Wednesday, March 10, 2010

First word and sign

Two days ago Eric taught Dio his first word:

"Uh oh."

Now whenever he throws or drops something, he says a soft little "oh oh." He says it all day long: dropping his food off his high chair at mealtime, throwing a ball into the water during mother-baby swimming lessons, holding onto our bedframe at night.
Then today, I was getting ready to nurse him for his afternoon nap. He was wrapped up in his blanket, and I unhooked my nursing bra. I said, "Dio, are you ready to nurse?" He laughed and started patting his face so enthusiastically that he was practically hitting himself. (I made up my own sign for "nurse": patting my lips. I don't like the ASL sign, which looks like you're milking a cow. Thanks but no. I am not a cow.)

I wondered if this was a fluke, so I tried it again at bedtime. I asked & signed if he wanted to nurse. He started laughing and hitting his face again. Definitely on purpose.

10 comments:

  1. So cute! I made up my own sign too, but it was just completely random based one what I thought she'd be able to do with her pudgy little fingers.

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  2. We use the ASL for "breast." Well, and we use the English spoken word for breast also. :) Margaret asks for breast and sometimes will say "nurse." When I offer to her, I ask, "Do you want breast?"

    I know some people think that's a little too out there- but I'd rather her say "breast" than "boobie!"

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  3. I love the non-cow sign idea...and hope you can capture Master Dio on film for our viewing pleasure :)

    Missing you all, and hope to meet Dio soon...

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  4. congrats dio! i agree, i don't want to be the sign for milk. interesting tid bit - there is no sign in asl for nursing or breastfeeding. this is the best i have found thus far. http://www.momsmilkboutique.com/Sales_and_Specials!!_107_cat.html

    a great book for everyday items and food is The Signed English Starter by Harry Bornstein

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  5. This has nothing to do with your post, but I thought you might like to read this article.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35802334/ns/health-pregnancy/

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  6. So cool. May I borrow your sign for nursing? I want to distingish between nursing and drinking cow's milk.

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  7. Most definitely! It's not "my" sign, anyway. I like this sign because 1) it's easy for babies to do and 2) it makes sense, because they're patting their mouths and 3) it's similar to the sign for "food"

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  8. That's awesome! I'm very much looknig forward to teaching this baby some signs when she arrives, and I am definitely not wanting to compare myself to a cow (heaven knows the weight gain already has me making that comparison more than I'd like to admit).

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  9. In one of the baby sign language books I read. The sign for milk was the milking of a cow. But the sign for nurse was taking your hand down the top of your breast. Kind of like wiping something off your shirt... So when I would ask my daughter if she wanted to nurse, I would take my hand down the from collar bone to breast and she would nod. Now she is on cow milk so we do the cow sign.

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