Ronan is 14 months old

I was planning to write a whole post about the start of 2011, but, holy cow, it's already Ronan's monthday! So I just tacked a bit on to the end of the last post and here we go. This month's update is especially dedicated to Ronan's "Nana" who had surgery today in the same hospital where he was born 14 months ago.

Ronan is so much his own person it's amazing. I knew that school-aged kids had different temperaments, but so do wee-ones! He loves learning words for things, and one of his favorite activities is to point at everything in sight until it gets a name. Today I was unloading the dishes when he started this game so the latest word he says is "mug." Most words are still too hard to actually say, but he's soaking them in. He also loves books and telephones, and he's memorized the location of every phone in the house. None of these features are unique to Ronan, of course. But seeing him next to other babies his age, I can't help thinking this one is on a mission. He's not sure what it is, but it's serious, yo, and don't let those baby grins fool you!

Bouncy cow rodeo!.............................................................................On the move!

We're living in a world of snow with multiple feet on the ground, and we've had several "snow days" to boot. So far, snow days confuse me. Everyone knows it snows here -- did you have to cancel daycare? I suspect snow days are partly designed to give you time to shovel your walkway, since apparently you are responsible for not only your driveway, but any sidewalk that is in front of your house. This I learned from a very kind policeman who believed my "from California, clueless" line. As the start of classes approached, I found myself dreading snow days. Speaking of which, classes start tomorrow! D has just taken off to his lab retreat in CA so why I am writing this instead of cramming I cannot say!

Winter is pretty!........................snug as a bug in a sling................the bear goes sledding!

The Ro Grows:

New words since we returned: duck, bottle, mao-mao, book, Ro-Ro, puff, mug.

(KEY: mao-mao=cat, Ro-Ro=his name, puff=cheerio-like snack)

New signs: picture, baby (a few weeks ago he added flower and tree...but we are really a limiting factor here)

Crazy tricks:

• started using a walker earlier this week
• is standing on his own for longer and longer (and laughing proudly)
• apparently stood up on his own in the middle of the room this morning (I wasn't there)
• towed his wooden alligator-on-a-string around with him as he completed four crawling circuits of the downstairs (this evening)
• has stopped sleeping at night (all week, ugh)
• says his name (Ro-Ro) when you ask him who he is!