We have been trying to teach some baby signs to Finn. We started when I realized that he was started to communicate with us by his actions and although they were effective, ("All done" was signified by throwing all his remaining food off his tray) we decided we would like to teach him some more polite ways of expressing himself. We started with the sign for "All Done" and he did eventually stop throwing his food off his tray, but has never attempted the sign. This morning we went through our usual routine of saying the words "All Done" while making the sign and Finn was watching us intently, as he usually does when we make a big deal out of something, and instead of doing anything with his hands he said "Ah Dah," which, being the newbie parents we are, we took to mean he was trying to say "All Done." We made a big deal out of it and praised him, so we'll see where this goes. I am okay if he decides to skip signing and go straight to talking. I'm sure all parents wonder what their children are thinking about long before their communication skills develop into language and so this small sign that we will soon be hearing Finn's thoughts from his own lips is pretty exciting (I think).
Then after we dropped Ben off at work this morning, Finn and I headed to Sharp Hospital to get his 1 year blood work done. I had hoped they would do a heal prick, since it matter less if they wiggle, but they needed to draw blood from a vein. So I asked if they had anyone that specialized in babies and children. I had been given that advice by a good friend of mine who is a nurse at a children's hospital. She often gets patients brought to her from other hospitals, where the staff there has spent an hour trying to draw blood from a small child (how traumatic would that be?!), and she is able to do it in minutes. So they did give me their specialist and she was very good, in that she got the blood draw done quickly. However, her technique for making children feel at ease (she was very loud and animated while making animal noises for Finn from the moment she walked into the room) didn't work well for my child (who prefers to take in new people and experiences quietly and at his own pace). At her first loud "Meow, Meow, Where's the kitty?" he immediately burst into tears and when she touched his arm with one finger to feel a vein, he started to struggle and fight so hard, she had to call for backup. I held him on my lap and it took both my arms to hold his right arm down and the other nurse held his left arm straight while the procedure took place. He stopped crying as soon as we were all done restricting his movements and he and I went outside and I nursed him for a little while. As usual, a little time on the breast makes everything better. By the time we got back in the car, he had recovered from his experience and had begun the work of investigating the cotton ball taped to his arm.
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