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the eric update - day 530: hooked on fridge phonics.

odin has had his fridge phonics set for quite some time, but it has only recently become one of his favorite toys; with his recently mastered simple shape sorting he's now adept at puting the letters in the toy with the correct orientation which initiates a song that teaches letter names and letter sounds. there's also a little red button below the letter that plays the alphabet song, which never fails to get get odin to dance a little jig.

although i know the toy is popular with "civilian" parents, it's particularly popular with (micro)preemie parents whose children often have speech delays of some sort or another. in fact, when i looked for amazon reviews of the product, the very first one that i currently see is written by a micropreemie parent and is entitled Great for Speech-Delayed kids!. which is appropriate because other than his fondness for "no!" he still isn't saying anymore words than he was during his developmental assessment. which while the issue is not a dire concern, it is notable that during our pediatrician visit for rsv shots he gave us a "furrowed brow" look when we replied that odin wasn't speaking more words.

but he does love the phonics. especially the letter "M", which is probably and not surprisingly because it's the first letter of mauja and mamma.

in addition to the interest in phonics, we are having some success with teaching him baby signs which is quickly becoming an invaluable communication skill.

more on that when i can actually catch him signing when i also have the camera at hand :-)

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12/16/2005 07:17:00 PM 3 comments

3 Comments:

i think it is a great thing that you are teaching your son sign. we started teaching cap'n to sign at about 9 months and it is become a very impoprtant tool in our house. the only time i have trouble is when he is signing to someone who has no idea what he is doing. the funniest is when he signs "thank you" and people think he is blowing them kisses. i did notice my son is advanced in speech, maybe it's the early intervention from the state or our intervention with sign. keep up the great work.
~jen~

By Blogger Jennifer, at 8:16 PM  

If it makes you feel better, my husband was a preemie (though I'm not exactly sure how early, as his mother passed away three years ago and I didn't even know he was a preemie until about a month ago) and he didn't speak full sentences until he was almost four. He now has a PhD and not only speaks well but is very witty (though maybe that is just the Brit in him). Best of luck with the ever-amazing Odin. Saw him in Parents magazine - that was a really nice piece. Cari C

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:24 PM  

jennifer: "the only time i have trouble is when he is signing to someone who has no idea what he is doing. the funniest is when he signs "thank you" and people think he is blowing them kisses. "

we sometimes already have a hard time distinguishing when he's signing and when he's just moving his hands around. some of his versions of signs are pretty abstract! but we're all getting better at communicating with each other :-)

congratulations on the superb language assessment for the cap'n! they say that learning signs can actually strengthen speech skills ( as opposed to the common myth that it might delay a childs desire to speak ).

cari c:"If it makes you feel better, my husband was a preemie...and he didn't speak full sentences until he was almost four. He now has a PhD and not only speaks well but is very witty (though maybe that is just the Brit in him)."

as a former micropreemie myself, i can gain some comfort in the knowledge that my language skills are passably adequate. but i wonder if your husband's prematurity affected his grammar and punctuation skills. i secretly blame my early birth on my apparent inability to capitalize a word or properly structure a sentence :-)

By Blogger e3, at 11:15 AM  

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"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."

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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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