Sign language

Lately, I feel like Olivia is trying really hard to be able to communicate. She’s started making the most ~~annoying~~ precious “MMMMMMMMmmmm” noise when she’s frustrated. I’ve been doing some reading on baby sign language and I think we’re ready to give it a go.

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“Baby Signs” says that it’s best to wait until your baby shows interest in communicating. The authors suggest asking the following questions to determine a good time to start.

Is baby at least 6 months old? ALMOST!
Baby is beginning to point at things. Not yet
Is baby bringing toys or objects to you and looking for a response? No, Not really
Is your baby beginning to wave “bye-bye”? No
Is your baby beginning to shake head yes or no? Not at all
Is your baby beginning to show an interest in picture books? Mom says YES, Dad says NO
Is your baby frustrated when you don’t understand what she needs? Yes.
Are there still important things your baby doesn’t have words for? Duh.
Are you an over eager parent? Will you ignore the number of times you answered NO to the above questions and start signing anyway? YES.

That being said…

We’ve already started waving and saying “bye bye” when someone leaves a room and beginning to point at things and talk to her about them. For example, pointing to the fountain and talking about water (Have I mentioned how much my child LOVES water? Swimming in it. Looking at it… Her latest obsession is ice cubes.. great dinner table distraction when mommy forgets to bring a toy). We’re hoping that she’ll start pointing on her own so that we can help her assign words to things she sees. (From what I gather, this is the general direction that the book suggests)

We’re going to start with 5 signs. (I didn’t make it past the first 50 pages – after reading that I was breaking all the rules by starting early… I abandoned everything but the dictionary of signs in the back of the book)