"Richard" wrote in message
...
zolw wrote:

SNIP

Signing is really neat. It's fun to be able to communicate with a
pre-verbal
toddler. Be prepared for early disagreements, though. Here's the
scenario: a
pre-verbal baby sitting in high chair as you lovingly prepare dinner.
Just as
you get ready to feed your baby, still too young to talk, your baby signs
"Raisins. More. Raisins." You sign back "No. Eat." pointing to her
dinner.
Your baby starts fussing, and you (jokingly) think, "why did I teach this
child
that sign?" ;-) It happened to me (but I didn't ask myself why I
taught
her this raisin sign).

Silly question here, but why not just give her more raisins? In our house,
cheerios and raisins are a part of every meal, and can be eaten in any
quantity she wants. Like an appetizer, or first course. And if for some
reason all she ended up eating for that meal was raisins and cheerios, then
that's okay. At least I know she'd be getting some fruit and some grain,
along with her milk or orange juice.

I'm a big believer in letting the child chose what she wants to eat and how
much, from the food that I'm providing, a la How To Get Your Child To Eat,
But Not Too Much, by Ellyn Satter. It's great book!


We're at the point where we're just beginning to see some of the "T two's"
creeping into Micaela's behavior (in 9 days, she'll be closer to 2 than to
1).
We've read that signing toddlers have an easier time through the two's (as
do their parents!), so we're cautiously optimistic.

Richard
Micaela's dad

I'd forgotten that Micaela was only 2 months older than Taylor. Too funny.
This has happened to me a few times in the past week or so -- hearing about
someone's toddler and realizing that child is only 2-3 months older than
Taylor, but thinking that child must have been closer to 6 months or a year
older. I guess it has to do with how slowly time was passing while we were
dealing with IF and waiting for our own child to finally arrive. Funny.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest, Password:
Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Handmade Baby Blankets -- www.geocities.com/digit_the_cat/Blankets.html