Mama, I'm Coming Home

So there's been major upheaval in our world. Himself decided enough was enough at his old company and found a much better offer in our hometown. The good part is that his pay is increased with this position and we are once again close to family so Baby Alex will have plenty of quality time with both sets of Grandparents and the Uncles. The bad is that we had to move. I'm glad of the actual move to speak the truth. As much as I complained about our hometown before we left, I found that I really missed it once we were gone. Perhaps not the town itself but more the people in it and the support that comes with it. The past two years being away from that were very difficult. Even more once the kiddo came into the picture. I found myself battling mild depression more often than not and it really affected the little things of daily life. Little things which turned into big things. But, I won't go down that road. It's a dark one of self  loathing and I'm simply going to shut the door on it and walk away into the sunrise of better days.

The interesting part of all of this is that we have moved in with my parents and plan to live here until we have our nest egg back. (Or until I lose my sanity, whichever comes first.) It's really nice to have extra hands taking care of Baby Alex who isn't so much a baby anymore but a toddler with oodles of energy. It's so shocking to see how much can be done by the little one with no help from us. He feeds himself most of the time (often getting quite upset if we try to help) and has become quite a chatter box. He uses a mish-mash of English, Baby babble, and America Sign Language.

Many people are surprised that he knows ASL and are confused at best as to why a non-deaf child would be taught Sign Language. The short answer is that it it makes my life simpler. ASL provides a way for Baby A to communicate with me for words he simply doesn't have the finesse for. This provides less frustration on both our parts and a heck of a lot less tears. Honestly, it really wasn't that hard for either of us to learn. Mostly we just use basic words for everyday life with a baby: diaper, milk, bath, eat, more, all done, help, up, down, and please. Once he picks one up, we introduce another one a few days later and link them up so he can connect the meaning and not simply mimic the action. He picked up "please" first (such good manners from the start!) and to that we added "more". Then once he had the motion for "more" down we linked the two so he could ask for "more, please." After that, we taught him "all done" so he could signal that he was through with feeding time. Then it was "eat" so he could ask for food when he was hungry. Then "milk" for when he was thirsty. "Diaper" and "bath" got grouped with "milk" for the bedtime ritual. "Up" came from after sleeping and wanting out of his crib and "down" was after that. "Help" is the newest addition and "kiss" is currently being worked on. If I ever figure out how to add video in here I may post up examples but for now, I must feed the little one before he gets hangry.

In the mean time, do any of you do ASL with your young ones? Share your experiences, I'd love to hear them!