My Sweetheart Baby

I didn't think it was possible, but Dallin is becoming so much funnier, sweeter and cuter by the day. He's learns a lot from watching us and I love when he copies what we do. He laughs so much more now and when he sees us laughing he has to join in, even though he usually has no idea what is so funny.

A few weeks ago in Nursery at church, the kids learned about prayer. Since then, Dallin will fold his arms with us when we pray. He does it all on his own, usually prompted by seeing us fold our arms. Sometimes he'll do it by himself suddenly while he's playing.

I love how it looks more like he's folding his "hands" because his arms are so short and fat.

We've been trying to teach Dallin some sign language so that he can communicate with us better. It's easy to see how frustrated he gets when he can't communicate his needs, so I'm hoping that he'll figure out that signing will make him happier.

He signs "milk" every time when I give him his bottle. I'm still trying to get him to sign milk before I make it, so I know when he is hungry. (Right now, he'll cry and I know he's hungry, so I'll make the bottle and then he signs milk after he sees it.) This is usually what he looks like when he signs milk (which is signed by squeezing your hand into a fist, like milking a cow):

He didn't think it was very funny that I had his bottle inches away and I stopped to take a picture of him. No bueno, mom.

He's learning the sign for "more," but it's a difficult concept for him to understand. We have an awesome pop-up book that he loves! It's called "Mommy" by Maurice Sendak.

He wants this book read to him over and over again. I taught him to sign "more" at the end of the book if he wanted me to read more. This is what it looks like when he signs "more:"

How could you not read that book over and over and over when he asks so cutely? I usually read the book to him about 8 or 9 times a day. However, I worry that he thinks it's the sign for "book" rather than "more." He'll sign it if we haven't been reading at all but he wants the book. It's a tricky concept!!

(Side note: The book is about a baby trying to find his Mommy. The book is mostly pictures; it only has 7 words. 6 of the words are "Mommy." You would think that after hearing the word "Mommy" 40 times in a row, Dallin would say it more often. Nope, his only consistent word is Dada.)

His mobility is increasing and I'm amazed at some of the things he can do. He was standing on a chair by the kitchen table and managed to climb up onto the table. While I was folding laundry the other day, he climbing into the laundry basket and began picking out all the socks so he could hug them.

You gotta love this kid!