Baby Sign of the Day: Water

Blueberry is a big fan of water. She also likes to drink from a regular cup. She is starting to get the hang of a sippy cup. I'm thrilled that she likes water. We decided not to give her juice. There is too much sugar. On occasion I will give her diluted juice, but never sugar-water drinks if I can help it. While I was growing up we had diluted juice on occasion and soda was only available at birthday parties. I still don't like very sweet drinks and I'm glad.

The sign for water is performed by making a "W" with your three middle fingers and tapping your hand on the side of your mouth. This is a more advanced sign and Blueberry might not get it at first, but we also use the sign for "drink", which is easier. Now we know "drink", "milk" and "water".

Yesterday Blueberry signed "bye-bye" to Daddy when he left for work. She later signed "hello" (same as goodbye, you know, the wave of the hand) to herself in the mirror. She seemed so proud of herself. Today she signed "bye-bye" to Nonna when she went to work and said "ba-ba" with the intonation of when we say "bye-bye".

The other day when she went with Nonna to the garden to pick vegetables, Nonna let her have a lemon cucumber to hold. She looked at Nonna and said "pappa?" and Nonna told her "yes it is" and Blueberry started munching on it. She got mad when I took it from her to peel it (while explaining to her what I was doing, of course) and she was all better when I gave it back. She scraped off little pieces of it with her two bottom teeth. We watched her carefully as she enjoyed it for a good 10 minutes. She does not cease to amaze me. I'm sure all children are brilliant if given the chance. I'm so proud of her.