snowdeal.org > ex machina: the eric update - day 522: preemie play group! and a contextually appropriate sign!

ex machina

the eric update - day 522: preemie play group! and a contextually appropriate sign!

after struggling with the Continuum of Cautiousness during cold and flu season, some may remember that we decided after his previous developmental assessment to schedule odin in a play group sponsored by our "early on" organization ( which also performs his assessments ). although the group is not exclusively for preemie parents, it appears that all most of the attendees are (micro)preemies and their parents.

while we initially had some reservations about exposing odin to the unwashed masses - even though he's getting rsv shots - we couldn't be happier with the group. there's usually only one or two other preemie kids in attendence with 4 or 5 case workers. thankfully, all the parents and staff are conscientious about preventing the spread of germs.

we've gone every thursday for the past three weeks and after some initial typical shyness, it's fun to watch odin gain confidence in playing with people who aren't mamma and pops! he loves impressing everyone with his walking skills, climbing in and out of the pool filled with lots of balls, pushing his preemie play buddie ( 27 weeker, 9 months actual ) around on a swing and - maybe most funnest of all - playing in another pool filled with beans. i think there's some theory or another about the sensory experience of a pool filled with dried legumes, or maybe it's just a whole lot of fun.

and today, when it was time to go and odin saw everyone packing up, everyone was very happily surprised when he started signing "all done/finished" and started walking for the door! ( i'll write more on our experiments with baby signing, but suffice to say that he's picking it up very quickly. )

this group is mostly unstructured play, but in january i think we'll enroll him in a class run by the same organization that is specifically for preemie kids that are walking which provides a little structure along with the fun.

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12/08/2005 03:54:00 PM 5 comments

5 Comments:

I think it is awesome that you are teaching odin to sign. I starting teaching my micro preemie when he was just 9 monthes birth age. It has helped so much. He even started speaking early for his birth age. I think it is from the confidence he gained from knowing sign language. **pat on the back for you!
~jen~

By Jennifer, at 5:33 PM

jennifer: "I think it is awesome that you are teaching odin to sign."

thanks! i'm not sure why we didn't start earlier, but he's picking it up quickly. "more" and "all done/finished" are already being used on a daily basis, although we can't quite get him to sign "please" :-)

By e3, at 6:22 PM

when i was a kid, my mother taught me basic signing; i have fond memories of singing and signing the ABCs while sitting on my mom's lap.

my husband doesn't know sign language, but hopefully i can convince him that teaching our someday-children to sign will be a good thing.

how *do* you sign "finished"? i can do "more," but odin apparently knows more sign language than i do. :-) off to google some ASL...

By Anonymous, at 7:28 PM

diana: "how *do* you sign "finished"? i can do "more," but odin apparently knows more sign language than i do. :-) off to google some ASL..."

yay for the asl browser! here's all done/finished. of course, odin has his own unique take on the signs; i'm still trying to get a good picture of his dialect :-)

By e3, at 12:22 PM

That is great that you are going to a ei playgroup Lexie used to really like them when she was younger It is also wonderful that you found one with just a few children there seemed to be 5or6 when we went but Lexie was a bit older past 2
jodee(preemie-l)

By Anonymous, at 5:18 PM

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[ rhetoric ]

“"it is hard to be brave," said piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal." rabbit, who had begun to write very busily, looked up and said: "it is because you are a very small animal that you will be Useful in the adventure before us."”

the complete tales & poems of winnie the pooh

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this site chronicles the continuing adventures of my son, odin, who was unexpectedly born on the fourth of july at 25 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound 7 ounces.

he's quite a fighter and you can always send him a postcard to the most current address listed here if you're inspired by his adventures. see the postcard project/google maps mashup to see a map of the postcards.

if you're new, you can browse the archives to catch up. and don't forget to watch a few movies that i made while we were in the neonatal intensive care unit. or if you want the abridged version and you can find a copy, you can read about his adventures in the november 2005 issue of parents magazine.

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