we have communication
The babe has been waving bye-bye and hello for a few weeks now. She's been clapping her hands (generally in response to other people clapping their hands) for a few months. I had heard that hand clapping can be a modified "more" sign. (here is an online dictionary that I like if you don't know sign) Babies simplify signs just like they do spoken words when they are first learning. So we started responding to hand clapping in the highchair as if she were saying "more" (while repeating the correct sign) We also got her My First Baby Signs for Christmas. It doesn't use ASL, which bugs me, but it has photos of babies signing, which I had also heard was a good way to encourage babies to sign back (we've been using sign with her for a long time, and she clearly recognizes some signs) She likes pictures of babies so it seemed like a fine present.
In case you can't tell, I'm pretty into this whole teaching babies sign thing. I don't really speak sign myself (though I'm learning and will continue to improve, I'm sure) but it seemed like such an elegant way to head off a lot of toddler frustration. I've also been, not exactly worried, but concerned that she might not pick up on it, just because I don't really speak sign and so am not always as consistent or confident as I would like.
Recently though, she's begun to make a recognizable (though still modified) "more" sign, as well as pointing at all kinds of things, and occasionally making the "eat" sign as well. Today she was definitely signing "more" in the highchair, and I'm just ecstatic. She's still learning and uses her signs with more enthusiasm than accuracy. She kept signing for food while using the potty last night, for example, so I just kept repeating the potty sign back to her. We're communicating, though, and I couldn't be more thrilled.
In case you can't tell, I'm pretty into this whole teaching babies sign thing. I don't really speak sign myself (though I'm learning and will continue to improve, I'm sure) but it seemed like such an elegant way to head off a lot of toddler frustration. I've also been, not exactly worried, but concerned that she might not pick up on it, just because I don't really speak sign and so am not always as consistent or confident as I would like.
Recently though, she's begun to make a recognizable (though still modified) "more" sign, as well as pointing at all kinds of things, and occasionally making the "eat" sign as well. Today she was definitely signing "more" in the highchair, and I'm just ecstatic. She's still learning and uses her signs with more enthusiasm than accuracy. She kept signing for food while using the potty last night, for example, so I just kept repeating the potty sign back to her. We're communicating, though, and I couldn't be more thrilled.