Signs of Desperation

Matt and I decided that it might be a good idea to try and teach Luke some sign language. The theory - which we have heard from other families whose parenting we highly respect - is that a few simple signs will give a child who is old enough to communicate, but not old enough to speak, the means by which to make his/her needs known. In other words, we could teach Luke to let us know that he needs more Veggie Puffs by using a sign, rather than by hollering "ma ma ma ma" in a tone that sounds more like a flock of Canadian geese flying overhead.

We decided to begin with the sign for "more" (as this would address the Canadian geese issue mentioned above). This sign is made by tapping the tips of your fingers of one hand to the tips of your fingers of the other hand. (The fingers of each hand come together as if you were holding a piece of paper between your thumb and finger tips in each hand. You then tap the finger tips of each hand together.) When he wants more food, I make the sign while saying the word "more", then help him to make it before giving him more.

Anyway, we had had little success with this sign, but we weren't discouraged as Luke is still young to be picking up on this. In fact, the only thing he was doing that approached the sign was to clap. But, as Matt put it, clapping was his way of saying "Do whatever it is I'm thinking." (i.e. more food, get me down, etc.) Still, it was encouraging that he seemed to have the idea that he could communicate by doing something with his hands.

The moment of truth, however, came this morning at the Women's Fellowship meeting. Several ladies of the church and their children meet every other Tuesday morning at the Ludovico's house. Luke had finished his bottle and was sitting on my lap while a church member spoke to the group. Then, across the room, another mother took out a bottle for her little girl. Suddenly, Luke began frantically making the "more" sign! He was so accurate that - without me even saying anything - both my mom and one of the other ladies looked over and recognized that he was making the "more" sign! So apparently, in times of desperate need, he is able to make his wishes known. (On a side note, I did not have any more formula, so instead, Luke downed most of a muffin and a half. He can be quite the eater when he sets his mind to it.)

Has he done the "more" sign since? Nope! But from what I have heard, there is often a lag between when a baby makes a sign for the first time and when he can use it consistently. We have started to notice other things that he is able to imitate as well, though. For example, when we sing "Clap Your Hands, All Ye People" he will clap and (though not a the right moment) put his hands up in the air! It sure is fun to watch this little guy being able to do more and more every day!

It's a Girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday and found out that the baby we are expecting in August is a little girl! Yea! We will have a "matched set" as my dad says. When we met with the midwife after the ultrasound, she remembered that we already had a little boy and asked us if he was hoping for a brother or a sister. As it turned out, she didn't remember that he was only 9 months old. ;-) From the measurements on the ultrasound, it looks like little Emma Caroline is growing right on schedule and the due date remains August 9. Please pray for her continued growth and development and for a safe and healthy delivery.

Clap Clap!

So the other night, we were having family worship. We have been working with Luke to help him sit still and quiet during this time and also during church on Sundays. All of a sudden, he started clapping. We hadn't practiced this. We hadn't modeled or coached. He just started doing it! Of course, what I was supposed to do was to encourage him to keep quiet, but I couldn't help watching with delight. I was kind of thinking maybe Matt wouldn't notice. But shortly, Matt stopped his reading and said, "Is he clapping?!?" We ended up taking a break from our reading to watch Luke clapping! The only problem now is that he wants to clap in church. I had to explain to him that Presbyterians don't do that. ;-)

Standing ... Sort Of

The weather this week and weekend has been absolutely gorgeous. It's the middle of March, and the temperatures have been in the mid 70's. Also, Joshua (my 10 year old brother) has been staying with us since Wednesday while Mom and Dad are away celebrating their 30th anniversary (Yea, Mom and Dad!!). Last Thursday, we picked up Joshua at school and went to the park. It was so lovely and we had such a grand time that we decided to go again on Saturday. Josh wanted to invite Ryan and Ben (who would be home from VCU on Spring Break).

Ryan and Ben met us at the park with kites, and we brought one of Matt's old kites. The kite flying didn't amount to much (mostly because Ryan had purchased $1 kites that were only 23" long and Matt's kite fell apart shortly after it was launched). But Josh found a family who was playing Frisbee and softball and joined them for some sports action. Ben had to head off to another engagement. So, Ryan and I sat on a blanket playing with Luke.

Donna (Ryan's sweetie) called him on his cell phone. While he was talking to her, Luke was standing beside me holding onto my shoulder and playing with my sunglasses. Apparently, he decided that he needed two hands to properly explore the sunglasses, because he let go of my shoulder. For about 5 seconds, Ryan and I (and Donna, sort of by way of phone) witnesses Luke standing all by himself! He was a little wobbly, but you could see his toes working to keep him balanced. In just a short while, he seemed to realize that he was no longer holding on and regained his grip on my shirt. It was fun while it lasted!

Matt claims he won't believe it until he sees it with his own eyes. Luke has yet to repeat the task and I expect he won't unless he has some good reason to stand and use both hands to do something!