Communicating

We've been making progress around here.

Gabriel's new words list:

elves (from asking to watch Prep and Landing so much)

Thomas

here

on

off

up

bus

bike

Atticus ("Add-us")

home

umbrella ("lah-leh-luh")

balloon ("boon" or "bwoon")

He also "counts." Of course, all the numbers past "one" sound like the word "this." And he wants to pray like the big kids do at meals. So he repeats one word at a time after me:

Dear..."Dih"

God..."Dah"

Thank you..."Mmm...mmm"

for..."fuh"

our..."ow-uh"

food..."uff"

Amen..."Men men."

And I don't know how I've forgotten to post about this, but Gabe has also been reading some words. How does he READ without TALKING, you ask?? Well, listen, Gabe can do what Gabe puts his mind to. That's for sure. But he also has plenty of signs he uses to get his point across. Some of the words he knows by sight (without picture clues) are: mouth, dog, hi, baby, ears, eyes, and elephant. Those are the ones he knows pretty consistently when reading a certain book. There are others he sometimes identifies successfully. He doesn't always transfer well, like when I write the word for him or show it to him in another book. But hey, it's a start.

Now before you think, "Wow. She must be the most awesome homeschooling mom/teacher EVER!" you should know...(ha ha) we got the Your Baby Can Read DVD series for the babies for CHRISTmas last year. (I promise I'm not quite as bad as Noah when it comes to infomercials. But after seeing this one, I had to look into it. After making made sure there was a money-back guarantee if I thought they were ridiculous, I decided to go for it look at the whole endeavor as an educational tool I could use when I needed something to hold two babies' attention while I tried to school two other kiddos). Turns out, we have really enjoyed them. And lo and behold, they actually do work. I mean, my two-year old can read some words, people!

Now, granted this means my babies are watching TV! *gasp*

I know, I know. The "boob tube." But, let's face it. Sometimes. I repeat...sometimes...Mommy's gotta take a shower and might just need a 30-minute program to help her out with that (among other things). Which is also why I have always liked the Baby Einstein DVDs...and never bought them thinking they'd make my kids geniuses. (That's so crazy.) I'd just much rather my child be listening to classical music or learning to read words than watching Barney (sorry--I just so happen to be one of those people who hate the purple dinosaur) or Spongebob (heaven forbid). The only problem I have with the actual program (not the movies themselves) is that they go a little overboard. They want you to show the DVDs twice a day and play the games and read the books and study the cards every day, many times a day. Well. I don't have to tell you this, I'm sure, but we SO did not do it that way. Besides, my goal never WAS to have a 6-month old baby who could read War and Peace. What good does that do anyone? I was just going for education, practicality, and something enjoyable to watch. You know? For those things, this series meets the needs. I feel good about it.

Gabriel mostly communicates with his eyes: "See this frog, Mommy?"

"I'm going to place it here like so..."

"Now I'll give the frog a ride."

*sigh*

Okay. Now for Little Brother, who has been doing his fair share of communicating as well.

This has always been my favorite time of babyhood: months 12-24. Such sweetness. So much to learn. And it happens so fast! I'm always astounded when they've picked up something brand new. I just love all the inquisitiveness. All the pointing at things and trying to identify them. Over the past month or so Atticus has been nodding his head "yes" to answer questions. It is hilariously cute!

(Pretend there's a transition here.)

A few weeks ago I had Atticus on my hip standing in line at the library. He looked behind us and said "hi" to the lady standing there. Wow, huh? Awww...he's reaching out to the world. He's even been adding inflection to his "noes" and "whoas." Makes me crack up.

In addition to all he had accomplished up to this point, he has many more signs and words now and knows how to find his belly button, his toes, his hair, his eyes, and sometimes his nose. He listens so well...I think that's why he imitates as much as he does. He also jibber-jabbers more than the rest of them ever did. You'll often find him walking around playing with a little toy and just talking (or singing) away to himself.

Atticus's new signs list:

bed

bird

cat

horse

frog

pig

tiger

giraffe

cheese

Signing "bed"

Atticus's new words list:

roll

out

apple

me

yes ("yeah")

up

stop

down

diaper

Poppy

Nana

Mimi

Da

Say Say (that's what we call Saylor around here)

Daddy and Mommy (as in "Dad-DEE" and "Mom-MEE")

He mimics like a parrot. Today I said, "You dropped it" and he said, "DAH-dih" over and over.

Here he is saying "UP!"

He still can't say "Gabe" or "Gabriel." That's a tough, tough name, though. Maybe Gabriel will have to be "Bubba" for a while. I don't know. What do you think? Anyway, our Atticus? He may be a talker, but he's not a tooth-grower. Definitely not a tooth-grower. (We're still holding at five.) At this rate, he'll be able to SAY "chicken fried steak" before he'll be able to eat it.