Teaching the boys to sign “more” has worked splendidly. At first they used it to ask for more goodies like Nilla Wafers or Animal Crackers. Very soon, though, signing “more” generalized to other areas of need. The boys quickly learned to use the sign if they wanted something, even if it wasn’t food, and even if it wasn’t necessarily “more” of something. Such as when Link signs “more” so that we’ll read a book to him or the time JJ tried to turn on the TV with the remote and when it didn’t work, he came over to me and signed “more.”
It’s been fun to watch the boys’ communication change over time as well. Over the past month or two, the boys have become beggars whenever there is food around. I no longer eat meals at the dining room table, because doing so means I am swarmed by JJ and Link who desperately want to sample whatever I am eating. Instead, I eat in the gated safety of the kitchen. Let me tell you that standing up while eating is weak.
Anyways, with this begging comes their new way of asking for food. They probably picked this up from feedings where they get the usual “Open up your mouths, say ahhhhh!” Begging for food now comes with the ever-so-cute “Ahhhh!” In JJ’s case, it sounds more like “ahhhhm!”
Watching TV and Begging for Food.
The boys are also picking up new words and last week JJ started using “nana” when he wanted to get some banana. Of course, he couldn’t just say “nana” — he had to do it in a cute sing-songy kind of way.
Link has developed the very unfortunate habit of being a difficult eater. Primarily, his misbehavior during meal times consists of pulling out partially-chewed pieces of food from his mouth. Once it’s out, it usually ends up being smashed on his tray, and, in many instances, smeared on his face or in his hair. Every once in awhile, when Link doesn’t feel like eating for one reason or another, he’ll take whatever food is on his tray and swipe both of his hands back and forth so that all of the food flies onto the floor. One of the reasons he does this is to obviously amuse himself, but another reason is to leave little presents for himself for later when he wants a snack — all he has to do is pick the goodies up off the floor.
So today, the boys were having lunch, which consisted of little cut-up pieces of hot dogs and string cheese. JJ neatly and carefully ate as he watched TV from his high chair. Megan cut up some grapes and JJ really, really loved them. Megan gave him a few, he gobbled them up, and he signed for more. Megan told him that he had to eat more of his hot dog before he could get more grapes. She went over to the couch for a bit and when she came back to check on JJ, he had quietly eaten his hot dog so she gave him the grapes she’d promised.
Link, though, was having none of this thing called “lunch.” The boy refused to eat, laughed at our attempts to coax him into dining, and did his swiping thing so that hot dog and cheese and fruit ended up all over the floor. Megan wondered aloud why Link had to be such a pain in the butt about eating, while his sweet twin brother was such a good eater.
A few minutes later, JJ had finished up his food and it was time to pull the boys out of their chairs so they could go down for a nap. I picked up Link’s mess and got him out of his chair. Megan got JJ out of his chair and when she removed his bib she discovered his dirty little secret. She showed me the contents of the large pocket at the bottom of his bib.
It was full of teeny pieces of hot dog.






