The See 'N Say Toy by Mattel

Hands down one of the best toys for a one year old is the See 'n Say by Mattel. Heck, Amberly is 4 and enjoys it now and then with Owen! Right now Owen's sign for HORSE and COW look exactly the same so I'm glad he makes the moooooooooo sound. He knows the difference because if I ask him to point out the cow he gets it correct most of the time. Now that Owen is able to manipulate the handle readily he is so excited that he doesn't wait for it to finish and pulls the handle again and again. In case you have this toy at home I wanted to be sure you are using it in conjunction with your signing.... and if you don't have this toy at home, I highly recommend it, it lets you off the hook from making all the animal sounds.

Hullabaloo was a hit as usual!

We've been making it to the Hullabaloo concert at Kennsington Library 3 months in a row now and it is always fun! Today I saw some moms I haven't seen in awhile and new babies joining our playgroup too. I kinda snuck up to the front when Owen wasn't paying attention because I love to sign "Little Bird" but then he got sad and came looking for me. Every time he went down the slide he clapped for himself and looked around to see who else would cheer him on. When his two top teeth first came through and it looked like he might have a gap I was bummed, but now I think it makes his smile that much more contagious. He'd sorta lay at the end of the slide with the sun in his eye and have this incredible squinty grin like he'd rather be doing nothing else. What is sweeter than that?

Owen played "what's that animal?" with me today

No adorable pictures to go with this one (but be sure to check out the Gorilla picture from the previous post). We were sitting in the playroom and I was picking up toys (as usual), and Owen brings over his Melilssa & Doug boxes that have all sorts of animal pictures on them and begins pointing at ones he does not know the sign for, specifically skipping the ones he already knows the signs for which I thought was awesome because he clearly knows how to ask for vocabulary now. For those of you who have yet to reach this milestone with your baby, it is an incredible jump in the words your child will begin signing when they are basically asking you for the signs. His favorite today was ZEBRA which he demonstrated pretty well with the stripes part of the sign (skipping the horse part) and he just kept doing it over and over again as if to say "Look mom, now I can talk to you about this cool animal!" Need help with the sign? You can find it on www.lifeprint.com and scroll through Z and Bill gives you a little explanation about the sign as well, that's why I love this particular resource when I need to recall a sign.
A big thank you to Luana for those adorable animal boxes that make for a fun new game with Owen!

Here monkey monkey monkey!

Recently we went to the San Diego Zoo with our Sign4Baby Playgroup, it was so fun to see the Koalas and Kangaroos. Upon arrival Owen spotted a huge picture of a Gorilla and was telling me all about it (plus giving me the gorilla sound which sounds curiously glose to his rendition of an owl). Through our tour I thought it interesting that Owen was not nearly as excited by the other living moving animals as he was the picture of the Gorilla that he could not stop showing me. Then it occurred to me that he knew how to express himself and engage in conversation for Gorilla and thus could show me how much he enjoyed it, he just did not yet have exposure to these other animals or their signs for that matter to be able to have a like of them yet. All of my kids have loved the Eric Carle book "From Head to Toe" and we go on and on about the gorilla on the cover who thumps his chest (that is the actual sign for Gorilla ; ) and they LOVE IT! When we were exiting Owen did not skip a beat in pointing out this picture above. Yes, it is not HUGE, it is a different picture than the one he spotted earlier and I had more time to grab the camera. At times I wish a videographer could follow us around and capture these fun moments when he was going crazy for GORILLAS! For our next zoo meetup check our playgroup calendar. I am sure it will fill up so rsvp early. www.meetup.com/sign4baby-playgroup

For some fun practice signing animals try reading and signing along with me:

Reminding myself that COMPREHENSION of signs is communication too!

Yesterday baby Owen took his first step, he seemed to forget I had let go of him, then collapsed. That is how it starts right? Much the same way goes signing with your baby! The common phrase "baby steps" afterall is named this for a reason. As smart as Owen is and as laid back a baby he has proven to be, he is not taking to signing in the same manner as his older siblings. This is not a disappointment (except I'd love to have some pictures of tons of signing to share) I remind myself because I am confident in meeting his needs when he appears to be unhappy. Of course at 10 months old many a momma will tell you their baby doesn't need a sign for MILK, they simply nuzzle mom's breast! Owen is doing just that and the exception came a few weeks ago when I was laying down on the couch suffering from mastitis (of all things!) and Owen cruised along the couch and looked at me loudly grunting with the very purposeful clenching of fist for MILK. Sure enough he was hungry! Babies will use signs when they find them most useful. This was a wonderful display of a baby being in tune with his mama, knowing she might not otherwise respond unless the need was clear, and that it was!
I've documented (mentally) 4 specific signs Owen has used, MILK, MUSIC, ALL DONE, and POTTY. This seems like a teeny tiny vocabulary when looking back at the other two's larger signing vocabulary at this approximate age (10 months) but he understands about 4 times more signs which actually provides us with great opportunity to fulfill his needs/wants. I can sign WATER and know from his reaction it is what he wants very easily rather than guessing. We tend to think of communication as being the ability to convey something, however the comprehension or listening is a big deal in the communication equation. Even for someone who has done it twice before I still have the natural tendancy to want my baby to pick up the pace and use what I'm showing him... "all in good time" meaning when it is relevant to your baby, they will demonstrate the signs.

Something else I'm pretty excited about is reaching 100 fans on FACEBOOK! However in my attempt to send a thank you message to those 100 fans FB send me a spamming warning. My apologies if you have yet to receive your message, I appreciate each and every fan! As Sign4Baby continues to grow, more babies are growing happy in being understood.

Holly is the woman behind http://www.workathomewoman.com and providing a great opportunity in advertising to other mom owned businesses on the web. Check it out and if you've ever thought about starting a business, she's got resources galore. I've met many a mom who has started her own gig after becoming a mommy and it is the fastest growing group of small businesses. Moms want to be available to their families more than a traditional job allows, yet either our lifestyles require additional income, or moms just feel more than ever the need to share what they've discovered. I think it is because most of them have been to college compared to say 20 or 30 years ago and the desire and know-how to get into business is there. Perhaps you've got the know how on 90% of it and want to find out what you don't know, cuz it is what you don't know that you don't know that causes the headache. Research as much as you can on The Work at Home Woman and find out what you don't know.

Cheers and Happy Signing!

Baby Einstein's "My First Signs" DVD

Owen is starting to actually enjoy watching a video from time to time now. Previously he just enjoyed the company of his sister and brother in the playroom while they watched their favorite program. We borrowed My First Signs by Baby Einstein from our good friend Jessica (sorry Jessica we have had it so long!) and while Kyle napped and Amberly was off with Dad doing big girl stuff, Owen and I watched the video together. It was really neat to have him turn his head back to look at me as I said and signed the words after they appeared on the television screen. Babies have the most amazing expressions of new understanding and letting you know it is "clicking" in their little mind. All of my kids have been big fans of the Baby Einstein dvd series and I'm really sad about the frivilous threat of lawsuit that had Disney offer the money back. Curious about details on this, simply check their website www.babyeinstein.com and find out all about it on their homepage. Some of the signs I demonstrate with Owen when we're doing this activity are MOVIE or CATERPILLAR. We are big fans of interacting with the kids while a program is on, and though not always feasible, it can be turned into a learning opportunity!

Music to my Ears... or Eyes!

Music is one of the first signs Kyle demonstrated and Owen chose to make it his second sign today! Okay, yesterday, since it is now past midnight. At the completion of class at Bears, Buddies & Toys, Jade and her mommy wanted to hear the "Brand New Day" song from the Pick Me Up album since they came into class a bit late. I had Owen in arms and was talking about liking that music when Owen picked up on what I was about to do, he didn't just flap his arms in excitement as I've seen him do when the music is ON, but moved his hand side to side after I demonstrated MUSIC for Jade! Yay! I will never tire of "catching" these first signs of babies. It is enlightening to see what they value, how they interact differently when they have words, and the constant lightbulb moments stored in your memory. Owen has been smart enough to have other people around to witness these little signing milestones, showing off for mommy in class is a good thing Boo-boos!

Here's a link to listen to a sample of the song "Brand New Day" - we use many of the songs from this ASL CD in our Sign, Play & Learn playgroup style classes.

There are 20 unique songs with illustrations to over 200 signs. A great tool to help you in your signing journey and available through my website.