Visit from Mimi and Papa

This past weekend Mimi and Papa came to visit. We had a good time together visiting with Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Joni as well. We went to a pet store while they were here and Keegan LOVED seeing all the animals, it was so funny. As soon as we walked in, he saw some dogs and he stopped dead in his tracks to sign dog....which is supposed to be just hitting the side of your leg but since most of the time when we work on signing we are looking at books and he is sitting, he thinks dog is signed by hitting your shin since that is what he can reach when he sits. So he does this standing up, he leans down to hit his shin to sign dog. 

Eating lunch outside

Today it was so nice outside so we ate lunch outside. Keegan sat at the table like a big boy! He did pretty good until he decided it would be fun to stand on the chair, which was not okay so we moved to a blanket on the grass. Keegan LOVES to be outside!

15 Months Big Chip PIctures

15 Months

Keegan is 15 months old! 

• Weight: not sure, we go to the doctor on March 23, I'll update this then! 
• Clothing Size: either 18 month or 24 month
• Enjoys: playing outside, trucks, books, music 
• Turn-Offs: milk! he will not drink cows milk, almond milk, soy milk, not even breastmilk in  cup! we have tried everything under the sun to get him to drink milk. The only thing that has started to work (3.10.11) is to help him drink it the "real" way. I got him to drink a good bit tonight that way...maybe its a start! As of 3.15 he is doing better with milk, finally. 
• Strengths: Signing! He is really taking off with the sign language. It is making it soo much easier to communicate with him! 
• Vices: Sleeping through the night. Still not great at it. He will go down at 6pm (which is GREAT) and sleep until 4 or 5, I get up and feed him then he'll sleep until 6 or 6:30. I can't complain much, but I'd love for him to go all the way to 6 or 7 on his own without me having to get up and feed him at 4 or 5. He has gotten MUCH better about this, so I really can't complain much, but just another hour or two would be nice. 
• Words: 
• KITTY (3.1.11) when he sees the cat that lives next door or even when we go outside he looks for the "diddy" as he says in a very high pitched voice. 
• DADA
• New Signs:  Keegan is having a "signing explosion". Our sign language teacher told us that at some point they just seem to "get it" and start catching on faster and faster. Keegan is getting it. As of this month he can sign the following words:
• All Done
• Please
• Light
• Phone
• Water
• Truck
• Sleep
• Milk
• Eat
• Bread
• Dog
• Music (not the ASL sign, but his own "home sign" of bobbing his head to "music)

Favorites of Keegan currently:

• Foods: crackers, vanilla wafers, goldfish, blueberries, yogurt, broccoli, peas, hummus (he really is a great eater...not picky at all)
• Songs: anything, he loves music
• Shows: Baby Signing Time
• Books: Signing Book, Truck Book, Hologram Watch Me Go Book
• Toys: Piano, Kitchen, Balls, Books
• Activities: Marbles, playing with James, Swimming, being outside 

Things I don't want to forget:

• We were at Walmart one day and they had some mini donut holes as free samples in the bakery. Since Keegan had been so good while we were shopping I thought I'd give him one. He thoroughly enjoyed his donut. When he finished we were in front of the deli counter, which looked very similar to the bakery counter. With white powder sugar all over his face, he started reaching towards the counter signing "please, please" as desperately as he could. He wanted another donut.
• If I leave the pantry door open, Keegan will go into the pantry and pull out the big box of goldfish. He will attempt to carry it and bring it to me (its really big) then look up at me smacking his lips signing "please". He knows he'll get some goldfish if he does this. Its too cute! 
• One afternoon we were sitting in the den when Keegan brought me the big box of bisquik and signed "eat please". I responded by telling him that we needed eggs to make pancakes and that we didn't have any and we'd have to go to the store if we wanted to make pancakes. He proceeded to go straight to the closet to get his jacket and waved bye bye. So then I said we need to go put your shoes on, so he went to the gate to go upstairs to get his shoes. Once we were back downstairs he brought me my coat and waved bye bye again. 

Keegan and his iPod

In Keegan's room we have an old iPod connected to some speakers that we use to play his bedtime music. Well Keegan being the genius that he is, has figured out how to work his iPod. One morning while I was getting ready for the day, Keegan was roaming around upstairs as he usually does. Usually he stays in the room with me and plays with the books and toys I bring in for him. This particular day he disappeared into his room and before I could go in there to check on him, I hear music coming from his room! So I go in there to find him sitting on the chair in his room, bobbing up and down, dancing to the music he has turned on with his iPod. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He proceeded to change the music until he found something he really like, then he danced more. It was hilarious. 

Signing Explosion!

I had heard about this signing explosion that happens at some point when you teach your baby sign language from early on. We started signing with Keegan around 4 months old. It took a while for him to ever respond. He started recognizing the sign for milk first by getting excited when I asked him if he wanted milk (and signed milk). Around 9 months he started signing "all done". That was it for a while. Over the past month (the past week or two especially) he has just taken off. This concept of teaching babies sign language seemed a little crazy to me at first but it is incredible to see him sign and to know that we can communicate somewhat. He has learned some from me and what I have learned at a baby sign language class we took, he learned some from his baby sign language DVD called Baby Signing Time (yes & please) and some from a baby sign language book I bought at a yard sale! Yes, he taught himself light, sleep and phone from his book. 

Now at almost 15 months old, he can sign the following words. Some more consistently than others, but he has signed all of these at some point!

1. All Done
2. Please
3. Yes
4. Light
5. Dog
6. Phone
7. Sleep
8. Truck
9. More
10. Bread
11. Eat
12. Water
13. Cheese (i think)
14. Music (but not the right ASL sign, he has his own sign...he nods his head to the beat of music if he wants music....its what you call a "home sign".)
15. Hot (not the ASL sign, he blows if something is hot)

Here are some I got on video:

Checking the mail

One of the things Keegan and I do each day is to walk down the street to the mail box to check the mail. Lately Keegan has taken to carrying the mailbox key and walking to the mailbox himself. He likes to "check the mail" himself too. He is getting very independent!