More or Less

Now that Hudson has been eating steady meals (well, of baby food, anyway), I have been trying to teach him to communicate efficiently. Whereas Ava’s infant stance on food was simple—give me more, more, more—I can’t always intuit my little man’s current opinion on food. He’s a tougher nut to crack.

So I’ve introduced signing to Hudson, in hopes that it may help open the lines of communication. We started simple with the sign for MORE—a finger pointed into the palm of the other opened hand. Most of the time, when I signed with him, he either shrieked at me or spit food in my face. Good-naturedly, of course!

But last week, I was feeding him squash while talking to Erik. Most of the time Hudson just opens his mouth when he wants another bite, but apparently I was ignoring this simple command. So when that failed to procure him another bite, he first slammed his fist onto the high chair tray. I glanced at him, but continued my conversation.

Until I realized his wee pointer finger was jabbing desperately into his tiny palm. MORE! He was signing for MORE! Of course, I squealed and laughed and kissed his squashy little face. Which translated to him the vast importance of this new sign. Now he signs it all the time!

When he wants MORE food. When I’m tickling him and he wants MORE playtime. When Erik stops giving him a bottle in order to burp him. MORE!

Last weekend, my parents watched the kids while Erik and I had a date to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie (LOVED IT, by the way!). As soon as we returned to pick them up, Hudson locked eyes with me, grinned hugely, and signed MORE from across the room. Just because he knows it tickles me when he does it.

He may not have fully figured out crawling, speaking, or walking yet, but is my baby a signing genius? MORE or less!