Time of the signs

Dexter's almost reached the 14-month mark, and while he's still not walking, he has started using baby sign language! So far we've only seen two: "dog" and "more." The dog sign is cute, but for him to be able to communicate "more" is a big boon for all of us. Just like when we were using signs with Henry, I'm amazed at how quickly and easily he picks them up. It's not like we sit in front of him with flash cards or anything. We just do the sign while saying the word (or pointing at a dog, cat, etc), and he takes it from there. If we lived in Vancouver we could join my cousin Barb's Baby Sign class and learn a lot more. But even without a class, it's a really valuable and rewarding thing to learn together.

He also clearly understands a lot of what we say to him, and reacts appropriately. For example, if I say, "Dexter, do you want to have a bath?" he immediately drops what he's doing, takes off down the hall, climbs the stairs and crawls directly to the bath tub. He loves playing with a ball and will even play a game of "catch" if someone says, "throw me the ball!" It makes me wonder if he'll end up being a bit more sporty than Henry, who loves to run around but shows no real inclination to pick up a bat, stick, glove or any other piece of equipment that would make it into a game. But I know it's way too early to tell. I vaguely remember Henry having fun playing catch before dinosaurs and video games took over his imagination. So, who knows.

Speaking of vague memories, I'm proud of the fact that I've kept up this blog for 3 years now, even if my posting pace has dropped off considerably in recent months. We're getting to the point where I can dig through the archives and find posts about Henry that were written when he was about the same age as Dexter is now. It's fun to look back not just to compare the two boys, but to realize just how much Henry has changed. For example, check out this update from September, 2005. It's hard to believe that the toddler in that post who called both his parents "Mu-ma" now rattles off the seven-syllable names of extinct sea reptiles without stumbling. I just wish I'd started the blog a year earlier and captured moments from his first year for posterity. Oh well--can't change that, but looking back gives me incentive to keep posting at least a couple times a month, even though I often feel too tired or busy to make it a priority. Thanks for reading!