Dup.

Dup is the word Saul uses for "Bird."  Or so I thought.  It's coming to my attention that it's the word he uses when he can't say something and wants to hush me up.  Haha.

So this weekend, we made the switch.  Big Boy car seat, y'all.  I was so nervous about it.  Then I found this cute one (Chevron Print!!) so it's okay.  It's a lot cuter with him in it.  See?

He is just getting TOO big.  I can't think about it too long.  He will be two in April.  I'm going to cry.

In other news, it was a nice, slow weekend.  I got to go shopping for Mom-fun things like a car seat and new bedding.  Seriously, I loved it.  But after my fifth and final stop of the day, I realized that I never really liked shopping THAT much.  When you have to go than many places, it doesn't matter whether you have a little one with you or not.  It's tiresome!! Thankfully, I was sans-baby.  Todd and Saul did some father/son bonding so I could face the 32-degree weather (WHAT?!?!) and just get it done.

I also had these videos laying around.  I'm so proud of my talker/singer/signer.  Enjoy!!!

Baby Signing Update!

I bet you weren't expecting an update so soon!

I don't know if it's because Saul is older or WHAT but he's really picked up quick!

I'm not an expert by ANY means, but let me tell you what worked for us.

To teach "more" what I did was this ...

Since our living room is kind of a play room, I periodically switch out toys from ones I keep in his closet so he doesn't get tired of what he's playing with or overwhelmed by like, a gazillion toys.

Yesterday, I got out a shape-sorting box he's had since he was about 6 months old.  I sat him next to me on the couch and emptied the box of shapes on the far side of me so that they were out of his sight.

I would hand him one and let him put it in the box.  When he was finished, I'd ask him to say "more" and do the sign.  He was a little confused and frustrated at first because he just wanted the toy.  Sometimes, I wouldn't withhold and I'd just give it to him.  I think that kept his frustration level down enough to try to understand what I was trying to get him to do.  Each time he finished one shape, I'd ask him to say "more." 

After a few rounds of the game, HE GOT IT!! He would occasionally even do the sign without me having to ask!

A key point here was that I SAID the word more, while doing the sign.  I had initially been skeptical that he would just learn the sign and that might inhibit the talking.

After he mastered "more," we took a break. 

Later, we added "please."  In this case, I would SHOW him the toy, and when he grabbed for it,  I'd say, "Saul, say please," and do the sign.  That way, he knew that he was asking for something I had (that he could see) and was learning manners instead of just grunting, whining, and grabbing.

I taught him "again" by reading his favorite book - Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess - about 1 million times.  When I finished the book, he would want me to read it again, so I would have him do the sign.  That one didn't take long.



Here's the kicker - When Todd got home, we wanted to show him what we had learned (aka  ... I wanted to). So we got out the shape sorting box, and played again.  Except about halfway through the game, SAUL STARTED SAYING MORE - OUTLOUD!!

It started off sounding like "ma-ma" then slowly transitioned into "mo-ma" then "mo-rahhh" in this deep voice of his.  I was out-of-my-skull excited.

This morning, he's already used please a few times.  His milk was out of reach at breakfast, so he started grunting.  I looked at him, and it was like he regained his composure and BAM - he's saying please.

Then he brought his shoes to me and asked me to "please" put them on.  So cute.

I am officially pro-signing.

ps. sorry this one is so wordy. I'm just so proud!!

Baby Sign Language?

I always kind of thought baby sign language was kinda pointless.  I know, judge me.

Well, I'm about to give it a go.

Saul is not TERRIBLY behind on speech, but I'm starting to give it a little thought.  He knows all his animal sounds, he "sings" with me, he knows a few words and phrases, but I recently read that by age two, you should be able to understand 25% of what your child says, and they should know 50+ words.

We're not quite there.

Another reason I was skeptical was because he knows everrryything we say.  He totally understands us.  You can tell him to pick up his blocks, go find his shoes, close the door, "are you hungry?" and tons of other stuff.  You can tell him it's time for night-night, and he goes to his room, and brings back his blanket, paci, and a diaper.  I mean, tell me he doesn't know what night-night means! 

He says things like ball, good bye, hey, "naaaa" for banana, "all-gaw" for all gone, and a lot of phrases that have the same pitch as we say them.

But also, I've noticed Saul getting really frustrated.  He went through a talking spree a few weeks ago, but he's kind of quieted down lately.

I found an awesome site that is a huuuge dictionary of baby signs. Just before I put him down for his nap, I taught him the sign for "more." He got it in about 3 minutes.  He loved how happy I got when he did it right when I asked him to.

So I think I'm going to work on just a few basics - more, please, all-gone/finished, and again.  They're all relatively easy.

Wish me luck!