I've been writing more about little children God has placed in my life. Children has been my passion. I love their innocence, laugh, cry, little figures, little feet, growing and losing teeth, smell, learning process, learning ability and many more. So I thought I would share some of my experiences with kids with you. Believe me, they keep you young.
Back in December, I went to Indiana to spend time with Evelyn before her move to Shanghai. It's actually a perfect timing to visit considering I had not seen Thomas (her oldest child) since he's born and Rachel (her second child) was about to turn 1 month old that week. Thomas was 14 months old when I came. He's a heart stealer!!
Back in San Jose, many parents have been teaching their kids sign language. My exposure to American Sign Language (ASL) went all the way back to 2001 when I was in Austin teaching Math and Chemistry to people with disabilities. They were the meekest people to teach. In return, they taught me couple sign languages. It wasn't till late 2007 that I was exposed to teaching sign language to babies. The first parent I knew teaching sign language was Elisse. And I have been practicing it since then. Thank you to Elisse for making my hands wet on sign language :-)
Anyway, during my visit to Indiana, I was trying to teach Thomas some sign languages. Unfortunately, Thomas doesn't speak or understand English. So it was a little bit of a challenge there considering ASL uses English.
The first sign I taught Thomas was "Thank You" which looks like a kiss bye or fly kiss. At the same time I was teaching Thomas this sign, his grandma was teaching him to pray. Each time she would start the prayer with, "Xie xie" (read: Thank you). And each time she would clasp her hands together to pray. Somehow, cute little Thomas mixed up the idea of signing (to express his feeling since he can't speak yet) that I'd been teaching him with the gesture his grandma had been teaching him to pray.
As a result, each time you say and want him to do "Thank You" or "Xie xie," Thomas would clasped his hands together and whispered, "Xie xie." SO CUTEEEEE. Though it's not the proper ASL's Thank You, it's still understandable. Especially to those people around him.
And here's a video of Thomas' version of "Thank You."
May this turn your frown upside down!! And may this be a blessing!
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