We have certainly hit the communication explosion stage around here. I'm beginning to lose track of the number of things Sam and Anna say and sign- not to mention all the things they understand!
At almost 15 months old, Sam and Anna both sign milk, goodbye, more, all done, bath, eat, baby signing time, baby (by itself) and please. Sam also signs dog, ball, banana, horse, hat, as well as shoes and Anna has signed doll, soap, bird and fish as well. Sam signing count: (15), Anna signing count: (13) Not too shabby, I think, considering they only get baby sign reinforced at home and not at daycare. We do occasionally watch Baby Signing Time DVDs, but not every day. I know I've said this before, but I am so excited to see what they pick up once they are at home with me all day long and get signing reinforced whenever they are awake!
Verbalizing words has really taken off for Sam, although Anna seems less interested in forming actual words lately. She's definitely got her own gibberish language and will "talk" your ear off in her own way. They both say Mama, Dada, Bella, all done, water, uh oh, door, bone and hi. In addition to those, Sam says: Baa, moo, no, Anna, book, bird, that, what's this, blue, ball, block, box, light, out, and Zach (child at daycare) and Anna says : belly button, bye bye, and baby. Sam word count: (around 24 words), Anna word count: (around 12 words) I'm probably missing some but it is getting a little hard to keep a mental list of who says what!
As far as understanding what we are saying, there is little we do on a regular basis that they don't show they understand. They understand when we dress them the names of the articles of clothing we are putting on and where they go by name. Anna can point to her nose, hair, and belly button (her favorite) when asked (Sam hasn't shown much interest in body parts yet). They know our getting ready for daycare, or a walk, or to eat, or bath time routines and will start doing any of those things if you ask them if they are ready for one of them.
They turn more and more into toddlers every day, and farther and farther away from the baby stage. Even though it was only about a year ago, it is hard for me to fathom what my 5 lb tiny twins were like compared to now!
2 comments:
We saw a seven pound one month old last weekend at a party and I was in awe of how tiny she was - it seems so long ago.
I bought a baby sign language book last weekend on the clearance shelf at the bookstore. I wonder if it's too late to start that? Probably not. I really didn't know much about it, except from reading things on your blog. It would be awesome to be able to better communicate with them.
I am SO looking forward to being able to experiment with that, and to work on trying new foods, and taking them to new places... and just being able to be with them 24/7, to KNOW them that way again. I still like teaching, but man am I sad when the weekends are ending.
How are things with your school, by the way? Better?
Katie, I really want to teach Carder baby sign language. I know you have lots of experience as a teacher - but do you have any suggestions of good books to get to start learning how to sign? I would love to have a good place to get started. (I know you also mentioned videos as well...)
Also, what age would you say is the appropriate age to start teaching signs (Obviously not while he is sitting in the NICU learing to swallow/suck/breathe...)
You can just email me your suggestions if you want...
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