Storytime Snippet

One difference, the crab cake is reading (and signing) to me. Love it. So love it very much. Everybody thinks his/her kid is the greatest thing since sliced bread- trust me, I am a teacher. Given the coolness of this video snippet, kiddo is showing skills that make him snazzier than warm grilled cheese and tomato soup combos. That's saying a lot.

Even though as I type this Miles is smearing mashed potatoes onto the dogs, I am still one proud mama bear.

He growls, he asks for shoes, he says bye-bye...

... what else could a mother ask for??? For real, that is his best, sustained baby tiger growl to date. Yes, we've been practicing. And, to top it off, Miles knows how to cover his coughs. We has taught to "catch his cough" at playgroup. Love it. Love it all, especially the boy (with sharp teeth like a baby tiger).

Picking Pumpkins- sorta, part 3

That dark sky should have been omen enough for me to realize that yesterday was not a good day for pumpkin picking. But noooo, I wanted my cool photos. Luckily, I got a few before Miles had a Three Miles(s) Island style meltdown. All he wanted to do was crawl and kick the orange balls (ie pumpkins). When we first walked on the field, Miles did the sing for "ball" for a good two minutes. He didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to roll said "balls" around. Seeing that I don't know how to sign, "Hey kid, it's only a gourd," we had a rough visit. Miles was happy cruising around a clearing in the field, picking up old corn husks. It's cool- they are gluten-free. Tantrum, however, did ensue when we air lifted him out of the section of pre-picked pumpkins. It had to be done because little man was having a BLAST knocking the big orange "balls" into one another. The owners must have been shivering in their boots, or at least keeping silent tally on a calculator. Anyways, when I picked Miles up, he unleashed all of the frustration onto my upper left arm. As his weapons of choice were not fussy shrieks and tiny balled fists. Oh no, his four front teeth latched onto me Jurassic Park style. Surprise- he's a veloca-baby in disguise. I was so shocked that I couldn't even scream. He's never done that before- biting because he was mad. In silent anguish, I walked my bruised arm and ego to the car, quickly handed Miles over to Jesse, and proclaimed that I was too angry to talk for the next 20 minutes.

And the saddest part of all... we never got a pumpkin from the patch. Scratch that. The saddest part of all... my left arm still hurts today. Do you think I can pay a dentist to glue in a mouth guard into his mouth? Obviously for safety reasons- the safety of others' shoulders. I am seriously tempted to spend my afternoon writing a behavior plan. Could be baby's first BIP...

Skip to the end of the day following Miles' Mike Tyson impersonation (and the part of Evander Holyfeld's ear was played by my shoulder)- I am still a little rattled by the episode. He's been a bit squirrely all day, fidgety and fussy. Perhaps that's his toddler-way of saying, "My bad, mom. I still love you." Even if I am way off the mark on that reading, I am still believing it because I want to feel that my son loves me as a mommy and not as a stress release device. Any suggestions on how to curb a budding Count Dracula? I don't want biting to become his new form of communication.

Precious moment

Last night Miles signed to Jesse and me "please" and "sleep." This is monumental for several reasons:

1. he typically fights his bed time like a demon jacked up on No Doze

2. signs are usually linked to eating activities

3. he promptly went to sleep

I am so very proud of him. Even though he was fast asleep at the time, I told him that I was proud. What excellent communication. Signing is rapidly becoming status quo in our house, and we love it! Seeing him calmly express his needs was my precious moment.

First Juice Ever- seriously.

Another Jesse generated clip; might be Oscar-worthy... for the camera phone category.

More peas, please.

How do you like Jesse's cameo? He's not just the producer/ director; he's a supporting actor.

Signs of the time

Communication is booming in the Thomas household. I fully anticipate Miles to be asking for Grey Poupon with his hands within the hour. Seriously though, the sign language has taken off. It took 14 months of Jesse and me signing to Miles with nary a reply on the baby's behalf. Now he's a veritable fountain of hand flurries, all of which mean more than just frustration and dancing.

As for the "environmental" sound at the end of the clip (aka- what does a baby tiger say?), we are working on that. His speech therapist would prefer Miles mimicking our dogs, truck sounds, ducks, etc. However, a baby tiger is a first, and it is the only animal sound our son can currently make. Does that render our family a bit odd- that our son only imitates adolescent large cats? Not in any way, it makes us Vegas 'bound, baby! Wonder if they have a Buddy Walk...

What happened right before the now infamous "more" clip...

Cheating is such a strong word; guess that teacher trait in me is still alive and kickin'. On Miles' behalf, this was captured only moments before the clip I posted earlier. So instead of cheating, little man was just being resourceful and crafty. Additionally, Miles has become a "more" signing machine. We get "more" for chex, soy yogurt, dino nuggets, and sippy cup tugs. And he's even mirroring back "milk" right before bottle time.

Houston, we have expressive language!

After months and months and months of us signing to Miles, we got one of the signs back this morning. There have been suspected sightings of "milk" in recent days, but nothing confirmed because they were all out of context. However, this "more" sign was done when prompted to ask. We've known that he'd do just about anything for Rice Chex.

Now, ten minutes later, Miles is still signing for more Chex, and the box is empty. It's a Saturday morning, so cookies will have to do. All in the name of progress, right?