2 months old, week 5

Juli grasped and held a cloth whether it be a blanket or a shirt. She helped lift her legs up when I pulled her arms into sitting and then stood up with support. She stood with support longer than last week. Playful sense of humor emerged.

Body language

Now Juli had grown bigger and communicated more through body language beyond cries.

For example, every time Juli sneezed, we told her health in ASL since she was born, not a miss.

Now whenever I sneezed while Juli was busily feeding, she responded to my sneeze. She suddenly stopped feeding and turned to look at me with her distinct, unforgettable look with some kind of a smile. How can I describe it in words?

Her hands, facial expression, and eyes reflected as if she was telling me "Health", "Look, you sneeze too!", or some equivalent. There was a language of its own in her mind.

Video clip: "Mom has just sneezed. Healthy, yes. Thank you." Captured immediately after my sneeze but her initial response was not captured on video. Capturing an actual moment is often a challenge in photography and videography.

Blanket Peekaboo

Another peekaboo activity that I used was the "blanket peekaboo." Juli kept looking at my hand when I played the peekaboo with the blanket. She seemed to realize that my hands were responsible for moving the blanket.

Relaxing reading time

Sometimes I just let Juli look at or read the book herself without me talking, so that both of us can relax. It's a way for her to learn to enjoy reading and to avoid overwhelming stimulating visuals. It's also an opportunity for her to focus on her eye-hand coordination as she touched the book.

ASL vocabulary: food for thought

Last weeks Juli was introduced to a taste of some food and ASL words for these: strawberry and grape. This week: orange. Before these, yogurt was her first taste that Dude introduced it to her long before.

People

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