How many people have had an infant just cry out of frustration? How many of us have wanted to cry because we have no idea what the 1 year old we are with(ours or some one else’s)? Well, we deal with this by using sign language. As many of you know, the NerdFamily house is populated by many small people. We have previously taught our 2 older children sign and now we are starting with our 3rd. Basically, we start showing the baby signs about the time you introduce food(on our case 6 months). Usually it on;y takes a couple months before the baby starts signing back. (FYI, every kid is different so it could take longer with some. Hang in there it is worth it) This helps avoid the frustration usually around meals. According to some studies sited in articles the average child starts saying single words about 13 months, where as, signing can start at 8 months.
I have been asked if my kids won’t speak, can’t understand language, etc. I speak the word while I sign and after they learn you don’t have to sign any more. My children all have spoke very young but they also started to speak in sentences because they sign in simple sentences. At first they only consist of a noun and a please or thank you then they grow from there. My NerdPie(2 yrs) uses him and her and uses correct tenses of verbs(for the most part). At 4 the NerdBug is an amazing conversationalist and both of them have the logic to back it up.

Now that I have proven how wonderful signing with you kids is, let us talk a little about logistics. If you teach a 1 year old sign and never do it again, they will probably forget. If you have multiple children, your older children can retain it and have their 2nd language. Given this, some people teach a “baby sign” that is not a language. The NerdDad and I primarily teach American Sign Language(ASL). When I say primarily I mean that sometimes I will substitue a simple sign for a more complex one but for the most part I use ASL. Recently NerdDad found this great website put out by Michigan State that is actually an ASL Browser. It has a great index of signs and it includes the motion involved. So I hope this encourages some of the many parents of young children out there.

It has been discussed in many places how the DNA tests on the American Indians has shaken many people’s beliefs in Mormonism(aka the Church of Latter Day Saints). After reading an article from the LA Times posted on Ethos I decided to comment. I am curious to see the true effect that this holds for both the structure of the Mormon Church and for its attenders. But I get ahead of myself. Let me go over some foundation to this whole discussion.

The Book of Mormon was based on, the supposed, history of the American Indians which were the descendants of the “Lost Tribes of Israel”.

After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon – every English edition since 1981).

In addition to this being the premise of the religion, it is also the premise of some of their missionary work. In an article from the Salt Lake City Messenger, the author quote the Book or Mormon,

The Book of Mormon prophesies that the day would come when the record of the Nephites and Lamanites would be given into the hands of the Gentiles, who will then perform missionary work among Lehi’s descendants:

And now, I [Nephi] would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, . . . there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed.

And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews (2 Nephi 30:3-4).

The recent DNA tests are proof that the Native Americans are decendant from people originally from Asia and not the Middle East(ie not Jewish). And now you can start to see some problems that the church is facing. I admit that I have always believed that this is a fake religion and I love it when science can back that up. So will this lead to a “new intepretation” of the Book of Mormon? If so it may already be to late in South America. Many of the Peruvian Mormons are speaking about the fact that their identity was tied into this belief of being descendants of Israel. Their belief in Mormomism appears to be obliterated.

The LDS Church are already putting out counter literature. One of their claims is doubting the DNA Science. I think that this will be a beginning to the demise of the Mormon Church and I hope that it will be!

NerdDad Mentioned this to me over lunch and so I did a little research. Yahoo is banning all nicknames that contain allah. This also effects st least one of their partners, Verizon. I found out more details over at dommynicius’ weird news

Nor will Yahoo! accept yahoo, osama or binladen. But it will accept god, messiah, jesus, jehova, buddah, satan and both priest and pedophile.

One of the reasons this is so note worthy in the NerdFamily house is because our church Worship Leader and one of our favorite bloggers is Pat Callahan of Two Blonde Boys. I don’t know if Pat is aware of his lack of freedom to use his own last name on Yahoo. This is a crazy world…

If you haven’t heard Bono(yes of U2) spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. If you haven’t read it yet go here. I find all of this very interesting. I hear that Bono will also be speaking at some other Christian events. While I am not completely sure that Bono has the best plan I definately agree with his sentiment that the church needs to be helping the poor and not just our own. The best analysis I have found is not from a political analyst but Shaun Groves

There’s a little, maybe a lot, of debating and pontificating about whether Bono is a Christian by our definition these days. Is he too ecumenical? Is he too Catholic? Too ambiguous? Paul said belief crosses us over from death to life – not language or piety. And John tells us the evidence of this crossing over is our love for people. He said if we claim to love God but don’t love people we’re liars. Jesus said if we love the Most High we’ll be about loving the least. Bono seems to know Jesus, though it’s not my job to judge either way, and, more importantly, Bono seems to know where He hangs out:

“I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill… I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff… maybe, maybe not… But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.”

I find this very convicting and that usually is a good thing. We are out taking care of ourselves and I believe that God watches out for me but… There is a line out of a hymn “When I am weak He is Strong” So I suppose that God would be strongest for and with the poor and sick. I don’t know what role God has for me in this area but I want to be His hands and feet and more importantly share His heart and vision with others.

So tonight the whole Nerd Family was sitting down, eating dinner and watching an old Tivo’ed West Wing. The NerdBug(4 yrs old) asked, “Are we ever going to get a kids West Wing puzzle?”. It is official, he is going into politics;).

I found ProLifeBlogs.com and it had some interesting posts. One was a letter from Terry Schiavo’s brother in response to Cathy Young of the Boston Globe. The post that really got my attention was about a passage in Exodus(21:22-24), from Nathan Sheets, and how it translates to the value of unborn life. the verse in the King James is

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot

I completely agree with this analysis:

Christian Courier notes:

However, there is absolutely no evidence that a dead fetus is under consideration in this passage. The fact is, the Hebrew language has a term (shachol) that denotes an abortion, or miscarriage (see 2 Kgs. 2:21; Hos. 9:14), yet that word is not employed in this context. This passage deals with a premature birth, not an aborted fetus.

The Hebrew word rendered “depart” is yasa, basically meaning “to go (come) out.” Though the word has a wide variety of uses in the Old Testament, it is frequently employed of an ordinary birth. God told Jeremiah, “ . . .before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you . . .” (Jer. 1:5). In Exodus 21:22 the verb is used “of untimely birth” (Brown, Driver, & Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, p. 423), or of “premature birth” (cf. NIV; NKJV).

We then see that the verse is saying if a woman has a premature birth, but the baby does not die, the man is to be punished with a fine. If her baby dies as a result, he is to be put to death. Thus, God valued the unborn’s lives as equal to those who were born, and He still does today as clearly evidenced in the writings of the Early Church.

I found this insightful and true.

Thanks to the Corner I have found something to nerdy for us(I even varified this with NerdDad). It is the Binary Watch. It is odd but interesting.

I know that I am not the only person who has seen the Brokeback Mountain trailor and been puzzled. I heard at least one other woman fess up at Bible Study on Tuesday. I have to say looking at the trailor, it looks like it is a sweet romantic hetero tale. Well, to prove looks can be deceiving…I found this psuedo trailor posted on the Corner. Don’t worry Brokeback to the Future seems very G rated for those who are nervous. This just proves that you can present anything in another way to distort intial perceptions.

An addition found by NerdDad(which he found on the Corner), Sleepless in Seattle the thriller….

***Note for the Grammer Police, I realized that I spelled trailer wrong(several times) but do you know how many Google hits I get off of it?

I love how the President said how the Congress didn’t pass his Social Security reform. The Dems fell for the trap and had a standing O. Then he went on to say that the problem isn’t going away. I would hope that the American people would see their joy at obstructing progress. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the group that this would effect is watching the SOTU address. What do you all think?

So says The President (at the SOTU)

“Keeping America competitive begins with keeping our economy growing. And our economy grows when Americans have more of their own money to spend, save, and invest. In the last five years, the tax relief you passed has left 880 billion dollars in the hands of American workers, investors, small businesses, and families – and they have used it to help produce more than four years of uninterrupted economic growth. Yet the tax relief is set to expire in the next few years. If we do nothing, American families will face a massive tax increase they do not expect and will not welcome.

Because America needs more than a temporary expansion, we need more than temporary tax relief. I urge the Congress to act responsibly, and make the tax cuts permanent.”

These are the differences that divide us and it couldn’t of been clearer than the split standing ovation.