Honey Bear Trainers, maroon spoons, SEE - oh the things we now know (kinda)!

Last night, I came home from work and Reed said to me - Mom, Ella's nose is snowing. This little sentence explains Reed to a tee. He has no concept of using correct sayings, of time, of anything that isn't inside Reedworld.  Reed loves to wrestle, eat broccoli and make messes. Reed loves his sister but can't be bothered with helping change her diaper, but ask him to sing her a song and that boy sings a mean rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (with dance moves). He is the reason that I am terrified of us using sign language. 

The sign language we are learning is called Signing Exact English or SEE.  It is different than ASL - If you have heard of "baby signs" that is basically what we are doing, but we are going a little above most baby signs used and adding things that she may need as she gets into school but most babies don't use (like computer, etc). Learning SEE is tough enough. Trying to implement it into our routine when we are talking with Ella is even tougher. Imagine, I am on the phone, Ryan is throwing a football inside the house, Reed wants water, and I am getting ready to change Ella's diaper. The last thing I remember is to sign to her that it is time to change her diaper. 

Then there is the Reed factor to using SEE.  Reed is trying to learn, but the poor little boy just doesn't have any urge to sit and learn with us. I teach him how to say mommy - he signs back something that may appear to say turkey if you took it literally. We teach him sit, he turns it into two swords fighting and all the sudden I am being poked in the eye.  I am sure that if we are out somewhere and Reed starts using SEE, he will most likely offend someone by using the wrong signs. He uses the word snowing when referring to a running nose. He can not be trusted to not mix up the sign for milk and poop.. 

Other hot topics in my house these days?  Honey Bear Trainers and Maroon Spoons. Something that most parents don't know - There is an entire universe dedicated to helping kids eat and drink like their friends. I had no idea. Our new therapist asked me if we had a Honey Bear Trainer. A really big part of me wanted to say yes as to not appear behind but if she asked me to get it, I was at a loss as to where I would find a honey bear in my pantry, so I said no. She then made me feel like quite the idiot for not knowing that honey comes in these little bear shaped bottles. I then had a quick lesson all about a bottle, made for honey, shaped like a bear, that has been modified to help kids learn to drink from a straw. Who knew! I was told we need this modified honey pot by next week. I was on it! The internet gave me directions to make our own Honey Bear Trainer or how to purchase one with 2 easy clicks. I chose the 2 easy clicks option and we are now the proud owners of several bear shaped bottles with straws sticking out of their heads.  I gave one to Ella to play with and she immediatly threw it down and played with her socks.  The therapist has her work cut out for her next week...

We were also told to get a maroon spoon. Maroon spoons seems to be in hot demand as my search turned up only used ones on Amazon.com.  If you remember, I vaccum daily so I am not really the type to buy used spoons to feed my baby with. I am on a backorder list for new maroon spoons. What is a maroon spoon? Well, it appears to be maroon and a spoon. Other than that and being 4 times more expensive than Ella's current spoons, I am not sure the purpose. When it finally gets here I'll test it out and let you know.

When I think back to my life just a year ago, I would never of guessed I would have purchased 4 bear shaped honey pots to serve as sippy cups or spent an hour searching for a maroon spoon or asked my 7 year old how you sign dog in order to tell my 4 year old to stop barking when he wants to sign the word dog. I wouldn't of imagined that when a friend gives me 3 christmas gifts for my kids, I wonder which of my boys she got 2 things for (imagine how silly I felt when I got home and realized I now have 3 kids, thus 3 gifts!).

Here is Ella with Santa. Hopefully Santa told her how he plans to finish the Christmas shopping for her procrastinating parents!