When I was in college my family had this incredible dog named Sammy.  He was the wildest, smartest, sweetest golden retriever ever known to man.  When Sammy was a puppy, he came in contact with some tiny little mice and after that experience every time we wanted to make him insane we’d point across the room and yell “mouse.”  Sammy would completely lose it, chasing after the invisible mouse.  Somehow it never got old.

Oscar is not Sammy, of course, but in celebration of our upcoming trip to Disneyl*nd, I thought I’d introduce him to the term “mouse.”  He has a Mickey M0use doll that has been sitting in his grocery cart for the past year or so.  Every once in a while he’ll push him around the hall.  “Mouse” is signed by brushing the tip of your nose twice with the tip of the index finger of your right hand.  Very easy.  Oscar picked this one up with no problem at all.  I even captured it on tape with some success.

Today’s real reward, though, came when the little guy curled up with me, looked up at me a little shyly and signed “hug.”  I love sign language.