I DID JINX US!

In one of Monday's posts, I mentioned how it had been a whole month since Taelyn bit someone at daycare. I followed it with a quick hope that I didn't jinx us. Guess I totally did, because Tae bit somebody again yesterday. Now our count starts all over.

Day one without biting.

ASL and Speech Development

We have been teaching Tae a few signs. She has quite a few down: bath, cereal, cracker, help, hungry, fish, milk, more, shoe, sleep, thank you, water, cute, please.

Some people say that it slows speech development; others say it progresses it. Both are backed by studies. My opinion? Either way, I love her being able to tell me what she wants and my being able to understand.

Honestly, I do think it has slowed down her attempts to communicate verbally. Why work on saying it when mom already knows what you want. At the same time, it has been interesting to see the development take place. The first sign she learned was cracker. Now she says it. Granted, you may not recognize 'ckh-a-ckh-r' for what it is, but we sure do. Now that she can say it, she refuses to sign it. Additionally, I keep forgetting to look up the signs for some of her favorite foods (peach, pear, pineapple, etc). Because we haven't shown her the sign, she attempts to copy our speech pattern for the word. So would she be attempting to talk more if she didn't have the signing to fall back on? Probably. Would I be able to understand what she was trying to communicate? I doubt it (right now peach and peanut sound exactly the same). I do love how confident she is in signing. Interestingly enough, I think that confidence has passed on to her verbal skills.

Anyway. For those who may be contemplating teaching your infant/toddler sign language, here are my thoughts. In my researching the topic, there are varying ages that 'they' recommend beginning. (I know, I know. Who are 'they' and why are 'they' saying it.) We tried starting at 8 months. Nothing happened. I continued to try, off and on, for the next few months. Still nothing. It wasn't until after she turned one that she took off. Now I can show her a sign 3-4 times and she has it down.

Something to keep in mind is that often an infant/toddler will sign a word incorrectly. That is fine. You should be looking for repetition of the sign to determine what they are trying to communicate. As you figure out their signs, continue to sign it correctly to them. They will correct their signs as they get older and their coordination increases.

I could go off on this topic, more than I already have, but these are the basics according to me. Any questions or thoughts on the topic? No, I don't really expect any replies to that question, but secretly I am hoping.

What's been going on at our house?

I really do feel bad about the lack of posts lately. So much has happened-and yet...nothing has really happened.

Tae got stomach flu a week and a half ago. It was our first throw-up experience with her. It was awful. She got sick twice before we put her to bed. We had an emergency bath and changing of her bedding before we went to bed. She woke up choking on and coughing up phlegm 4 times during the night. When I called my boss the next morning to let him know I was staying home with her, I had reached the point of desperation. I said, "Scott, you're a dad that has been through this. What do I do?!" 5 minutes later, his wife called me. We were finally able to get her to hold down Pedialyte.

We had a RS retreat up at the Heber Valley Girls Camp. It was a one-night campout thing. My parents were going to baby-sit because Jon had been asked to come as one of the Priesthood leaders. Unfortunately, that fell at the tail end of Tae's 24-hour flu. Jon stayed home with her and I went up for a few hours. Other than the snow on the ground and the freezing cold wind, it was rather enjoyable. Secretly I was glad I had to go home. I'm not sure I ever would have gotten warm enough to actually fall asleep.

Last weekend was the ASCE-YMF BBQ. Lot of acronyms, I know. American Society of Civil Engineers-Younger Member Forum. It is the professional organization for Civil Engineers under the age of 35. There was actually a huge turnout. We ate dinner, carved pumpkins, fed ducks, chased Taelyn, and missed the officer elections (we were feeding ducks). Kind of sad considering I was running for Treasurer. All positions were uncontested-so it wasn't too big a deal.

That is about it. OH! Except for the fact that it has been 1 whole month since Taelyn has bit someone at daycare! Sad as it may be, I feel like it is Christmas every time I go to pick her up and there isn't a slip telling me she bit someone. It's like it has been Christmas for a whole month! In her defense, she never used to bite...until she was bitten first. Hopefully we are passed that phase...and hopefully I didn't just jinx it.

What's been going on in our ward?

There are two things that I really want to blog about.

The first is the family that taught the last RS cooking class. They are from Micronesia. The daughter served a mission in England, so she serves as a translator. I think I have figured out the family relations there, but am not really sure how to explain it. The mom and dad have two married daughters and a single son. I believe their nephew lives with them, as well as the brother of their son-in-law. Anyway, the reason I post about this family is because we attended the baptism of their nephew's wife (they had gotten married earlier that same day). It was so sweet and simple. The talks were in their native language and the daughter translated. The following day the nephew's wife was confirmed. Because it was fast and testimony meeting, several of the family members then bore their testimonies. We heard from the father, the girl that had just been baptized, one of the son-in-laws (both son-in-laws are new members), and the daughter that serves as the translator. It was one of the more spiritual meetings that I have attended lately. Maybe it was partly because Taelyn was good and I was able to listen. Either way, this family is amazing and it has been fun to watch them grow.

The second thing is that we now have Sister Missionaries! It was amazing to be able to go out with them to an appointment. It reminded me of how long it has been since I was in their shoes. They are both amazing and work so well together. One is a recent convert from Michigan who is finishing up her mission. The other is from Kentucky and is just starting hers. They spoke in Sacrament Meeting yesterday and did an amazing job. Once again, Taelyn was good and I was able to listen.

It was nice to have two incredible meetings in a row. It was even nicer that I got to listen to them both. I had honestly gotten to the point where I was wondering if I would ever be able to feel the Spirit in a meeting again. I never realized just how hard it is to have a toddler at church.

RS Cooking Class 6

I just realized that I have still not posted classes 3-5. I've fallen behind and let my blog go! In an attempt to remedy that, let me post this. It was last night and I actually have the 'recipe' still in my purse.

The recipe is for Tapioca Cake, a traditional Micronesian dessert. We were all a little confused when the women (mother and daughter) teaching weren't sure on the cooking temperature or time. They explained (the daughter translated) that they make it in the community 'oven' that the men made with stones. I can totally understand how converting the recipe from the traditional method was a little difficult. This dessert was a hit and everyone in attendance enjoyed it. I highly recommend trying it sometime.

Tapioca Cake
1 bag Frozen Grated Cassava (They couldn't find a Micronesian store, but they found this at the Asian market around the corner. This is the tapioca-that they usually grate and make from scratch)
1/2 cup water
1/2 can condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cream cheese frosting (they used Pillsbury brand. Strawberry frosting is also often used)
1 cup coconut milk
Start with the Cassava in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Add one ingredient at a time and stir until creamy before adding next ingredient *. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a metal cake pan.

*If you double the recipe, add sugar to taste (up to 1 cup)

Nursing Covers--$32 off

I just got an email about this blog.

If you need a baby gift, or want to get a nursing cover for yourself, I highly recommend checking it out. I bought the gift set (regularly $45.85), which is on sale for $37. With the $32 off code, I paid $5 plus $8.95 shipping. Not bad.

I'm actually excited to see what else this blog has to offer. Anything subtitled A place to learn, practice, and brag about freebies, saving money, & deals! is totally worth checking out.