Lifestyles of the Young + Suburban

Archive for November, 2008

Last weekend Lisa and I went to a two-hour crash course on baby sign language. Well, it’s not baby sign language, it is American Sign Language, but taught to infants to allow them to communicate before they are able to speak.

It sounded a little too new-agey for my blood, but Lisa was excited about it and I couldn’t think of anything better to spend $60 on that would make me miss the second half of the UGA game (just kidding Lisa!).

Coming out of the class, I have to admit I am very interested in the opportunity for Grayson to communicate with us. How cool would it be that when we ask him why he is upset, he can actually tell us he has a wet diaper, is hungry or would like to go outside with Jackson for a walk down the street?

The instructor recommended we start off with a handful of signs that we could remember and used most often in every day conversation. Lisa being the wonderful mother she is, didn’t want think we should limit ourselves or Grayson, so I was quizzed last night on almost 20 signs.

If you’re counting at home, I aced it.

Our thought is that even if Grayson can only pick up a few signs, it would still be great to give him an opportunity to let us know what may be on his mind. If for some reason he’s not into it, at least we know a little bit of sign language, because you never know when we could run into a deaf guy who may want more milk or needs his diaper changed.

Just 10 days and we are headed back to Atlanta for 10 days of fellowship with family and friends, not to mention food (think turkey). While we are not taking a midnight train, we are flying again and if the last trip was any indication of how good Grayson is on a plane — we should be in good shape.

We’re planning to head up to Athens for the Georgia / Georgia Tech game, which will be fun, even if Grayson will be staying with his Nunu for the day.

Are you going to be in town and are interested in getting together with us – drop me or Lisa an email!

A little early morning ego surfing and I stumbled across something very interesting. A book with a dog named Manchee. And the dog can talk. How sweet is that!

I emailed the author to see what his source of inspiration was for the name. He wrote back (surprisingly quick) to tell me about a law firm in Oxford (UK) with the name Manches. Bleh. He saw the name and thought it would be a good name, though slightly modified. I was hoping for something a little more exciting, but the truth isn’t always exciting.

Regardless, I ordered the book today to check it out. Looks like it got some decent reviews and if you are a fan of young adult fiction, it may be a good one to look into. If you are interested it is called The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Order it here.

UPDATE (11/20): I finished the book over the weekend. It was good enough that I will probably stick with the series and see where it goes. It helped that I knew the book was the first in series to be released, because there are a good chunk of items that need to be cleared up. Without giving away too much, the dog named Manchee does not talk the entire book, so I wouldn’t make the purchase for that sole reason…still okay.

In case you wanted to see a close-up of the tooth:

Grayson pulled off the pirate getup quite well, even if he didn’t wear it all Halloween night he seemed to enjoy himself! The best part about was that he brought a little something extra outside of the cap, patch and outfit — he has his first tooth!

We’re still working on getting a picture of it, but it is definitely making its way out of his gum. For those keeping score at home, it is his bottom left tooth as you are looking at him (lower central incisor).

On a related matter, Grayson’s cousin, Ellie, lost her first tooth in the past week or so. It just so happens that it was in the very same location as Grayson’s new tooth. As you may already be thinking — the theory that was discussed yesterday was that the Tooth Fairy may have taken Ellie’s tooth and put it in Grayson’s mouth. I’m not a doctor, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but this sounds very plausible (cue the X-Files music).