Baby signs

Rob, Gloria, and I signed up for a class to learn baby sign language. It's 6 weeks/classes long and put on by Gymboree. At first I thought Gloria was too old to do it, even though it's geared toward 6-18 months. I talked to the teacher of it and some parents who have done it before and they convinced me that Gloria was at the perfect age to learn and use sign language. It's a great age for it because kids finally have good control over their hands and fingers, they can comprehend what we say and know what we're talking about, and because they want to communicate with us.

We've gone to 4 classes so far. In each class we learn 6 signs that correspond with the theme of the class. We've done mealtime (more, all done, drink, eat, cereal, and milk), bathtime (frog, duck, bath, bubbles, water, and toothbrush), bedtime (love, stars, light, sleep, moon, and book), and getting dressed (socks, shoes, coat, hat, diaper, and comb).

Gloria has quickly picked up the signs that we do consistently. She does the sign for more if she wants more bites of food or wants to play something again. She will sign all done if we ask her if she is done. Occasionally she will sign drink. She knows how to sign book and say it at the same time. Gloria learned how to sign stars at Gymboree because we do it when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and will sign it whenever she hears that song or hears the word 'stars'. She can sign hat which is pretty easy, just patting your head, because she knows that's where a hat goes. She also signs bath when she wants to take a bath or when we tell her it's bathtime!

It's amazing how quickly Gloria picked it up and how well she understands it. We're excited for the next two classes - pets and at the park!

"Vrooming around on my bus - I'm just learning how to use my feet to go on my own."
2-24-09

First cold

Poor baby Gloria just had to endure her first cold ever. It lasted 10 days - February 24 to March 5. Her nose was running, she was congested, she couldn't nurse very well and had coughing attacks whenever she tried to sleep. We had to wipe her nose off all of the time, and she didn't enjoy that. Rob bought a baby nose saline spray and it only took one time for Gloria to realize that, hey, it helped her quite a bit. So, she didn't fight that after the first time. But, we got through it and now Gloria is back to her normal happy-go-lucky self. I hope that we don't have to deal with too many colds. It was no fun at all.

"Even though I have a cold and my nose is running, I still have fun and smile - sometimes."

Adventures - August & September 2008

I came across some pictures from last year that I never shared on the blog, so I thought we'd do a flashback. Back to August and September 2008 - here we go!

"My first time in a high chair at a restaurant!"

August 8, 2008

"Visiting Saugatuck, Michigan with Mommy and Grammy!"

August 27, 2008

"Cruisin' around the driveway in my walker"

September 3, 2008

"Having lunch with Mommy and Auntie April..."

"...and then playing at the park!"

September 5, 2008

Chillaxin'

"Here I am, waking up after my morning nap. Mommy just took off my jammies and is ready to get me dressed. I have other ideas though! I want to play in my bed!"

"Chillaxin' as Mommy changes my diaper."

(Chillaxin' : chilling + relaxing
I'm picking up new lingo as I get older!)

"I love to stretch!"

"Holy moly! I can't believe I was ever that little. That can't possibly be me, can it?!"
February 1, 2008 to February 23, 2009

An artist!

Little Gloria Grace is a budding artist. She loves to draw on her magna-doodle and we are starting to let her color on paper with crayons. She gets quite into it, pulling out her coloring book every chance she gets. Sometimes Gloria is more interested in getting the crayons out of the bag and putting them back in, but when she chooses to color she creates the most gorgeous masterpieces!