My family talks with our hands.

If, like me, you sat through "Meet the Fockers", you may remember that the only redeeming character was the adorable signing baby.

And if you watched the video linked above, you saw an even cuter little baby signing with her mom. And you may be thinking that is impossible.

But it's not! I tried baby sign with my son when he was very young, starting around 4 months, and he never really got into it. He understood a few signs, but he never reciprocated and, since I was the only one working on it with him, there wasn't a lot of consistency, and I gave it up.

But they recently introduced baby sign at his daycare, and HE LOVES IT. Being a boy, he doesn't have the same level of vocabulary his female-majority classmates enjoy (again, he understands a lot, but doesn't repeat a lot back). Unless he knows the sign for a word. If he can sign it, he can say it.

This may seem counter-intuitive. A lot of people worry that signing with their baby will cause their child to speak later, since they'll just be using the signs. But signing actually helps a child understand the principles of communication, and that words and meanings are associated with objects. Also, the signing adult, consciously or not, is typically communicating better with the child, facing them so that the child can see the sign, but the child is also watching their mouth and learning how to form the words.

If you have, or are expecting a little one, pick up a book on baby sign. It's probably only going to run you about $20, and you could be doing both yourself and your child a huge favor.

Sanitizing the Bible: When Christianity isn't baby-friendly

For those who may not be aware, the Bible is not PG. Not even PG-13. There are more than enough passages to warrant a solid R rating.

I'm not just referring to the obvious stuff either, like Song of Solomon, or the massacre of the innocents. There is some very depraved and raunchy stuff in the Bible. :cough: Lot's daughers :cough:

But you don't normally think about that stuff. Or, at least, I don't. Normally, when I remember things from the Bible, I just think of the books I really enjoy, like Galatians, or Proverbs, or Ecclesiastes. (A really cool and visual verse is Ecclesiastes 10:1, "Dead flies doth cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour, so doth a little folly ruin a reputation for wisdom and honour." The unnecessary "u"s should be indication that I learned it in the Old King James version.)

But a couple of months back, our church charged us with trying to read all the way through the Bible in a year. They even gave us handy little reading charts that break it up so you read about three chapters a day, two from Old Testament and one from New. (The idea is that you have the New Testament there to help you get through some of the really slow parts in the Old Testament. Can you imagine reading nothing but Leviticus for a month? I've tried to do it in the past, and it was mentally painful.)

It's always been a goal of mine to read through the whole Bible, so I joined a small group with two other women in my congregation and we meet once a week to hold each other accountable and discuss what we thought of that week's reading. I even started looking back through the toddler-friendly collection of Bible stories I got my son as an infant, figuring he's about to the age where he can enjoy it, and relate it back to the stories they're learning in class.

It was in comparing my adult, big-girl Bible and my son's "Bible" that I realized just how much they had to leave out. And, even worse, how much more they should have left out.

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Shameless plug: The amazing seahorse makes babies sleep!

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Ocean-Wonders-Soothe-Seahorse/dp/B000W3XEQM

Okay, so does it count as a shameless plug if I'm not getting paid a cent to endorse it, and just really, really love the product? No? Okay cool.

I bought this seahorse for my boy when I was still pregnant with him. I loved the fact that it made ocean sounds in addition to lighting up and playing music, and was machine-washable on top of that. (You just take out the mechanical part in the middle, easy-peasy.)

From since he was born, this awesome seahorse has been my son's bedtime lovey. It takes very little pressure to make the belly light up and play sounds, so it's good for even a little baby, and it turns off after 1o minutes, which is just about the perfect amount of time to soothe a little one to sleep.

At 18 months, my son has two so that one can stand in while the other takes a run through the wash, and he'll normally signal that he's ready for a nap by picking up his seahorse, hugging it on, and coming over and asking to be picked up.

His two younger cousins also each have one now, too. : D

I got his at Babies R' Us for about $15, which is a really good deal for the triple-threat combo of a stuffed animal/nightlight/sound machine, not to mention all the good nights' sleep.

Disclaimer

I am aware of the fact that "premature" is usually used to denote an infant under a certain weight or level of developmental criteria, and that my healthy, 8-pound at birth preterm baby does not qualify as such. But, in the drug-induced haze following delivery, one thing I do distinctly remember is my Dad informing me that I had an "eight-pound preemie", and it kind of stuck.

Also, just so we're clear, I am not a pediatrician/OB-GYN/nurse/lactation consultant/veteranarian/etc. The opinions are my own, and they are just that, opinions.

Furthermore, I will often refer to my son in terms such as "perfect" and "greatest/smartest/sweetest/most gorgeous baby to ever live". Again, this is my opinion, however, in no way does that imply that my opinion is incorrect. I am sure other parents are convinced of the same characteristics in their own children. I do not care in the slightest. If you want to argue that these adjectives are true of your offspring, then go start your own blog. This one is mine.