Baby Signs!

I started introducing baby signs to Nadija when she was about 6 months old. I had seen other babies signing to their parents and knew that it was something I wanted to teach her. I started with the basics - milk, eat and more. After many months of religiously saying the words and signing them to Nadija we were finally rewarded with her first sign when she was about 10 months old. She raised her little hand and opened and closed her fist, signing to me that she wanted milk.

Although she knew the sign, she didn't use it very often. I'm assuming because she didn't fully understand that she could get her needs met with her new found "language." Continuing to show her the signs every time I said the word, I was beginning to wonder if she would ever really grasp the baby signs.

Well, a couple of weeks ago just after she turned 11 months old, the light bulb came on and is shining bright! With her new found understanding of sign language, Nadija is asking for milk at least 10 times a day now - a drastic increase from the 4-5 times she used to nurse! Now, I'm certain she wasn't parched prior to her learning the sign. I think she's just excited to try out her new skill!

Now that she knows that she can communicate with us, she's picking up more signs all the time. She just recently started making the spider motion for itsy-bitsy spider and has picked up the sign for "more" and is trying her hand at "eat."

It's so exciting to see her growing and learning. Sometimes I just can't wait to learn more signs myself so I can teach them to her! It has been so rewarding just seeing her sign the few signs that she knows, I can't wait for her to learn many more!

To learn more about baby signs and start communicating with your baby, visit the baby signs site here