marydell | Baby Sign Language

Charlie is somewhat on the mend, but still feels like crap today. Although he's 18 months old, he's still mainly pre-verbal, and he also isn't good at pointing to things, so he has a hard time communicating what he does and doesn't want. We opted not to teach him baby sign language because some of the signs require more hands than he's got, and all of them require more motor skills than he's got. He, however, has cleverly developed his own signs to let me know what he's thinking.

1. Slapping my glasses off of my head, followed by a beaming smile: "You're pretty, Mommy!"

2. Frowning and slapping my face, neck, chest, or whatever else is handy: "You suck, Mommy! No I will not take a nap! Fuck naps!"

3. Biting my arm: "What do you mean, 'no hitting???' Bring your face back in range so I can slap it some more!"

4. Scratching my face, neck, chest, etc. "Hey, I was playing with that toy, damn it! Also, you suck!"

5. Biting his own hand: "Rarrrgh!!! Hulk Angry!!!! Fuck your attempts to sooth me and the horsie they rode in on! Raaargh!!"

Thanks to the flu or whatever this is,* he has been getting a lot of practice with these signs today. We're thinking he's got a headache on top of the rest of the troubles. I was a little bit too delighted when putting him to bed just now, I confess.

*Doc listened to his lungs and decided to test him for RSV, Strep and a bunch of other stuff, and to give him an antibiotic to take until the results come back, just in case, since she heard a couple of "little things going on in there." Yay doctor.