Things I am grateful for (or that, depending on the phrasing), daily during November.
- SteelyKid's immune system has, sometime when we weren't looking, matured enough that she no longer gets every cold that goes around daycare. Her getting sick is much rarer these days.
- I have awesome co-workers who are smart, enthusiastic, and generous.
- Babysitters. =>
- Chad's parents, who I get along with so well and who are so generous to our family.
- I've weaned the Pip to the point where he's only nursing twice every twenty-four hours, which means NO MORE PUMPING.
- It's ten to twelve and all the TV networks plus the AP have called it for Obama, without relying on Florida—so I get to be grateful for both the content and the timing of the news.
- No need to wait until the end of the day for this: the Pip is one today. Happy Birthday, buddy!
- Today's 10,000+ word brief went out with minimal high drama.
- The Pip was astonishingly calm about his physical today. The only thing he objected to was his shots, and only for long enough to eat a couple Cheerios after.
Also enormous baby is enormous: weight: 25 pounds 14 ounces, 96th percentile; height: 31", 89th percentile; head circumference: 48.25 cm, 95th percentile.
- Dry fallen oak leaves: the satisfying crunch, the slightly sweet smell, the enormous piles that can be raked up, and the fun that can be had with those piles:
[Image: SteelyKid in a big pile of leaves, the Pip standing next to the pile holding some leaves in his upraised arms.]
- Thank you, veterans, for your service.
- Days off—unexpected ones, even (I never wrote down on my work calendar that work was observing Veterans Day on Monday, so I had no idea we had it off until a co-worker mentioned it on Friday).
- Team parenting.
- Tonight, I tripped and fell while playing Flying Baby!! (holding the Pip belly-down and whooshing him through the air), but did not hurt or even scare said Baby!!, somehow.
- Gotta go with the Internet today, for all kinds of things, not just the above.
- We've never had a serious health problem with the kids.
- Both sides of the family together at Thanksgiving. So what if we hold Thanksgiving dinner on a Saturday to make it possible? That just makes it a family tradition.
- Cheese. Ice cream. Cream cheese. Butter.
That is: yesterday I officially weaned the Pip, so that I could eat whatever I wanted for early Thanksgiving. (In practice, a piece of cheddar cheese tasted weird, and I haven't had the middle items yet, but buttery rolls and mashed potatoes were great.) I can also now eat soy, which was not something I craved itself but is in all kinds of food.
- Online legal databases with powerful search tools.