Waking Words

Well, we hauled ass out of bed at 6am today--me reluctantly, the Boodge with his usual great enthusiasm, undampened by the cold he acquired overnight. I'm taking the opportunity to spend some time with "Mama Buttons" (my computer, as named by the Boodge). It's a gamble--so far he has come over already a couple of times to ask for "Five Monkeys!", but I've been able to divert him back to his "Baby Signing Time" video which is on TV.

If any of you out there have a babe in your life around 1 year old, I can't recommend these "Baby Signing Time" videos enough. They teach babies to sign useful words using songs, images of other babies signing, and cute cartoon animation. The Boodge is great with language, and I credit Baby Signing Time with turning on the light that showed him the possibilities of communication. He LOVES his babies, and "Rachoo!" (Rachel, the developer and star of the series). Often, he has surprised me by pulling out a word like "cereal!" or "moon!" (yes, he says everything with an exclamation point) that I know he could only have learned from Rachoo. And the fact that he signs the word too helps me understand the difference between "Na na" (banana) "Ni Ni" (night night) and "Noo Noo" (noodles). Anyone looking for a gift for a one year old, look no more, this is the ticket.

Um, that's not to give the impression that I let him watch YouTube and DVD's all day...we limit him to one Baby Signing Time a day, except on special needs days. You'd be amazed what I can do in that half hour. But I do join him for the final song, which is always a sweet parent-child love song that can bring me to tears even after 38 listens.

And it seems my time is up. Urgent requests for "Mango!!" are coming my way. Rachoo is done singing and signing. So we're off to start another day. Hope you all have a good one.