All about me, my hubby, my babies, and my puppy.
Bob sent me a gift basket full of goodies! I got it yesterday but failed to take a picture before I ripped it open to find out all the stuff that was inside. There were crackers, cookies, candy and cheese spread...lots and lots and lots of it! What a sweeeeeet hubby I have. Then again, I've been snacking on it all day so I'm afraid to weigh myself tomorrow...heeeheee
***I forgot something very important so I added it to the end of this post***
We started with Baby Einstein First Signs video, then we got The Baby Signs program. The Baby Signs Program comes with an instructional DVD, a book about why signing is helpful, a quick reference guide (it's magnetic!), a fun DVD for baby, and 4 little board books with colorful pictures. I mainly used this to teach myself the signs so that I could use them when talking to Oliver. Except the board books. We look through those together and do the sign that goes with the picture. The main way he learned so many signs is because Bob and I use them consistently when talking to him. Every time we give him food we sign "eat" every time we see a duck we sign "duck", etc etc. You have to do it EVERY time!
The book that comes with The Baby Signs Program also has tips on how to help them learn the signs. Like "more" - give him a cheerio (or other small snack). Once he eats it sign and say "more" and give him another one. After you do this a few times he'll get the message that if he wants another one he should make that sign.
Oliver doesn't do all the signs exactly like the actual sign, but it's close enough to tell what he's talking about. They don't have to be exact, it just has to be the same sign for the same thing. For example - the sign for eat is putting your hand to your mouth like you are putting food in. When Oliver first started doing it he would put his hand flat to his mouth and tap it there, but he'd do that every time he wanted something to eat. I could still figure out that he was hungry even though he'd modified the sign. I continued to do the sign correctly and now he does it correctly as well.
It takes a lot of repetition to teach him these signs. I've looked at those little books SO MANY TIMES. You can really do it with any picture book, you just have to figure out what the sign for the picture is. Start with signs that don't require a lot of finger dexterity, too. Milk, eat, drink, ball, mom, dad - those are all pretty easy. Words like banana, help, hurt - those are a little harder because you have to use both hands.
This post ended up being a lot longer than I originally intended, but I hope it helps! If you have any specific questions just email me. My address is on the sidebar over there. ------>
***It's very important to be enthusiastic! When he repeats or uses a sign or word GET EXCITED! Clap, shout hurray!, give him a hug...something to let him know that he did something good. He'll be encouraged to do it again and again, and, as with any new ability you have to continue to be excited about it even after the 10th time he's done it in 30 seconds. He's excited to show off his new skill and he likes making you happy.
check out this program for donating laptop computers to children in developing countries.
http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/index.php
milk
light
all gone/done
monkey
also, he's got another tooth! Bottom left molar is sticking out...the right one looks and feels like it will follow very soon!
Oliver says...
Dadad
Mim (for mom)
cracker
fan
dog
kitty
moo
what's that?
sock
rock
diaper
shoe
Oliver signs...
Dad
eat/food
frog
cow
fan
bug
ball
more
toothbrush
waves
kiss
clap
duck
shoe
Phrases Oliver understands...
give it to me
leave it alone
no
stop
what is it?
come here (although he seldom listens to this one)
bathtime
change the diaper
Things Oliver knows...
shoes and socks go on your feet
can locate his nose, ears, belly and feet
how to play ball
how to use a phone
what a hairbrush is for
what a toothbrush is for
how to turn pages in a book
how to draw/scribble
how to dance
how to use a spoon
juice goes in a cup
when Dad goes outside he's usually in the garage (he looks out the window, points to the garage and signs "dad")
smart boy!
I found out a few days ago that my little sister is engaged! Hooray, Sarah! Apparently when they went to Disney World for a week (lucky!!!) Greg proposed with a very pretty 1/2 carat diamond ring. I was a suprised, but very happy for both of them! Congratulations, Sarah and Greg!!!! :-D
Also, on Thanksgiving, Bob's sister Angie announced that they are having baby #3 in May! Wow! I know they are looking forward to the new addition to their family. That's really something to be thankful for! Congratulations, Angie and Timothy!!!! :-D
SICK! I got a cold. I guess it's not a terribly bad one since I just started getting symptoms on Saturday and I'm already almost better. Then again I could attribute it to the mango, Echinacea tea, this cold medicine and lots of fluids. Oh yeah, and 3 boxes of Kleenex. bleh.
Oliver's new phrase is "wa THAT?" or sometimes just "THAT?" He doesn't always listen to the answer but he loves pointing and asking. Silly little boy.
He also knows what his shoes are and where they go (on his feet) but he doesn't say or sign shoe yet. He started saying cracker, although it sounds more like croCK...that's right, a lot of emphasis on the CK at the end.
I'm amazed at how fast he's picking up words and signs!
The owner of the company I work for CANCELLED OUR CHRISTMAS PARTY! We've had a very nice Christmas party every year I've worked there, but this year even though we had booked the restaurant, the DJ and I had bought my dress it has been cancelled. What could be the reason for this? Well...the email said it was because "they want to reinvest the money in the company" which, ok fine, whatever...but what they really meant was "we spent too much money on a failed experiment and now we're pouring a big chunk of money into another project that may or may not be profitable." Yaaaaay! So I'm off to return my dress later even though it is super cute because I have nowhere else to wear it. Stupid RTG.
We stayed home Saturday, supposedly to get some things done around the house but of course we didn't do much. Bob almost finished the siding on the wall outside, he cleaned up the rest of the branches from the front yard, and i did some laundry and general cleaning.
Sunday we set off to WV to visit Bob's family. Oliver was awake a good part of the way but didn't get cranky until the very last little bit of the trip. We spent some time with Bob's grandparents just hanging out and visiting then we went up to his sister's house where we stayed overnight. Oliver had fun playing with his cousins even though they are all quite a bit older than he is (the youngest is 6). We also got to meet Ashlyn, which is Oliver's cousin's daughter. She's 6 months old and SO CUTE! Oliver didn't want to go to bed and actually didn't until everyone else went first. Then he woke up about an hour later and screamed like crazy for 30 minutes before going back to sleep for the rest of the night. That was pretty nice - about 7 hours of continuous sleep! Bob made pancakes for everyone for breakfast...yummmm! We visited with Bob's other sister and her kids after that. Ethan wasn't feeling well so he went down for a nap a little while after we got there but Oliver and Eleanor played together for a good while. As much as two 1year olds play together anyway. After that we went back to the g'parents and had lunch before heading back home. Oliver was awake a good part of the trip again, but a little more cranky this time. We sang a lot of songs to calm him down toward the end of the trip. It's good to visit, but it's so nice to be home!
Oh yeah, we didn't get to see Oliver's Godparents (Birch and Gretchen) but we did find out that they are expecting another baby! Hooray!
Oliver has, in the last few days, learned 4 new signs and 3 new words! He knows the sign for eat from before but now he also knows bug, fan, frog and toothbrush! He's started saying fan, too and he says sock and duck. I can't believe how smart this little guy is!
I also noticed that if I make his phone ring he answers it (although he always hands it to me). When I hand it back though he holds it up to his ear like he's talking on a real phone.
One more thing - he can turn around while walking. I'm sure he's been doing this for a bit but I just really noticed it today. He can turn corners without stopping or falling and he can turn all the way around to go back the way he came.
I'm so impressed with the little guy today!!!!
No recent pics because although I've looked high and low I can't seem to find the camera.
Oliver put his tower of rings together all by himself yesterday for the first time. Most of the time he just likes to chew on it, but yesterday he saw me put the first ring on the peg and he picked up the next one and put it on. Of course, it wasn't quite that easy, he tried about 10 times before he actually got it ON the peg, but he did it! Then he did all the other ones. Then he took them all off and did it four or five more times before he got sick of it and moved on. What a smart little guy!
I forgot the camera so one of these days I'll have to dress Oliver back up in his little costume and get some pictures. He was the absolute cutest lion ever - he even had a ferocious roar. Ok it wasn't ferocious...it was adorable. Anyway, we went up to Kyle and Cindy's to hand out candy and hang out (and EAT candy) and they convinced us to take Oliver around the block once to get some candy. Even though he doesn't EAT candy he still came home with a pretty good bit of it, most of which we've already eaten. He did get to try a little bit of Snicker's (not the nuts, though) and some Whoppers. He did so well not being scared of people when we went out but he only roared at one person. Oh well, he's 1, what did I expect?
I still think Trick or Treating is weird though. I mean, don't we tell our kids NOT to take candy from strangers? Yet an Halloween we go door to door with them so they can ask for Candy From Strangers. Hmmm, kinda contradictory? I think so!
