Baby signing...

When Evan was 13 months old, we took a baby signing class together. We learned how to use sign language to communicate with each other. Babies' ability understand usually comes much earlier than their ability to enunciate well, and we hoped that by teaching Evan how to use his hands to communicate with us, that he would be able to better describe his world and his needs to us. We've had huge success with baby signing! Take a look at a few videos:

Very quickly it was Evan who was guiding the program, often asking for signs. He is using signs in combination with each other now too, forming simple sentences. His spoken vocabulary is normal for his age, but his signing vocabulary is much, much bigger. The best part of it all, is that it has given us a little glimpse into his world. When we would never have noticed otherwise, Evan will use signs to point out an airplane or a train. He is amazingly specific too, when in the car he ferociously signs "eat cracker!" Signing has also helped shape the way he understands the world, and it has made it easier to teach him shapes, colors, and beginning numbers. We're using it for potty training too! He is becoming very interested in talking now as well, so he often combines the first syllable of a word with its sign, or the sound a given animal makes with its sign. It's so fun to watch!

Most of Evan's signs are based off of ASL. Occasionally we find another way to sign something, or we'll mix signs up (as is the case with "bunny" and "squirrel"). As long as we're consistent in using the same sign for a particular item, it works out fine. Here's a list of the signs I can think of right now that we regularly use (I counted 66, though I'm sure I'm missing a few):

eat / drink / more / milk / cereal / cheese / cracker / all done / bib / please / thank you / love / stars / moon / light / sleep / book / bubbles / bath / frog / water / duck/goose / toothbrush / hot / cold / hat / socks / shoes / diaper / airplane / train / car / boat / rain / play / butterfly / bird / ball / flower / tree / house / piano / bunny / cat / dog / fish / turtle / squirrel / chicken / cow / pig / horse / bear / elephant / giraffe / kangaroo / monkey / lion / wash hands / go potty / good job / stop / hurt / let's go / gentle / baby

Needless to say, we're endlessly proud of our little guy!!