....comes the cutest gestures and body language...
At 14 months, Luke only clearly says a few words/sounds - "Daddy", "Mumi" (which isn't him calling for me, but instead asking for his paci), "Do" (for dog), "Rar" (for roaring like a lion), "Ay" (for yay!), "UUU" (barking like a dog)-then, there are a few words that we think we understand, but are not for sure - "outside", "toast", "ride", "yummy" (which sounds so much like mumi that I can't tell the difference), and "milk".
Even though we name all of the objects that we give Luke, he still relies heavily on pointing for his request or sometimes, if mommy and daddy don't understand with pointing, Luke takes us by the finger and shows us what he wants. Luke is very expressive...which brings me to the main idea of my post....Luke does the cutest gestures and movements....I have recorded several of them on my other video camera but it is hard to get still pictures because the movements happen so fast...I sure do wish you could all see Luke....
-give a high 5...when I hold my hand up and say, "High 5" - he does the same and hits my hand
-make the arm motion that indicates a train whenever I say, "choo-choo" - you know, it's the same hand signal that we used to give the big MAC truck drivers when they passed us in the car
-stick his fingers up to his nose and pretend to "smell" a flower - when he's outside, he actually picks up flowers and smells them
-read his Eric Carle book that requests that he act like the animals - when I read this book to him, he turns his head like the penguin, he bends his neck like the giraffe, he waves his arms like the monkey, he claps his hands like the seal, and he kicks his legs like the donkey-we have, of course, read this book while I showed him the motions a TON of times...it's one of the bed time stories
-point to the dogs' bedroom or to the back door as he "tells the dogs" where to go - when we let the dogs back in from outside or let them out of their bedroom, Luke points his finger and jibber jabbers to tell them where to go and guess what??? After giving Luke a tiny lick, they listen.
-raise his arms and stick out his tongue on request or when he sees a similar picture in a book - he has a book that has a girl raising her arms, every time we get to that page, Luke raises his arms. When he sees a child eating in a book, he sticks his tongue out. He will also stick his tongue out anytime you ask him to. He giggles because he thinks we look funny when we stick our tongues out.
-do the "Hokey Pokey" - this has to be one of my favorites - when we sing the Hokey Pokey song, he will wiggle his hands around like I do and then, my favorite part, he will turn himself in circles while stomping his feet - it's quite funny when he gets going so much that he makes himself dizzy - hilarious! :)
-pretends to be an airplane - when I say, "Luke, make an airplane," he sticks his hands out to the side and turns in circles
-point/touch many body parts - he can now, most of the time, identify the following body parts: hair, ears, belly (he's 100% on this one - he, he), nose (he often points to mine instead of his), toes, feet, hands, arms, tongue, and eyes.
-see him do the movements to "If you are happy and you know it..." - when we sing this, he will clap his hands, stomp his feet, and nod his head when we get to those parts of the song.
-clap his hands and roll his arms around when we sing "patty-cake" - he also rolls his arms when we sing, "The Wheels on the Bus."
What I am most proud of is that Luke can now do many of these things without me demonstrating them first....just by hearing the words, he knows what to do...I'm so thankful that he is so attentive....I don't worry about him not saying many words right now because I can see that he understands so very much - his comprehension of language is great! The spoken part will come - I know from experience (he, he) - that's my job! :)
What I am NOT proud of myself for is that I didn't start teaching him real sign language...I know, I know....it's not too late and I may start teaching him a few important words using sign language to see what he can pick up....I just wish I would have started sooner.
Luke's sweet gestures and movements are just one super part of this age - now that he is sleeping through the night 90% of the time, I have to say that this age is my favorite so far - we have a blast everyday because we can actually play together now and communicate! Like I have said before, this mommy stuff comes with its tough times but every challenge is SO worth it! I love my little man!
Thanks for letting me brag! Enjoy the beautiful weekend that we have ahead of us! And....don't forget to cheer on the Heels as they aim to win the ACC Tournament this weekend.
Toddy
Enjoy the pics....
He loves to play with the muffin pans....check him out...
This is the train that Luke can now push the "ride" button on his own - he cannot steer yet so it's quite interesting when he decides to ride Thomas because he pushes the button and then heads straight into the couch, wall, toys, etc (whatever is in front of him is getting hit). It's funny to watch - I'll try to get this on video to post! Mark and Melissa....you should be so proud... :)
Loving the boxes again...I save boxes for this reason...
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