Well, it’s back to (knitting) work for me! …here’s my “work bag” (actually a totebag that I need to give back to Kristi at some point.)
In that bag are so many unfinished patterns, sketches, swatches…all screaming for attention! I’ve already even crossed a few things off my to do list.
This is the first day in quite a few weeks that I’ve woken up feeling like working. Mazie woke up at 6:30, and we all just got on up! It was nice to be up with the birds in the cool of the morning.
My daughter is not an early riser, usually. She some days wakes up as late as 10:00. It all depends on when she’s finally able to settle down and go to sleep. I was the same way as a kid. My parents had to put me to bed several times every night before it stuck. Mazie hates to miss any of the action.
Someone commented after my last post asking why we’re teaching Mazie to sign. It wasn’t something that I had decided all along to do. I think we started it because we got the Baby Einstein DVD and she enjoyed it, and started actually doing the signs herself. Then Nathan and I had to quick try to learn from the DVD, too. (And now my mom and dad are also signing with Mazie.)
At this point, we have pretty much outgrown the first DVD and gone on to using other books and references. There’s a lot of information available on the internet (both pro and con) about baby signing. We haven’t taken any classes, just tend to look up signs for words that we need as we need them.
A lot of the tantrums that happen at Mazie’s age (approaching two years) are because babies can understand most of what we say, but don’t have the physical capability to make words in a way that we can understand them. So they become frustrated at not having their wants understood…and the only way they can communicate that is to have a little tantrum.
SO. Signing gives babies who haven’t yet learned how to speak a way to communicate. For example, she can tell me when she’s hungry, thirsty, wet, and even what specific things she wants to eat or drink. She has a sign for “all done” so that instead of crying to get down from her high chair, she just tells me she’s ready.
Just so far, I think we’re seeing a lot fewer tantrums than we would without the signs. (Because we do see some, and mostly when we can’t figure out what she wants, or what specifically she wants to do.)
In other news! Nathan and I actually took off a couple of weekends ago! We went to the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero. It’s a beautiful spot. I recommend it if you’re in the area. It was a gorgeous drive, and the Inn itself is nice, too. It must be gorgeous in the winter with skiing! We talked about going up with Mazie next winter.
