Johnny is doing more sign language — “eat” and “drink” as well as “nurse,” which was his first one. We’ll say, “do you want to EAT, Johnny?” or something like that, and he’ll pat his cheek like we taught him. And he knows what we mean!

Oh, this communication thing. It’s great.

I’m also diligently working on teaching him how to help out around the house. A one-year-old is not too young. He empties the front-loading washing machine and hands up the wet clothes to me to put in the dryer. He sometimes will load the washer, one item at a time.

Today, he put his pants in the hamper. Oh, and he helps push the hamper down the hall to the washing machine. Loves that one.

YAY, JOHNNY! Big yays!

Yeah, it takes like 10 times longer for him to do it than if I did, but that’s not the point. The point is, he learns to help out. It’s a game for him and I think he really enjoys it.

Eventually, he’ll be old enough to do these things without help. Yeah, it’ll be a few years down the road, but that’s ok!