Thoughts on signing

Once Lylah started waving, "bye-bye" we started introducing basic signs. I was so excited when she first sign "more" to communicate that she wanted more watermelon. Soon after learning "more", she started to sign "milk" and "water". We continued introducing other signs that would help our lil' lady communicate before she was able to talk. At one point this summer while at the library, I realized they had the signing time videos available for patrons to rent. Since then we have rented a couple every 2 weeks to watch and enjoy. I think we may be the only ones to rent them, which is okay because it means we get to choose which ever ones we want!! These videos are great not only because of the way they introduce the signs, but because they are very engaging and educational to teach verbal vocabulary as well. The thing I've heard the most as people have found out that we are signing with Lylah is, "well, will she ever learn to talk then?". The answer is, "YES!" When we sign with Lylah we always say the word too not to mention that we are always talking with her throughout the day. Research shows that babies who sign have a higher IQ and reading level later in life as well as less frustration as toddlers, plus it is so fun and super cute!!! In case you are wondering here are the signs our lil lady knows:

more, milk, water, eat, please, thank you, finished, play, play ground, swing, I love you, help, home, me, duck, bird, monkey, cat, rain, and even "signing time"

Here are the words she can say: mama, dada, hi, hello, bye-bye, bath, ball, balloon, bubble, baby, home, water, night-night, ruff-ruff (for dog), mooo (for cow), quack (for duck), uh-oh. That is a total vocabulary (including signs) of close to 40 words (and I'm sure I'm forgetting some). I also feel like signing has increased Lylah's understanding as well. We use lots of other signs with her that she hasn't started using yet, but knows and understands. She follows directions probably 80% of the time. The other 20% she is usually be stubborn :)

So if you have thought about signing with your child, then give it a try!! Remember that when babies sign they may not make the sign perfectly and that is okay. Lylah used to clap her hands for "more" but now she does it correctly. It is just like speaking in that she did what was developmentally appropriate for her at the time. We are very glad that we started signing with Lylah and we are even enjoying learning the language ourselves!!

I don't have very many pictures of Lylah actually signing, but I have accidentally caught a couple of her signing water.

signing water at the fountain at the Indy canal
signing water at the park when it was hot and she wanted something to drink :)