Baby signs

Rob, Gloria, and I signed up for a class to learn baby sign language. It's 6 weeks/classes long and put on by Gymboree. At first I thought Gloria was too old to do it, even though it's geared toward 6-18 months. I talked to the teacher of it and some parents who have done it before and they convinced me that Gloria was at the perfect age to learn and use sign language. It's a great age for it because kids finally have good control over their hands and fingers, they can comprehend what we say and know what we're talking about, and because they want to communicate with us.

We've gone to 4 classes so far. In each class we learn 6 signs that correspond with the theme of the class. We've done mealtime (more, all done, drink, eat, cereal, and milk), bathtime (frog, duck, bath, bubbles, water, and toothbrush), bedtime (love, stars, light, sleep, moon, and book), and getting dressed (socks, shoes, coat, hat, diaper, and comb).

Gloria has quickly picked up the signs that we do consistently. She does the sign for more if she wants more bites of food or wants to play something again. She will sign all done if we ask her if she is done. Occasionally she will sign drink. She knows how to sign book and say it at the same time. Gloria learned how to sign stars at Gymboree because we do it when we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and will sign it whenever she hears that song or hears the word 'stars'. She can sign hat which is pretty easy, just patting your head, because she knows that's where a hat goes. She also signs bath when she wants to take a bath or when we tell her it's bathtime!

It's amazing how quickly Gloria picked it up and how well she understands it. We're excited for the next two classes - pets and at the park!

"Vrooming around on my bus - I'm just learning how to use my feet to go on my own."
2-24-09