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.

Snips, Snails, & Pretty Pigtails: Atticus

My baby.......

is FOURTEEN (and a half) MONTHS OLD!!!! What???!! Where has the TIME gone??! He has been SO busy lately--just coming into himself and all--that I HAD to get some of these things written down.

Four to five weeks ago Atticus enjoyed being stood up to walk from one person to another, but now he CHOOSES to walk on his very own! He'll just be playing in his room alone and decide to walk from one part of the room to another. And we used to have to steady him a bit before we let go of him, but now he just HAS stability and often TAKES OFF immediately upon being set down! He's a go-getter, that boy!! He also figured out how to stand up from a seated position, which means even if he topples over, he's getting back up almost every time! Last week, Paul gave him a diaper to go put in the trash. He walked all the way from his bedroom to the kitchen holding that diaper, and then he pulled open the trash can cabinet and disposed of that diaper properly! Ha ha!!

Here he is having his first taste of peanut butter (spread on toast). Yummy in your tummy!

What else? Hmm...

Well, he's a little mockin' bird if there ever was one! I tell ya! He repeats CONSTANTLY!! Because of it, he already says "Noah" all the time...and knows exactly what he's talking about, too. Like Noah walks in, Atticus points at him, and then says "Noah!" (only it's more like "Whoa-uh!" but hey...) There's no denying he's got that one down.

Other things he readily SAYS: "Ah-lah" when pretending to talk on the phone, "ball," "nye nye" at bedtime, "mama," "dada," "bye bye," "muh" when also doing the sign for "more," "sssssss" for socks and snakes, "hah" (very breath-y) when he wants to say "hot" (like when I've just put something in the oven or when I'm cooking on the stove top), "no no," "oh, no," "whoa," "oh, boy," "no," "done," "now," and "hi." (I'm almost positive there's more, but that's all I can think of right now.)

And then there are the signs he uses. He gets such a kick out of communicating with us. He's really easy to teach because he's such a little eager beaver. Anyway, he consistently uses sign language for "nursing," "hat," "more," "cow," "eat," "hurt," "fan," "kangaroo," "gorilla," (those last two look exactly the same right now...my bad) "dog," "cat," and...again...that's all I can think of.

And then he can put his arms up when I tell him to and touch his nose and open his mouth wide and dance and pray and his newest thing? He "smiles" on command. Ha ha ha!!

You should see it in person. All scrunchy and cute. It's hilarious, frankly.

Another thing that gives me SUCH pleasure to just sit and watch is when he's just playing. I love seeing the activity choices he makes. Besides the age-typical "putting in and taking out" games he loves, he also really likes stacking toys--like the "rings on the post" type doomawhoppers you can get. You know the ones. Like this.

He'll sit for the LONGEST with something like that and just keep stacking and unstacking them. He's really good at it, too! Very diligent. Sticks with it until it gets done. See what I mean about determination?

He'll also sit and play on the couch for upwards of 30 minutes! Perfectly happily. He just goes back and forth from one end to the other. Looks behind the couch. Sits down. Stands up and holds the back cushions. Give him a toy and a book, and he's good to go for AT LEAST as long as it takes to throw a load of laundry in the dryer or get lunch made or hunt down the older toddler to see what awful trouble he's gotten himself into with a marker and a wall...that sort of thing. Only once or twice have I walked in to see him sitting with his back to the edge, teetering a bit too much for my peace of mind. (He didn't even KNOW he was in any danger!) Ha! Before you think I'm neglectful of my wee ones, let me explain that usually there are three other irresponsible crazies running around in the same room, so...you know...surely SOMEone would catch him if necessary, right?

I tried to post this video on the last "Snips" post, but I must have exceeded my memory limit (since there was another video on it) because it wouldn't upload. I definitely wanted to get it on here, though it was actually filmed in October, because it shows him playing on the couch like I was saying. AND it's him doing his very favorite thing right now: reading. Seriously! Give him a stack of books in his crib (or on the couch), and he will be engrossed for a wonderfully long time! That's our little professor.