Life as a Leach

Check out Caleb's signing during his preschool graduation!  I don't know if you can tell too much here, but he didn't even usually need to watch his teacher for reminders of the signs.  I was really proud of him! They did another signing song, but Blogger is being really weird and will only post certain videos.  I can't figure out any rhyme or reason to it, but it's very annoying.  :(

When people ask how many signs Abby has, I usually say about 20.   Truth be known, I'd never counted them all up.  The other day at the JHH specialties clinic, I ran into an amazing 13 year old I know who is staying at the Ronald McDonald House.  He'd never met Abby, so he was asking some questions about her. Side note:  I LOVE the innocence of kids:  "What's that thing on her neck?"  "So, does it just go around her neck, or does it go inside of her?"  "Is she going to get better?"  I wish adults would just come out and ask those questions, rather than staring!  I eagerly answered all of his questions in kid-friendly terms loudly enough for the gawkers nearby to hear. The boy saw Abby sign "more" to me and asked how many signs she had.   About 20,  I replied.  Then he asked what signs she knew. Hmmmm.  Her nurse and I started listing some...and we realized that she had a lot more than 20!! Over the past three days,...

Caleb prays before each meal. If you've never experienced a Caleb Prayer, it goes a little somethin' like this:  "God is great and please help Mommy and Abby feel better.  Amen."  He's been praying that since I went into the hospital with Abs in September 2010.  I'm never going to get sick again! Recently, we've starting having Abby pray after Caleb.  We want to include her and Caleb started to work on praying about this age, so we figured, why not? We started out modeling the signs for "Thank you Jesus.  Amen." because we figured stringing those three signs together would be plenty for Abby right now.  After a day or two, she started mimicking us.  Then I started just saying the word and she would sign it.  Now, I start her with thank you  and she does the rest.  She knows that as soon as Caleb prays, it's her turn! The best part is the huge grin that spreads across her face when it's time for her to pray.  Her favorite ...

She has a few more signs, but this gives a good taste of how well Abby is learning to communicate.  She's pretty remarkable!! Please note:  Abby's signs may not be exactly what the "real" sign is.  We model the correct way, but take whatever she does consistently for a certain word.  We figure we'll fine tune it later.  :)