friend, play, water, boat

OK, I copied that adorable picture from my friend Rachel's site (www.welikedogs.com), and you can see more of the great photos she took while she and Ben joined us at the Children's Museum in La Crosse on her flicker site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/regal_eagle/tags/childrensmusuem/

You can see a few pictures I took below but none of them are as good as hers are (she is a better photographer, has a better camera, and takes time to do better editing afterwards ... so yes, they are a lot better!)

We met Rachel and Ben at the Children's museum Saturday afternoon. I told Nessa that after her nap we would go and play (used the sign) with a friend (used the sign) in addition to telling her we were going to the museum (she wouldn't remember it) to meet Rachel and Ben. So Nessa kept signing friend and play all morning and I kept telling her that we would go after her nap. The problem is that she didn't take a nap (the price we paid for her sleeping in Sat. morning) ... luckily she stayed in a good mood most of the time at the museum and didn't start melting until she didn't wan to leave Pizza Doctors afterwards and the good thing is that she fell fast asleep when we got her home and into her pajamas!

Since Saturday Nessa talks about and signs about playing with a friend with water and boats. Yes, Nessa loved the river display the best of all and could have played with the boats in the water the entire two hours if I had let her. She also enjoyed many other parts of the museum, including the Kwik Trip store and the new Wiggles and Giggles toddler area. Nessa didn't really care for the fire truck though ... well, except she liked wearing the fire hat! :-)

Pizza Rose Brooks

Last night we had pizza for supper (in Tami's case, something resembling pizza). Nessa loves pizza. We were talking about the sign for pizza (technically you have to finger spell it but some shorten it to a two fingered Z), and Nessa started finger spelling and saying letters. Since started doing this while Shawn, Megan and I were all talking in a rather animated way, I only caught the end as she said and signed "a." I got Shawn's attention and said "she just spelled pizza!" I was so excited as she started smiled and started to do it again. Very carefully she signed and spelled: N E S S A and exclaimed "Pizza!"

And much laughter was heard.

We've been doing a lot of ASL finger spelling, especially of names. And we have been so proud the last few days when Nessa could correctly spell (say and sign) her name. Nessa has also been signing along and spelling along when we say and finger spell each of our names as well as some of her friend's names. She often asks us to do this. It's been great fun. And of course we were so proud of our smart little girl ... last night's funny proves what a normal funny toddler she is! :-)

Of course we still think she's brilliant and beautiful, and ... and has parents that are just a wee bit biased! ;-)

ASL ABCs

We continue to watch Signing Time DVDs on a regular basis. Nessa is picking up more and more signs, although it's hard to predict which ones will stick and when she will use them. For example, this morning as we were getting her out of bed I said and signed "Good morning", and she responded by saying and signing "firefighter". (The only connection I could see was that by the end of the sign for Good morning, my hand was close to where it is for the sign for firefighter.)

Lately we've been watching the DVD that teaches the ASL alphabet, and as we spell Nessa's name out loud and in sign language simultaneously, Nessa is learning how to spell her first name. She puts in an extra "s" or two instead of the "a" sometimes, but she's close. We've also been working on teaching her her full name, and she can say the whole thing now. Her fine motor skills aren't good enough for her to spell in ASL yet, but she's trying. You can tell that she can see it in her mind but can't quite get her fingers to co-operate.

A side benefit of all this is that Tami and I are picking up some of the signs and learning the alphabet as well. It's fun to work with Nessa and see the big smile that comes over her face when she does a sign or makes connections. We recommend signing, and Signing Time (http://www.signingtime.com/), to all parents of babies or toddlers.