Sunday, August 22, 2010

Milk Sign

One of my very first posts was about baby sign language.

If you're not familiar with this concept, it's worth checking out.

Mom-E and I have used baby signs with all 3 boys, and it's wonderful, both from a frustration-reducing and a babies-are-just-plain amazing perspective.

Within the last week, Bab-E Brother has started to (pretty consistently) make his first sign--MILK (what else would it be)--before the ripe old age of 8 months. (Every child is different, but most make their first sign somewhere between 7-12 months).

Long gone are the days of trying to keep track of the timings of his feedings, to figure out if he's crying because he's hungry.

Now, he just tells us. It's awesome.

And he doesn't just make the sign for us. He uses it with the lady who watches the boys when Mom-E and Dad-E are both at work, too.

And it's amazing, given that his current verbal communication consists of making raspberries until everything in a 3-foot radius has been completely liquified.

But this nonverbal communication is a refreshing sign that his hamster wheel is spinning just fine.

The key with Baby Signs--and the key to most things in life, for that matter--is persistence. Every time Mom-E fed him for the last 2 months, she'd make the milk sign when she had his attention.

And now that persistence is paying its dividends.

The next signs we'll add will be "EAT" and "MORE".

(Although technically he already says eat, because putting him in his high chair usually elicits a response of MMM...MMM...MMM...)

Have a good week,
Busy-Dad-E

4 comments:

  1. Our baby learned to sign More at around 6 months. It didn't just help us understand what he wanted when he was crying, but it made him cry less, because he was less frustrated about not being understood. Unfortunately, that was the only sign we knew...

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  2. Way to go baby brother...that is awesome! I am sure that he is going to start learning more words faster now that he understands the purpose. Have a great week. Rosi

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  3. I'm so proud of you Bab-E Brother! Can't wait to see you soon.

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  4. Baby sign language is awesome! Our son learned it and I think it helped him start sooner because he was understanding what milk was, or how to say more or eat. Very good!

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