About Grace

One side benefit I'd hoped for and maybe expected, with Jonathan going to kindergarten, is that Grace might start to talk a little more.  During the summer, when Jonathan was at Vacation Bible School for just five mornings, her babbling sounds got a lot more varied, which I loved.  I started hoping for the same thing for this fall.

After just a few days of kindergarten, I have noticed a big difference in the sound of her babbling.  She doesn't have a lot of words yet, but it's awfully cute.  Backing up a bit, I should note that we have done a lot more sign language with Grace than we did with Jonathan, and it has worked great for both kids.  (I have had some people ask whether this delays their language development, but research has shown that it actually enhances it.)  I thought I'd make a list of the signs she's using right now, for you faraway relatives who may not see her during this stage.  She would know more signs if I knew more myself and took the time to teach more to her, and also if our library carried the Signing Time video series.  Anyway, here's what she signs, some days better than others:

bear
dog
bird
fish
fan
light
no
baby
hurt
sorry
sleepy
eat
drink
more
all done
please
thank you
cracker
cheese
fruit
plane
car
phone
bath
silly

Back to the babbling:  she has started trying to say what we say now and then, which I love.  I love the trying-to-talk stage.  This weekend she learned "yay," "yeah," "moo," and "neigh."  Very simple, but this mommy is happy.

For the last few weeks (months?) Grace has been fussy in the mornings for no discernible reason.  She has been fine out and about, but not at home.  It hasn't seemed to matter what we're doing...she's just not content.  Finally, at the end of last week, she had a content morning (compared to before, anyway!) and it was so nice to be able to enjoy time with her with less complaining on her part.  Between the new babbling and less wailing noises, my time with Grace is getting a lot more fun.  We're soaking in the times that we have together, just the two of us, between now and December.