Signing Time Medley - Video Clip of the Week

Here's Mr. Chase entertaining us with a medley of Signing Time songs!

Showing Off

In today's video Chase and Tyler are showing off their relatively new found signing skills. This is just a sampling of some of the signs they know. If my camera takes long enough at "the shop" then maybe I'll do a part 2 so you can see more!

Those of you that know ASL (American Sign Language) will notice they don't do these signs perfectly but they're close enough that Nick and I know what they're asking for.

In the video, Chase is the one lounging on the bean bag and Tyler is the one pacing around him.

Helen Reviews a Product

I've decided to take a page from Nick's blog and review a product. The product? Baby Signing Time DVDs.

I'd heard parents mention the Baby Signing Time series but I had never seen it before and was content with my Baby Einstein My First Signs DVD. The boys love anything and everything Baby Einstein so this signing video was a hit with them. With the boys finally starting to sign though (see "Finally a Sign") I thought a couple more DVDs, featuring more signs for them might be good. After a quick search of my public library's catalog I found a plethora of Baby Signing Time DVDs. I put in a hold request for the first two and about a week later picked the DVDs up.


From the very first time we popped the first DVD in (6 days ago) the boys were hooked. The songs are catchy (I think Nick and I even know the words!) and the graphics are fun. I think the boys like seeing other "babies" and toddlers doing the signs too.


In the 6 days since we started watching the DVDs I've seen an increase in the number of signs the boys can and will do. Just yesterday Chase came up to me while I was eating an apple and signed "eat". I told him to say "please" and did the sign for him. He said "please" back and I gave him a bite! If I sign "Baby Signing Time" to the boys Jackson tries to do it back and they all run for the TV. I'll definitely be checking out more of these DVDs!


And to those of you with "older" babies or toddlers that haven't tried teaching sign, I'd encourage you to pick up one or two of these DVDs at your library and just see what happens when you show them. It's probably not too late to start!

Finally A Sign!

Seven or eight months ago Nick and I began a quest. A quest to teach our boys simple signs (from American Sign Language) in order to ease the communication barrier. We've had friends teach their children these simply signs quite successfully, so we decided to give it a go.

In the last 7 or 8 months we've checked out Baby Einstein's My First Signs from the library half a dozen times. Nick and I have also been diligent in always signing when saying the following words: eat, drink, milk, sleep, more, cereal, mommy, daddy and a handful of other words. We knew consistency was key and also that it might be several months before the boys signed back...

We knew fairly early on that the boys knew what the signs meant even though they weren't doing them back. I would do "Daddy" when Nick was pulling into the driveway and they'd all get excited and try to look out the window. Or we'd do "eat" and they'd head for the dinner table. As we were inching closer to their 1 year birthday though with still no sign of a sign we got a little frustrated. I even contemplated giving up on the signs.

The first day we gave them milk (2 days after their birthday), we signed "milk" for the first time to them (they'd see it on the video though) and immediately they all signed it back! We were so excited! Then we went a solid 6 weeks of them only doing "milk" and none of the other signs. Then a couple of weeks ago we had a break through - Tyler and Jackson both started signing back "eat" and then a day later they added "more" to the mix! Chase can do both now too and just today I figured out that Tyler is signing "drink" but we didn't recognize it as that.

Here is Tyler demonstrating "eat" and "more".

Let me assure you though that just because the boys can now communicate with us, does not mean we no longer have tantrums. Just yesterday Tyler came up to me, pulled on my pant leg and signed "more" (he had just shared a cookie with his brothers) and I had to sign back "all done" and tell him no. Know what he did? Started to cry, pull at his face and sit on the floor for the next 5 minutes. Poor kid thought that just because he signed it, he'd get it!