More Baby Sign

Signing with Miles has helped us tremendously. He can only speak a few words, but can sign a great many! He started by signing “more” as “I want that” and “milk” meaning nursing then we were stuck- until we took Sign 4 Baby class. Then we had a sign explosion! It really helped me get in tune to what interested him. His first signs were helicopter, airplane and motorcycle. Then he moved on to some more useful signs like cookie, cracker, cheese, down, eat, finished, pear, mom, dad, butterfly, spider, dog, duck, hug, please, and thank you. I’m sure there’s a bunch I’m forgetting. Before we took the class he clapped by hitting his arm instead of hand to hand. Then with the added hand eye coordination that I believe he received from this class, he finally got it and learned to clap like his peers. All these signs help us get some insight into what he is thinking as at 20 months old he only says a few words clearly. We’re at the point now where he can focus on me when I show him a sign and try to copy it. Now we can avoid tantrums by asking him to use his hands to tell us what he wants/needs. Also he understands much more signs than he can actually do so I can talk to him without voicing- like if we are in the library I can tell him we’re going to change his diaper soon without letting the whole place know about it and he shows he understands by running away!

We mostly use sign for mealtimes where he can tell me if he’s finished or if he wants more and what he wants more of. That’s super helpful and avoids a lot of food tossing. We also use sign to help him express his interests in locomotives and animals/insects. He loves telling me when he spots a spider web by signing spider and pointing. Or can tell me when he hears a helicopter flying by. You can see the excitement on his face that he can say words he would have difficulty pronouncing at this age- and I love knowing what he’s thinking. I also love knowing that he’s learning another language that we can expand upon as he grows and he can be bilingual to a certain degree. And of course it’s super cute to watch him sign thank you to his grandma when she’s offered him something! Now that is priceless!