I think we do, or at least that I do. And I haven't even been saying "Good job!" nor has anyone else who sees Simon often. I do a lot of the "You stacked your blocks!" When he was about 6-10 months, we would sometimes through a ball into a bin, flail my arms up in the air and say "Yay! Oh yeah! Score!" in a really silly and exaggerated voice. Usually it was me or dh who got the ball into the bin, so (for the most part) it wasn't even Simon who was being praised. I wasn't even really seeing this as praise. It's been awhile since we did this, and we didn't even do it all that often. Recently he has started raising his hands into the air in a victory gesture whenever he does something he is proud of; today he was proud of throwing a knife into the garbage. (It was a very, very blunt knife and I was watching very closely.) :LOL I think some things really stick with them and hit them on a deep level. I guess this gesture of excitement over an accomplishment is one of those things.
Another thing (just similar): We don't use the word "No" with Simon. When he was 9-11 months or so, I'd sometimes sort blocks onto coloured papers. I'd pick up a blue block and hold it over the yellow, green, and red papers and say "Does it go here? Nooooooo (in a really silly voice and while shaking my head back and forth." Then I'd put it in the right spot and say something like "The blue block goes here!" It was just a silly game. I thought I was helping him to learn colours and how to sort items. Maybe I was, but I doubt that. At about 1 he suddenly started joking around by shaking his head "Noooooo" in a really silly way with a huge smile on his face. The first time he used it he recreated the "psych!" joke. He was acting as though he was going to feed me, then at the last minute yanked the food away and started shaking his head with a ridiculously huge smile on his face. I know this isn't closely related at all, but it does show how some things REALLY stick in their minds and how much they get what certain things mean and that (e.g.) praise is praise and no is no (even if it's a positive variant of no).
Looking forward to reading other responses as I've been rethinking how we're currently doing things in light of the fact that Simon seems to be taking a lot of it as praise. He often looks to me when he does something new or that he takes to be neat to make sure that I've seen. Perhaps this is just normal. I do want to give it more thought though.
Another thing (just similar): We don't use the word "No" with Simon. When he was 9-11 months or so, I'd sometimes sort blocks onto coloured papers. I'd pick up a blue block and hold it over the yellow, green, and red papers and say "Does it go here? Nooooooo (in a really silly voice and while shaking my head back and forth." Then I'd put it in the right spot and say something like "The blue block goes here!" It was just a silly game. I thought I was helping him to learn colours and how to sort items. Maybe I was, but I doubt that. At about 1 he suddenly started joking around by shaking his head "Noooooo" in a really silly way with a huge smile on his face. The first time he used it he recreated the "psych!" joke. He was acting as though he was going to feed me, then at the last minute yanked the food away and started shaking his head with a ridiculously huge smile on his face. I know this isn't closely related at all, but it does show how some things REALLY stick in their minds and how much they get what certain things mean and that (e.g.) praise is praise and no is no (even if it's a positive variant of no).
Looking forward to reading other responses as I've been rethinking how we're currently doing things in light of the fact that Simon seems to be taking a lot of it as praise. He often looks to me when he does something new or that he takes to be neat to make sure that I've seen. Perhaps this is just normal. I do want to give it more thought though.
