Aiden-ese

The following is a "guest blog" submitted by my mom this morning. It is all very true and if you know Aiden then it makes it all the more humerous....enjoy

"May I be a guest blogger today??
I woke up this morning at 4 AM thinking about Aiden and his sign language for the word more and thought it was something Stacey should blog about! We never heard of baby sign language when my kids were little. I personally wouldn’t be an advocate for too much of it since I think their verbal skills are so important, but on the other hand having a few “words” with which to communicate has been extremely helpful. What’s interesting is that Aiden has developed his own language and as long as you understand Aiden-ese you can get along just fine in his world. For example when he’s eating and he claps his hands one big violent clap you know he wants more. No problem. And if you are holding him and as you are walking he once again claps you realize quickly that there’s something he wants (it may or may not be food, so you have to look around and see where his attention is focused). Of course if as you are eating he flings his pacifier away and gives his big clap, you can be assured he wants what you have.
As I laid there thinking about this (at what was now 4:15 AM) I decided about the only time I really have trouble understanding his little system is when he combines his “sign words”. If for example you feed him a combination of foods, he sometimes claps (more) but then rejects his food and grandma gets a little confused. So trying to be a detective I might ask if he’s “all done” (for which normal baby sign would be gently turning both hands over but for Aiden it is alternating right and left hands and arms up and down). But my lack of understanding comes if when I take away his food because I think he’s all done, and he begins to “sign ramble” - clapping (more), alternating with flapping his arms (all done) and shaking his head (no) - what do I believe? What’s he trying to tell me? I laid in bed and never really solved this communication dilemma. As I thought about it though (at 4:30 AM) I decided that he wasn’t all that unusual, in fact I knew lots of men much older than 14 months who were still in the process of refining their communication skills!!

The question becomes then, why was I awake at this time of the morning processing all of this? Could it be that I woke myself up with one big clap because it’s been a week since I’ve seen Aiden (as I sit here now wildly clapping for both of my little guys - more, more, more) or could it be that I’ve just read way too many blogs?"

The best part about this "entry" my mom has made is that today when Aiden saw her for the first time in a week I was holding him when he spotted her coming up the drive way. He threw his pacifier across the room and "violently" made his one big clap and then began flapping his hands up and down, up and down. Now I understood that he was "all done" with me and wanted grandma to hold him but if you are not skilled in Aiden-ese then I can certainly understand how you would be confused. I translate for Kreg all the time.