Cinderella and Prince Charming at the Ball

So, I've done a lot of typing with no pictures. Here's some 'relief' from all that reading! (And if you haven't been reading it all, you're missing out--I'm not doing a great job of editing, but it's fascinating stuff!)

Friday night Sly baby sat while Prince Charming took Cinderella to the ball. I love my Prince Charming! He cleans up, good, huh?? :)

And every Prince Charming has to have a 'weird' side! haha!! I love his funny faces!!! I hope he makes you smile too! (Btw, he said he was 'the ugly stepsister!' bwah!!!)

The boy jumps: Automorphology on the ProLoQuo2Go

Jman has some reading books that were originally developed for deaf kids and are also useful for helping teach kids with language delays or disorders how to read. Now, Jman already can read quite a bit, and write quite a bit as well, but it's still very "Jman-ish." I was interested in these books not for teaching Jman to read, but for helping Jman to slowly master language. Rather than being phonics based books, as is typical with beginning readers, these books instead introduce reading through one syntactical language structure at a time. For example, in the first book every sentence of every story is ONLY of the form subject + verb, and in particular the verbs are limited to singular present tense intransitive verb forms (verbs that do not take a direct object, eg, jumps or runs: The boy jumps. The girl runs.) There are other advantages to this reading book series. You can read all about it here: Reading Milestones.

Now let me tell you a little about a really awesome feature of ProLoQuo2Go. In ProLoQuo2Go, you can identify each button/word by its part of speech, indicated by the color of the border around the button. Nouns have a yellow border, verbs have a pink border, adjectives have a blue border, etc. Here's what's really awesome, though. If you have a button for "boy" and just press the button, it will pop up as "boy" in the message window. However, if you hold that button down for just a little while (you can change the duration required--we have it at .5 sec), a small window of choices will pop up for you that automatically offer you different versions of "boy": boy, boys, boy's, or boys' (singular, plural, singular possessive, and plural possessive, respectively). With one button, you quickly and easily have all those options available, without having to navigate to other pages or do fancy things or have a bunch of extra buttons cluttering up your pages.

Even cooler, IMO, is the automorphology ir auto-conjugation of the verbs. If you hold down the button for "see," it will give you the following choices: see, sees, saw, will see, seeing, seen. How cool is that?!??!? I do have one wish, though, and that is that it would also offer the infinitive "to see." But hey, the English major in me would find something to complain about!

So, recently we pulled Jman's Red Reading Milestones books back out with the intentions of 'reading' them via the ProLoQuo2Go. He was already very familiar with the first story about a boy who jumps a variety of obstacles to get back home. As we turned the pages, I demonstrated to Jman how to punch in the words on the page: "The boy" (programmed in as one button for the purposes of this lesson) and "jumps." Jman's initial attempts were to simply push 'jump' and be done with it, but that says, "The boy jump," which of course is 'bad English.' I demonstrated for him instead that when you hold the 'jump' button down, you get choices. Then I chose 'jumps.' He wasn't terribly impressed. We continued on.

We read through the first story the first day, with me doing a lot of Guided Demonstration on how to choose "jumps" instead of "jump." The next day, we read the same story, and Jman would hold the button down for choices, but he would be as likely to still choose "jump" as "jumps." We went ahead and read story two as well, adding in a new verb, "runs." Jman began to correct himself sometimes if he chose the wrong verb form, but he was very unreliable. However, he was very engaged and definitely trying to figure out the pattern of what we were doing.

Fast forward a couple days to yesterday afternoon. We only read the first story, but Jman was all over it this time. He read the page and entered "The boy." Then he'd pause as he pushed and held down "jump" waiting for the choices to apeear. He'd look up at me eagerly, with that crooked half grin of his, giving a little bitty nod, and then he'd quickly look back down and choose "jumps," perhaps followed by a verbal "all right!" from him. Was he excited because he was learning something, or because he was anticipating getting the computer that much more quickly? I don't know, but I know that we are making progress. The automorphology feature of ProLoQuo2Go should be absolutely fantastic for helping someone who has language learning issues to experience more success more quickly with less pain. I'm sorry I don't have pictures for you, but you can watch some great demonstration videos at the ProLoQuo2Go website. You can see the auto-conjugation of verbs in video 4 (intro to vocabulary part 3).

The same or Not the same--that is the question!

People often think of math as being about numbers, calculating and manipulating numerals. But 5 - 2 = 3 doesn't have any meaning by itself. However, if you have five dollars and want to buy a slushie and candy bar for two dollars and wonder if you'll have enough left for a slice of gas station pizza, then the 'math' has meaning.

But the language of math begins long before we ever reach numeral manipulation. When we look at an object and declare it to be big or small, we're doing math, we're measuring. When we describe an object as round or square, we're doing math, we're doing geometry. When we locate an object as inside or beside or behind something else, we're doing math, we're doing visual-spatial graphing. Likewise, when we compare two items and declare them to be the same or to be not the same, we're doing math. "Equals" = "the same as." 5 - 2 is the same as 3. It's part of the language of mathematics.

That is one of Jman's new language lessons we're addressing with the ProLoQuo2Go. To begin our study of the language of mathematics, we started with 'the same as' and 'not the same as.' I programmed two button choices for him into the P2G. Each button speaks not just one word, but the complete sentence, "They are the same" or "They are not the same." I could have chosen to use the words 'same' and 'different,' but by using 'the same' and 'not the same' we achieve two purposes. First, it comes closer to 'equals' and 'does not equal' and will therefore translate better into traditional math symbols down the road. Second, it introduces the language concept of 'not,' which we can develop more generally in other areas of language studying. "The boy is jumping." "The boy is NOT jumping." And so, Jman's first math language lesson is learning to appraise when things are "the same" or "not the same."


So, Jman has two options on his ProLoQuo2Go--'They are the same' or 'They are not the same.' My next task was to find things for us to compare. I gathered a variety of objects I intended to use--cards, pick up sticks of different colors, bear counters of different colors. I quickly decided against the cards because while the numbers might be the same, the colors might be different, or at the very least the suits would be different (unless I used two decks of identical cards). There were too many potential attributes to compare, so I decided against the cards for now. I decided to use the bear counters. I have two different style of bears, but I have plenty of each style in each color, so I could easily generate lots of pairs that were exactly the same.

Now, I should clarify one point, perhaps. Jman KNOWS when things are exactly the same and when they are not. That was not the issue or the lesson I was trying to teach. What I was trying to help him learn is what LANGUAGE to use in order to share with someone else the observation that things are the same or not the same. This wasn't a lesson to learn about 'sameness' but a lesson to learn the language about sameness.

When I sat down with Jman and the bag of bears, Jman was in no way interested in comparing a pair of bears and saying whether they were the same or not the same. I demonstrated a few times for him (Guided Demonstration), but he would have none of it. He either wanted to play with the bears (sorting or lining them up or setting them up like bowling pins), or he wanted the bears put away. And so, thus ended lesson one of "the same or not the same."

The next day I decided to try our 'same game' with coins. I grabbed some pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Jman was more cooperative and interested this time, in part because he'd asked for the computer and I had told him we were doing a few things first. Yes, sometimes bribery is your friend.

I placed a couple of pennies together, and punched into the P2G, "They are the same." Jman watched. Then I put together a couple dimes, and together we punched, "They are the same." Next nickels, and Jman happily punched in "They are the same," and ditto with quarters.

Okay, we'd covered 'the same,' and he seemed interested and cooperative, so I put together two different coins. Jman promptly punched in, "They are the same." Um, no. They are NOT the same. I erased his error and punched in "They are not the same." He didn't care. I tried again with a couple other different pairs of coins, but he was done. Lesson over. You can't teach a kid who has checked out.

The next day, Jman and I were stopping by the drive thru for some french fries. I pulled out two one dollar bills to pay for them, and while we waited I showed them to Jman and pointed out that they were 'the same'--they both had numeral one's and they both had the same picture of George Washington. "They are the same." Jman listened but didn't comment. And we got our fries and drove home.

Back at the house, SB3 brought me a pair of identical yellow wood blocks from a knock-off Jenga game. I commented to SB3 that they were the same. He of coursed loved the acknowledgement and the attention, and maybe he'll learn "the same" faster too. :)

I turned to Jman, who was eating his fries, and showed the two blocks to him. I commented again to Jman, "They are the same. They are both yellow." Jman finished his fries as I gathered a pair of red blocks and a pair of blue blocks to go with the yellows. Then we sat down together and Jma (again hoping for the computer, which he did get after this) himself selected the two yellow blocks and punched into the ProLoQuo2Go "They are the same." I offered two reds, and he qucickly and enthusiastically shared "They are the same." Ditto for blue.

And then I grabbed two of different colors, and Jman quickly and easily identified "They are not the same." Woo-hoo! He was quite pleased and having much fun. I don't know if his excitement was about his being 'right' or if it was mostly in anticipation of getting some computer time, but either way, he was happy and participating. I pulled out several more pairs of matching or not matching blocks, and he quickly and correctly identified each pair as being the same or not the same. Hooray!

We called it a day and he happily began watching Animaniacs on the computer for a while I made some modifications to the 'same' choices on the ProLoQuo2Go. I added in buttons for "color" and "shape." This week coming up, we will try to help him expand and differentiate not only when things are the same or not the same, but clarify whether they are the same color or not the same color, and later whether they are the same shape or not the same shape. We could add choices for size, location, function, category, orientation--lots of possibilities. However, some of those will come further down the road. For now, we'll focus on same or not, color, and shape. Yes, he knows his colors by name, and his shapes by name as well. This isn't about teaching him those things, but about teaching him language, developing his ability to communicate thoughts and ideas with others.

As an aside, in case anyone is actually interested, I have an old used set of the Singapore Math workbooks for kindergarten. The table of contents includes, of course, the list of lessons, along with the objectives of each lesson and the vocabulary or phrases associated with each of these math objectives. Some of the langauge Jman already has (such as colors, shapes, numbers, counting, etc). But other bits of language he doesn't have, even if he understands the math concept (such as 'the same' or 'not the same'). It is from these vocabulary and phrases that I am developing Jman's math language lessons, but with as much variance and adjustment on my part as will be necessary. Think of it this way--the Singapore Math workbooks are my 'Guided Demonstration' of one way of approaching math and language. I don't have to do it exactly that way or follow their workbooks exactly as laid out. In fact, I most certainly won't, because the books are all written in from years ago. But they are serving as a simple guide to how I can approach helping Jman learn the language of math, and I'm very pleased with our first few days. It may take years for Jman to master all the language in these K workbooks, but hey, if that's what it takes, that's okay. For Jman, learning math will be more about learning the language to describe what he already knows rather than learning the 'math.' These early Singapore books are a handy reference because they have that 'language development' component that I haven't noticed being emphasized in other curriculums I'm familiar with from homeschooling Sly over the years. I don't know what the Singapore books are like after the K workbooks, but it'll be a long time before we're there anyway.

Fwiw, Jman just came up wanting the computer. I asked him to find me two things that are the same. After cleaning up the spilled counter bears that SB3 dumped out earlier, Jman selected two red bears and happily punched into the P2G while he muttered under his breath repeatedly, "They are the same." I asked for two 'different' bears, and he looked at me a little unsure. I realized my mistake and asked for two bears that were 'not the same.' He promptly pulled out a red bear and a yellow bear, muttering, 'not the same, not the same' and punching "They are not the same" into the P2G. He then pulled out two red bears again and muttered 'they are the same' as he punched in "They are the same." So, I'm guessing he's got 'the same' and 'not the same' down in his head now! Tomorrow we'll add 'color' to his sentence!

Guided Demonstration and ProLoQuo2Go

A few nights ago, Jman and I were on the couch late in the evening. I pulled out the ProLoQuo2Go and navigated around to produce the message, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.” Jman watched what I was doing, and agreed with the thought. We got up and got ready for bed.

The next night I went into Jmans’ room to say good night to him, and he took the iPod and punched In, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.”

One of the important things we learned from our days of formal RDI was Guided Demonstration. So often we parents of autistic kids try to get our kids to do something, to perform. Often though, we expect them to perform before they have any idea what they are supposed to do. One aspect of autism is that they are very bad at reading someone else’s mind, knowing what they are thinking or expecting or intending. And so we often expect the child to do something for us, but we fail at helping them know what it is they are supposed to do.

Now consider that most folks on the spectrum have anxiety issues, related in part to the fact that they can’t read other people’s minds very well. When they do try to join in, they often make mistakes, and they have enve more trouble trying to fix those mistakes or recover from them. Often it’s easier to just avoid joining in at all, especially when no one seems to be particularly aware of or helpful about your challenges. The person on the spectrum is expected to join in, to play a part, but for a variety of reasons related to autism, they don’t know what they’re expected to do, and it’s quite stressful.

With Guided Demonstration, the Guide (adult/parent/teacher/person with a clue) can first model for the apprentice (child/learner/person needing a clue and security) without placing any expectations or pressure on the apprentice to perform or to even join in. Many people, not just those on the spectrum, like to watch someone else before trying something new themselves, or prefer to have an example or a model to work from, even if their final creation turns out completely different from the sample. For someone who doesn’t easily read minds or intentions and who probably has performance anxieties too, ismply modeling for them without immediate expectations can create a sense of safety that not only enables them to learn, but also ultimately invites them to join in when they feel ready to try (as opposed to demanding that they join in before they feel ready to try).

So, all that to say that rather than teaching or expecting Jman to say good night with (or without) the ProLoQuo2Go, I simply modeled for him one way to do it. I let him look on while I navigated through the screens, and he watched. In addition, what I modeled was contextually appropriate at the time—it really was time to go to bed. Later, when he was ready to use his new info himself, he voluntarily and spontaneously used the iPod to tell me good night.

I should also add that following his good night message to me, he backed up and explored some of the other greetings preprogrammed on the “Hi, Bye” page of ProLoQuo2Go. Those were not directed to me, as was the good night message, as evidenced by his body language. When he was just exploring on his own, he wasn’t making the somewhat subtle eye and body orientation changes that would indicate he was addressing me. Instead, he was intrigued by his discovery of when and how to use the ‘good night’ greeting, and was now studying the other options on the greetings page, pushing the buttons and reading and listening to the responses, perhaps considering when those other greetings might be useful in the future or why they didn’t apply to going to bed.

Guided Demonstration works well no matter what activity or lesson you’re hoping to help your child learn. It gives the child the opportunity to safely observe and prepare before having to risk his own performance. It increases his chances of joining in successfully. It increases his feeling of safety and security with you. Trust is essential to helping your child with autism. We’ve been intentionally using Guided Demonstration for a long time now with James. In the case of saying, “Good Night” with the ProLoQuo2Go, he picked it up very quickly and subsequently used it for himself very quickly. Granted, he already was familiar with both pecs and with navigating through ProLoQuo2Go in general, and he was familiar with the context/routine of going to bed. When it’s an entirely new activity and he has no context or foundation upon which to build, we have to do more demos, more scaffolding, backing up to lay useful foundations. Guided Demonstration preceded Guided Participation and is one way of slowing down in order to go faster.

There's an app for that! Introducing ProLoQuo2Go

For years I've thought about getting Jman an augmentative communication device to help him communicate. I kept putting it off for several reasons, not the least of which was the fact that they were big, clunky, and cumbersome, and very expensive (on the order of thousands of dollars for something that would meet his needs). However, factors have now reached the point where technology, functionality, and practicality have all merged at a cost that is affordable for almost anyone.

Last week we ordered a 32Gb 3rd generation iPod Touch (about $290) for me. The day after it arrived we downloaded the application called ProLoQuo2Go, a nifty aug comm program that runs on an iPhone or an iTouch. It cost us about $190. A few days later we added an Otter case and a screen protector to help the iPod stand up better to the beatings it is sure to endure. So, for around $500 (instead of $5000) Jman now has a slick little aug comm device that's easy to program and use, and that fits in a pocket and does as much or more than the big, clunky, expensive ones (including playing music, surfing the web, and more that the other aug comm devices can't do) AND, being an iPod Touch, it's very high on the 'coolness factor' to boot!

Jman has very quickly begun to understand how to use ProLoQuo2G. He has used some PECS books in the past where he had to flip through pages to find picture cards that he could then assemble in order to say something (such as "Mom Jman drive McDonalds" if he wanted to go to McDonalds for something to eat). PECS were a pain because you had to make little cards, laminate them, attach velcro to the backs, organize them in a notebook, and then lug that big notebook around, AND when you used the cards you had to remove them from their stored location, assemble them into a sentence, and then return them to their stored location. PECS books are relatively inexpensive, but very cumbersome to actually use.

But because of his experience with PECS, Jman had no trouble transitioning to ProLoQuo2Go for similar communications. He quickly learned how to navigate through some of the preprogrammed pages to say, "I want to use the computer" and "I want french fries ketchup hot sauce." Yep, that's my boy! He also, of course, has found it great fun to "stim" with ProLoQuo2Go, making it say such things as, "I want I want I want I want to use the computer to use the computer to use the computer." (He likes things in sets of four. Yeah, that's my boy too.)

I have several posts I could write about ProLoQuo2Go so far, but I particularly want to point out a couple ideas in this introduction. First, ProLoQuo2Go can help Jman with word retrieval issues, which he has had for years (and was one one of the first reasons I became interested in aug comm devices years ago when he was about 4yo). P2G can also help him with speaking out loud. There are many times where Jman wants to say something, but the words just won't come out of his mouth. It's not that he can't articulate the words (apraxia). It's that the words just won't come out, more like a type of mutism. The P2G can speak the messages out loud, so when Jman can't speak for some reason, he can let the P2G do the out-loud talking for him.

There's one issue that ProLoQuo2Go will not as easily solve, however. If you noticed, Jman was quickly using the P2G to make requests. Requesting is a very important form of communication known as 'imperative' or 'instrumental' or 'means-to-an-end' communication. Generally, folks on the spectrum don't have a problem with 'means-to-an-end' communication such as making requests, answering questions, following rules, etc. They can use 'means-to-an-end' communication to do just that--use language as a means to achieve some end result. The end result might be getting something or it might be acquiring quantities of information about topics of interest. Using the common popular definition of 'higher functioning' equating to 'lots of language,' sometimes the 'higher functioning' kids on the spectrum are called 'little professors' because they know so much about certain topics and will talk your ear off about their topic of interest (whether you are interested anymore or not).

Means-to-an-end communication comprises only about 20% of human language use. Most of the time, people converse with 'declarative' or 'experience sharing' communication. People are constantly commenting on ('declaring') what is going on around them, what they see, what they hear, wondering what other's are seeing or hearing, or what others think about what's going on. People are intrinsically interested in other people, how they feel, what they think, what their reactions are in comparison to your own. People are interested in 'sharing experiences.'

However, folks on the autistic spectrum really struggle with 'experience sharing' and therefore with 'experience sharing communication.' In a normal 'experience sharing' conversation with someone, you may make the occasional request, but more likely you'll 'go with the flow' and share information and thoughts and feelings about whatever the topic is. Instead of simply, "I want to go to McDonald's" and then expecting the other person to therefore take you to McDonald's, you might comment to someone, "I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch." Note that in the first sentence (I want to go to McDonald's), there is an expected response--yes, let's go or no, let's not (with the 'yes let's go' being the obviously desired response).

With sentence number two (I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch), there is no required or expected or 'correct' response from the other person. In fact, the other person may have to do a little thinking to figure out just exactly what the first speaker means with that comment. Are they merely pointing out that they are hungry? Are they asking if you have something to eat in your backpack? Are they saying that they're really looking forward to dinner? Are they saying that they are so hungry they can't wait for dinner to get soemthing to eat? Or maybe they aren't really hungry at all, but instead are needing to talk to someone about the busy day they had. The speaker shared a bit of information that could mean many different things, and the listener will have to think and consider and perhaps ask for more info or make his own comment to understand the intent of the first speaker.

ProLoQuo2Go will not automatically help Jman with experience sharing communication because Jman first has to have that 'experience sharing' intent in his head. ProLoQuo2Go will however help him with the type of language he already uses and understands better--imperative or 'means to an end' communication.

We have several 'language goals' for Jman that we hope the ProLoQuo2Go will help with. The first step he is already undertaking--learning to navigate his way around ProLoQuo2Go to more easily say what he already would like to say. It will help him with word retrieval. It will help him with speaking out loud. It will help him to get more of his needs and wants across to us as a result, and that alone makes it worth it. We hope to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go as a useful tool to help teach the structures of the English language also, and the unique 'automorphology' features of ProLoQuo2Go should prove especially helpful with that. And, of course, we also hope over time to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go to help Jman begin to develop and use 'experience sharing communication' in addition to 'means to an end' communication.

If you would like more information on ProLoQuo2Go, check out the very helpful videos on their webpage. They also have FAQ's (of course) and a community discussion board where users, developers, and those interested can ask questions and 'share experiences' with each other. You may also find ProLoQuo2Go you can see and handle at a resource center near you if you want to maybe give it a test drive. Finally, here's a link to an article online about ProLoQuo2Go which you may find interesting.

Hay rides, hay bales, and hayseeds at the pumpkin patch

what can a 14mo do?

Well, a 14mo can start to walk into his big brother's bed room, until he notices the robogator standing guard in the doorway. Then the 14mo stops, considers, and then carefully walks backwards until he's a safe distance away, at which point he turns and finds some OTHER room to go into.

A 14mo can drop a ball at the head of the driveway and watch it roll all the way down until it's in the street. He'll start chasing after it, at which point mom will catch up with the ball and kick it back up the driveway. Seeing mom kicking the ball with her foot, the 14mo will be completely fascinated. He'll hurry over to where the ball is, slow down, stop, and then try to kick the ball himself. If he's lucky, he kicks the ball a foot or so. If he's not so lucky, he kind of steps on the ball and may even fall down. But, being the resilient and determined little fellow that he is, he just gets back up and tries to kick the ball again. When he does, he beams with pride, then watches as the ball starts to slowly roll back down the driveway into the street again.

A 14mo can screech an amazingly loud and high pitched vocalization when he's being ignored, particularly if he wants something to eat or drink. Once he has your attention, he may smile and will reach in the direction of whatever it is he wants. He'll look intently at the desired cup of water, glance at you to see if you're paying attention, and screech again if you're not. If you are paying attention and begin to move in the right direction, he will start smiling and laughing, glancing back and forth between you and the cup until he finally has it in his hands.

A 14mo can try to put his hands and feet in the sleeves and legs of his clothes when you dress him. When you take his shirt off, he can raise his hands up over his head to make it easier. When you put it on, he may bite the shirt as it goes over his face, and then smile at you with the shirt stuck between his teeth. He thinks this is hysterically funny.

A 14mo can decide it's time for a bath and start trying to get his diaper off. He can also pull at his shirt to tell you he wants the shirt off too. If you pull his pants down while he is standing, he will carefully step out of his britches and to the side so he isn't still standing on them. Then he'll start trying to throw one leg up and over the edge so he can get into the bathtub. Sometimes he may just succeed at that. When he's finally ready to get out, he can come to the edge of the tub and hold his arms up for you to wrap him in a towel and lift him out. Then he can wiggle and squirm when you try to get a diaper and clothes back on him because he'd really rather run around the house wearing nothing at all.

A 14mo can think footie pajamas are weird the first time you put them on him, especially if he still doesn't wear shoes and hasn't worn socks for months. But then he'll decide that they are different and fun. Then he'll start picking up everyone's shoes and putting them in piles or delivering them to some lucky person who then drops them in piles. If you later put shoes on the 14mo, he may think they aren't so bad after wearing footie pajamas a few times, though they still won't stay on his feet for too long.

A 14mo who still nurses can be very good at saying his first two real words--"mom mom mom mom" and "boooooooooob!" If he's gotten mom to pick him up, he can pull at mom's shirt while saying "boooooooob" just to make his wishes a little more clear. If thinks he's going to get some boob, he'll start smiling and chuckling. Once he's happily nursing, he'll stop, look up and grin like the dickens, and then get back to business. Somewhere along the way he may take a break for the express purpose of blowing a bunch of zerberts on mom's belly. After a while he'll grin at her, laugh at himself and how funny he is, and then get back to his booby. A nursing 14mo is hysterical!

A 14mo can also be quite good at speaking feline. When one of the kitty cats meows, a 14mo can reply with a nice "Eeooooooooooooowwwwwww" in a really high and soft squeaky mewing pitch. When a kitty walks by quietly, a 14mo may start pointing and saying, "gack! gack! Eeoooooooowwwww." He will also try to pet the kitties, whack the kitties with sticks (or whatever else he may have in his hands), and give the poor kitty a bear hug. Fortunately, we have very patient kitties!

A 14mo can wave bye-bye when he or someone else is leaving (unless it's mom, in which case crying and having a fit is more appropriate!). He can wave at neighbors ariving home from work, or at daddy leaving for work, or at people left behind at the train station at the zoo, or at cashiers in stores. A 14mo can also be learning and using two more real 'signs' as well, such as "all done" and "more." Of course, he'll still prefer his loud attention getting screech to a less noticeable but more polite "more" in sign language, in which he brings his right and left fingers together in front of him to let you know he wants more of whatever it was he was getting. He also likes to use the screech to get your attention let you know when he's done eating. You can then ask him if he's all done, and he will very quietly and politely make his "all done" sign, waving both hands in the air over his head, indicating that he is indeed done eating and ready to be let down from his chair.

A 14mo can get up in the morning and want to go right outside to play. He can walk over to the back door, point very nicely, make his funny little narrative baby talk noises, and glance around to see if you're noticing he wants to go outside and play. Then the cat will walk over to the door, thinking you'll open it. When you open it to let the cat out, but you keep the 14mo inside, the 14mo will try to climb over or around you to make his escape. When you close the door with him still safely in the house, he'll have a fit and proceed to give you the evil eye. He may then go over to the garage door instead and try to get you to let him outside through the garage. A 14mo very much enjoys being outside. He may especially enjoy the rain, reaching out to feel the rain drops hit his hand.

A 14mo can see your hairbrush and want it for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to brush his own hair. Likewise, he can see you sweeping and want the broom for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to push it around on the floor, banging it into all sorts of things. A 14mo can see you open the refrigerator door and will try to get all the bottles in the door out before you get it closed again. He can also empty the drawer of kitchen towels you just put away yet again.

A 14mo can see your toothbrush and want to brush his own teeth. He can see you getting ready to take a shower and drop what he's doing, making a bee line for the tub, because he wants to take a bath too. A 14mo can pull all the tissues out of the tissue box, grinning at you after each and every pull.

A 14mo can pick up your cell phone, hold it up to his ear (probably upside down), and start making cute little narrative baby noises as he talks on the phone.

A 14mo can find every cabinet you forget to put the child locks back on, and then pull all the pots and pans out. He'll also dump out everything you just picked up, especially if it involves blocks and multiple pieces. He can pull book after book off the shelf, sometimes leaving them in the floor, sometimes bringing them to you, sometimes sitting and flipping through the book (multiple pages at a time, half the time with the book upside down, pointing at pictures or words in the book and making his funny little narrative baby noises, occasionally glancing up at you to make sure you're aware of what he's doing, and sometimes he'll decide to tear the pages too).

A 14mo can help you unload the silverware from the dishwasher, even if it's dirty and you're trying to load the dishwasher. He will hand you one piece of silverware at a time, giving you a little baby noise comment with each utensil. He may sometimes wait for you to take the utensil he's offering before dropping it and going after the next utensil, but you can't count on it. He'll do a better job if you keep up with him, rather than him keeping up with you. A 14mo will enjoy beginning sorting the silverware as he selects which piece to pull out next. He may sort by going front to back, or he may sort by getting all the knives, then all the spoons, etc. This is easier if you also put your wood handled steak knives in the dishwasher (pointy side down, of course, for safety). After a while he'll lose interest in his self-created sorting and just go back to grabbing a piece and handing it to mom with a very "Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunt." A 14mo will think helping mom with the dishes is wonderful, but mom has to be willing to have the occasional breakable dish dropped on the ceramic tile floor (ouch!).

A 14mo can hear an airplane flying low overhead and run over to the door to try to get a better look. He will point in the direction of the plane or noise, and he will comment with his little narrative baby noise grunts. When he loses sight or sound of the plane, he'll turn and look for you to see if you were as amazed as he was at the low, loud plane flying by.

A 14mo can bonk his head or toe, and then look right at you and make the most hysterical face with squinty eyes, a scrunched up nose, and an "ooooooo" mouth when he bonks and it actually hurts him a bit. Once he gets validation from you with a comparable "poor baby" face and comment, he will continue on with his business as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, you'll be cracking up at how cute he is when he looks at you with that squinty, scrunchy, puckery boo-boo face!

Yeah, those are all things a 14mo can do, assuming he's not autistic of course. SB3 is so NOT autistic!