents and children. Unfortunately, all the kids were asleep, except for Owen, who is 8 months old and crawling. At last, Nicholas has someone to look up to!

I liked Owen immediately. He was presented with a bunch of different toys, and he selected a sling ball.

Now, I’m not saying that ABC is a bad place to leave your kids. But, it’s not exactly high quality day care. About every two weeks, there’s a new teacher, and they never introduce themselves. We just figured out his head teacher’s name, and this week, there was a new teacher. We asked his teachers once if any of the kids were crawling yet. They didn’t know. How do you not know if the kids are crawling? For the first two weeks, every day there was a new form that they forgot to have us sign. It was just plain disorganized.

But today is about looking to the future, and that future is bright. CDL is a very nice place, the people are certified, and best of all, because they need the parents’ permission to do experiments on the kids, they have to keep the parents happy. And it doesn’t cost any more than ABC. In fact, it might cost less; ABC supplies diapers, but makes up bring our own food. CDL makes us bring diapers, but provides all the food (including formula). So if Nicholas eats more than he poops (he does, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to grow at this phenomenal rate), then we come out ahead.

After our hour visit to CDL, we went out to Culver’s for lunch. Nicholas still wanted to play, so Candice and I took turns holding him while the other one ate. Nicholas really wanted some of Candice’s chicken. I was so proud. Almost as proud as the day that he picked up his first 2 liter bottle.

After lunch, Nicholas was tired, so he took a nap before his doctor’s appointment. He woke up after an hour, ate a bottle, and then went BM. This holy trinity of activities combined to make Nicholas even happier as we headed to the doctor.

The new hospital is way out in Urbana near Philo Road and Windsor. I was able to take country roads the entire way, and it took just 10 minutes door to door. We went in, and Nicholas’s name was called right away. Nicholas weighed in at 20 pounds 11.5 ounces, and 27 inches tall. If he took the 9 month old development exam, he’s have passed it. He was screaming with delight so much that nurses from down the hall came in to see him.

And now, because we’re looking to the future, he won’t get polio. Because he got some shots. He of course didn’t like getting the shots, but the nurse was very quick with the sticking (slower with the band-aids, but that’s OK), and then I picked him right up and he got happy again. He started a nap on the way home, and finished it when we arrived. And when he woke up, even though he was crying, he was still bouncing off the walls excited. I gave him a bit of baby Tylenol, and carried him around the house, and he quickly settled.

After all that, Candice was finally ready to come home from work, so we went to pick her up. And now, we’re home, and Nicholas is just finishing his bed time bottle. I don’t think anything can top his wonderful day today, but we’re sure gonna try tomorrow! Perhaps we’ll go for a walk….