"Mr. Obama is a nice man"

Yesterday was a very historical day. I spent my lunch hour huddled around streaming video of the inauguration. I've never watched any of the others. I was amazed at how quiet the crowd was, and how peaceful it appeared.

Since it was a Tuesday, Grandma was over watching Ché. Tuesday also means it's the day Ché's friend comes to play with his Grandma. Both Grandma's wanted to watch the inauguration, and since Mike was home at lunch it became quite an event.

Ché's friend watched for a few seconds, then went off to play. That's what I expected of Ché. He's three and doesn't have to understand the significance and importance of yesterday. But he didn't. He sat and watched. He watched the quartet, pointed out the big trumpets, and found many of the police men standing around. He watched as Mr. Obama put his hand on the bible, and took the oath of office. He told Grandma that the girl was cute, referring to Mr. Obama's youngest daughter, Sasha. Later, he watched the parade, taking it all in. Noticing, and pointing things out as he watched.

When Mike and I arrived at his parents house that evening, to have supper, Mr. Obama was all Ché talked about. He told that Mr. Obama is a nice man, and that he was in a parade. Throughout the evening Ché told us that he was Obama, and he would walk straight and tall and proud. He ate his dinner, pretending to be Mr. Obama, and when we told him that Mr. Obama had spinach that night for dinner, Ché gladly ate his own spinach.

A bit before leaving we were watching coverage of the Neighborhood Ball, and trying to explain to Ché what was going on. He didn't say much until the ride home. He said that Mr. Obama was in the car, and we said, no he was probably at the Ball, dancing. He paused a few minutes, and then said, "No, Mr. Obama is not dancing. He's talking."

We of course said that Ché was probably correct, and that President Obama was probably talking.

While Ché was then taking off his boots he told me that "President Bush had to go to the parking lot, and now Mr. Obama is the President."

This morning, Mike was going to turn on some cartoons for Ché to watch and when the TV came on C-Span was on. They were re-running the inauguration. Guess who wanted to watch it again?