Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Signing is Daniel’s preferred method of communication (along with yelling Winking smile), though he does use a few sounds that we can interpret as words.  I thought it would be fun to share a little bit about our signing journey.

Our goal is for Daniel to learn up to three signs each week.  That seems like a big goal, but if you think about kids learning language, it’s actually pretty small.  I know this is pretty obvious, but I’m gonna say it anyway: We have to know the signs before we can teach him.  I did take a semester of ASL in my undergrad days, but that was darn near close to a million years ago.  My memory sure isn’t what it used to be!

When I want to learn a new sign (or three or four), I go to the dictionary at Baby Sign Language.  The kids love to watch Signing Time movies as well – and Daniel is starting to enjoy them more – but I don’t usually have time to sit through an entire episode.  So I look up what I need in the BSL dictionary, practice it a couple of times, and then try to use it as much with Daniel as I possibly can.  The other kids catch on to this really fast, and they looooove helping him with new words.  Obviously, we try to use signs that are common in everyday life.  Not much use for “ocean” at this point, but “help” and “again” are right up at the top of the list.

Daniel is just starting to imitate what we do, so he is learning the signs much faster than when we started over a year ago.  Sometimes he’ll imitate the sign completely on his own.  Sometimes I have to manipulate his hands for him.  His signs can be somewhat sloppy, which is much the same as a child saying “wa-wa” for water or “eph-a-lant” for elephant.  It’s all part of the learning process – and it is so much fun to watch!

Daniel’s current signs are (I have linked to the BSL dictionary if you want to see the sign for each word):

These signs are emerging (meaning he’s starting to use them, but not consistently):

I would love for him to learn and use these signs:

We challenge all of you who are close to us to learn along with us and use Daniel’s signs when you interact with him.  He LOVES when people speak his language, and it’s a great way to generalize his communication skills to situations outside our home and family life.  I guarantee you will enjoy every second of his attempts to communicate with you!!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine’s Tea and Baby Steps

Rachel was sooooo excited for her first Valentine’s Tea at school.  (No, they don’t serve tea.  The kids get a cookie and drink while they’re learning about etiquette and manners.)  But she was a tiny bit concerned about wearing her “Sunday best” to school.  It might get dirty!  So I told her I’d make her a skirt.  Gosh, she’s cute!

02-2013-Vday-1

02-2013-Vday-2

 

And this little dude is taking some steps!!  REALLY!!  He took five last night – to get to his reward of a chocolate chip.  Here’s a shot of a couple steps this morning.

Monday, February 11, 2013

I Have a Problem

Yes, it’s confession time here on the ol’ blog.  I have a problem.  It’s not a HUGE problem, and it doesn’t happen very often.  But, it is a problem.

Big breath.

I leave stuff on the car and then drive away.

There.  I said it.  Now I can sleep at night.

It’s not big stuff.  I’ve never driven away with a child on my car – thankfully!  Nor have I ever driven away with a bag of groceries waiting to spill its contents at the first jolt.  No, it’s other stuff. 

Like the phone.  That one happened about five years ago.  I set the phone on the back bumper of our van while I was out working in the front yard.  Totally forgot about it.  Drove off somewhere later in the day, and still didn’t even remember it.  It wasn’t until that evening, when we were trying to find the phone, that it dawned on me.  Yeah.  I drove off with a phone on my bumper.  I thought surely it would have fallen off at the end of the driveway.  I retraced my path a time or two looking for it.  We never did find that phone.  (I have always wondered what someone would think if they were behind me in traffic and saw a phone sitting on my bumper!)

Most recently (Saturday night), it was the snow scraper.  I went out to get groceries around 8:30 p.m., only to find the Suburban covered in snow and two or three inches on the ground.  I got the scraper out to take care of the windows, which I did, and then decided to scrape the driveway.  So I set the scraper on the hood, thinking I would grab it when I hopped in the Suburban.  It wasn’t until I was several blocks from home that I remembered I had not grabbed the scraper on my way in.  It was on the hood, for pete’s sake!!  You would think I would have seen it!  And now, the scraper has gone the way of all the earth.  And I got an eye roll and the cutest smile from Jared when I disclosed what happened on the way to church yesterday.  His response: “You have a problem.”

Yes indeed.  I have a problem.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Building a House: A Few Pictures

We finally got the rest of the kitchen cabinetry installed yesterday.  The cabinet for the range hood was the last thing to go in.  It had to be remade because the first attempt wasn’t quite right.  Thus, the reason for the month-long delay.  So glad to have it done!  Oh, and I happen to really like it.  A lot!

02-2013-Hood

There is a shelf up there (the slightly lighter strip about 1/3 of the way up) that is probably 6-8” deep.  I have a few ideas for some decorative potential.  Some day when I can find all my stuff and I have the time and the money to get everything looking cute…oh wait, that’ll be, like NEVER!! 

We also got the fireplace mantel yesterday.  Love it, love it, love it!!  (Please ignore all the junk on the shelves.  They have become the dumping area because we mostly use the front door for now.  A convenient place to drop everything.  I can’t wait until the garage gets cleared out!!!)  The wood is the exact same as what is in the kitchen picture above.  (Amazing how the lighting changes everything!)

02-2013-Mantel

The shelf on top is around 15” deep!  I can have lots of fun with that…once I get around to it.  Someday!

On to the master bathroom.  Please be advised that there is nothing cutesy whatsoever in there yet.  I’m STILL filling nail holes and caulking and emptying boxes…and we’re still getting shelving in closets…all while trying to stay on top of the messes the kids make.  Decorating will have to wait!  (And I am taking suggestions, so feel free to comment!)

We love our bathroom!  I was a little hesitant about the plan, but I think it turned out great.  The shower is loved by all!  We love the cultured granite from Immaculate Cultured Marble and Granite.  They did a fabulous job!

This is looking in from the doorway.  The toilet is between that short wall and the wall where the window is.  Nice and secluded!

01-2013 Master bath 1

 

A view from the opposite end, with the lovely UN-jetted soaker tub (which will probably get used two or three times a year).

01-2013 Master bath 2

 

And the vanity area.  I was standing in the tub to get these pictures.  Had to chop it into two segments because I couldn’t get any further away.  Notice the lack of a permanent mirror.  Yet another project that still needs to be taken care of!  (Jared was unshaven for the first week we lived here because we couldn’t find that small mirror anywhere.  We’re all glad to have it!)

01-2013 Master bath 3

 

The other bathrooms have the same sinks, cabinetry and tile and fixtures, so I won’t share any pictures.  You get the gist, though, I’m sure.

We’ve finished the shelving in the cold storage under the front porch, and we hope to have the shelving in the main storage room finished by the end of this week.  Which means…we could actually be parking in the garage in the very near future!!!  Can I get a “hallelujah” and an “amen!”  Hopefully by the end of tax season we can have the shelving for the rest of the closets finished.  That might be a tad bit optimistic, though, considering how much there is to do still and the fact that Jared will be spending 75+ hours at work every week for the next 10 weeks.  We shall see.

We are just so happy to be here and finished moving (mostly)!  There is still so much to do, but now it can wait as long as I feel like making it wait.