EMMIE LEARNS A NEW LANGUAGE

Tonight Emily & I attended our first Sign Language class. The class was held at the
Down Syndrome Aim High Resource Center. When I first heard about the class, I immediately signed us up. I know some Sign Language from when Aidan went through Early Intervention, but I thought I could use some refreshing. I was excited to learn something new, but I also felt a little hesitant knowing I would be surrounded by all of the babies with Down Syndrome & their parents. This made me a little uneasy because when I attended the play date a few weeks ago, it really shook me up. It took me days to feel better. Sometimes it's that reality looking right in the face that kills. Well, about fifteen minutes before the class started, Emily & I packed up & headed to the Center. "Here we go", I thought.


When I pulled into the parking lot I was talking to my sister on my cell phone so that distracted me. (Of course, I was using my headset!) When I walked into the Center, I felt really comfortable. Right away I was greeted by Debbie. I met Debbie when I first visited the Center. She reminds me so much of my Aunt Jackie. She feels familiar & put me at ease. Everyone there was so friendly & welcoming. I remembered most of them from the recent play date. I sat down with Emmie & got situated. I felt empowered because I was going to learn something that will help Emily communicate & it will help us communicate with her. Emmie may have a speech delay at some point or need help communicating, so it felt really good to jump right in & learn.

A few minutes later, my new friend Sheila walked in with her husband. Her daughter is a month older than Emily. We connected at the play date & have been emailing back & forth. When I saw her I thought, "There's my friend. She understands exactly how I feel & what this journey is like." I felt a sense of relief.

The class started & we learned many new Signs...."Mommy", "Daddy", "More", "Hello", etc. We also learned some songs & the Alphabet. We learned how to sign someone's name. You sign the first initial of the person's name. So, "E" for "Emily". Then you sign something that is a characteristic of that person or some term of endearment, like a kiss or a heart or the eyes for the person's beautiful eyes. I can't wait to come up with a sign for Emily! :)

Let me tell you about all of the beautiful babies I saw!!! Oh my gosh!!! They were all so beautiful!! Emmie was the youngest & I think the oldest was 2 years old. Their sweet faces!! They were smiling, clapping, crawling, & walking. Emily laid on the floor, wiggled around, kicked her legs, then she spit up all over her blanket. :) All of these babies were filled with life & joy, like any other baby. I sang to Emily & signed to her. She kept watching the instructor & cooing. My Emmie Grace...my heart...my soul...

The class was great. I am SO GLAD we went!! It wasn't hard to be with the group. It was comfortable & fun. I am really looking forward to the next class. I can't wait to show Aidan the Signs. He will love that! He learns Sign Language at his preschool & I know he will love "talking" to his sister. My Aidan Michael.....also my heart...my soul......I have to tell you about my boy!

That will be my next entry. Time for bed. It was a busy day for me & Emmie. We did a mystery shop. (Valet Parking at the hospital! :)) This is one of my crazy side jobs. We also went to buy a double stroller so Aidan & Emily can sit together & go for walks. We went to the store three different times in order to pick the right one!!

As always, thank you for reading!