Rub a tub tub, Sam in the tub

I couldn't resist posting this video. It just makes me laugh.

What's Your Sign?

As promised, I took some pictures of Sam signing. Now, my mother-in-law says she tells people that Sam knows some sign language and they ask if he is deaf. No. He hears quite fine. He is a little slow to speak though, so we have taken steps to teach him some of the most basic signs. Here were some we were able to catch on camera before bed tonight. Under Sam's sign, I went ahead and got the expert picture so you could compare.

This sign is milk, shown by clenching and opening your hand. It was probably the easiest to teach, for obvious reasons. We were a little hesistant to get this picture as we just stopped giving him milk before bed. I risked it though, and he was fine without his liquid gold.
The most recent sign he has learned is car. Car is signed like you are driving a steering wheel. Sam absolutely loves toy cars. He picked them up from his cousins who have a million matchbox cars at their house. He leaves with one each time he visits.
All done or finished would be the next sign. Basically you hold up your hands and twist them at the wrist. Good for him to let us know when to stop trying to shove things in his mouth.
Another easy sign to teach was please. Please is rubbing your hand in a circle on your chest. We would withhold things he wanted until he signed it. Easy enough.
Ok so water, this next sign, is not quite like how it is supposed to look, but hey, he is 18 months. Water is a little harder. You take your three middle fingers and tap them on your chin. Sam just takes his whole hand and hits his mouth. We get the picture that he is thirsty. We have tried to teach juice, but basically anything besides milk is water.
Another recent sign learned (and definitely the most challenging) was thank you. Touch your hand to your chin and then point it out. How do you teach something when all collateral you need for the lesson is gone? But he has learned it, thank goodness.
Another very useful sign is more. Tap your fingertips together. More milk, more food, more more more.
He also knows food as of late, but I forgot to get him to sign that for the camera. I hope you have enjoyed the many signs of Sam. Learn them in case you come in contact with him and he starts smacking his mouth!

The many adventures of eating...

I know I have been slacking lately on the blogging. Matt and I moved on the 7th of last month, so we have been busy getting ourself put together here. It feels so nice to be in a place again with all of our stuff. Opening boxes that have been put away for 6 months is like Christmas. You forget what you had!

Anyway, back to topic here. Sam is getting to the age where he likes to do stuff on his own. From climbing on things to feeding himself, it is fun to see where it gets him, except when it gets him into trouble; like times he ends up on top of the kitchen table. But mealtime has been interesting. No longer does he want us helping him out. Nope. Some things are relatively easy for him to do: ravioli, fruit, bite size sandwiches, etc. But there are just some things you have to stay way from.

Now you would think spaghetti would not be too bad. But the problem here was we decided to put a little sauce on it so they wouldn't all stick together. Yeah, mistake.
My suggestion to mothers with this stage coming up: Farfalle pasta. Commonly known as bow-tie pasta, it is finger friendly and does not stick, well, for the most part.


Another item which was in storage was the high chair. My mom had one at her house, so there was no point in having two of them. He is getting too big for it. Friday we are going to pick up a booster seat that attaches to chairs for him. Because this is just NOT safe:
Of course, it makes it pretty evident that he is hungry. After getting him in, he is super happy and ready to munch!
Such a cute smile! I love it. He is not quite talking yet, but he has some sounds we know he associates with stuff. Dogu (doogy) Kuh (Car) KuKu (cookie) and MMhmmhmm! (self explanatory). He signs a lot... I should get some pictures of that. He knows milk, water, please, more, food, car, shoes. He almost has thank you. (That one is pretty hard.) Well, he definitely knows his sweets. Back to subject.
He just loves it when I bake. Here he was with Matt enjoying a cupcake (also called kuku). He still only has the 4 teeth. It just amazes me. I keep looking for more, but to no avail. Makes for a cute smile. This one is a little blurry, but it was a keeper.
Well, hopefully it will not take me over a month for the next blog. Things have been crazy, but are settling down a bit. I guess the life of "MOM" will never slow down! :)