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Signing With Babies Chat, with Sarah Bingham of WeeHands
( www.weehands.com )
10/14/04

20:03:35 ellie hello
20:04:41 WeeHands Hi ellie! How are you tonite?
20:05:14 ellie Great! I'm excited to be on the board because I've missed the dates and times of the chats
20:06:42 WeeHands tell me about your baby!
20:07:16 ellie I have a 19 month old who I've been signing with for the past year. Her name is Emily and truly loves to sign.
20:07:32 WeeHands Oh, I love the name Emily!
20:07:45 ellie She is one busy little one. I also have a 4 year old who is trying to sign as well
20:07:57 WeeHands That's fantastic! It sounds like you both love to sign!
20:08:23 WeeHands That's so funny - my son is 4 years old and my daughter is 23 months old - very similar!
20:08:51 WeeHands What age did you start signing with your wee ones?
20:09:07 ellie I really love it. I have always played with the idea of teaching it here but I didn't want to pose any competition with my instructor. Hey I just saw your message we almost have the same family structure. I started signing with emily at 12 months
20:09:11 WeeHands good evening rafael!
20:09:15 rafael hello
20:09:36 WeeHands we're just exchanging baby information :)
20:09:55 rafael one 4 month old son here
20:10:08 ellie cute
20:10:09 WeeHands oh, just a new wee babe!
20:10:10 rafael we are interested in starting some basic signing with him
20:10:24 ellie good decision
20:10:28 rafael not sure of any good online resources to get going
20:10:29 WeeHands he may not even know he has hands at this point! :)
20:10:37 rafael :)
20:11:01 ellie my sister in law started signing with her baby when she was 5 months old
20:11:21 WeeHands it's a great decision - I get sad when I think of what I may of missed if my wee ones weren't able to sign, especially between 11 and 18 months!
20:11:22 ellie oh wait that was 3 months old
20:11:46 WeeHands i started signing with both my kiddies when they were 6 months old
20:11:55 WeeHands joshua signed back at 9 months - fish
20:11:59 ellie Signing is the best thing I have ever encountered
20:12:13 WeeHands and sabrina signed back at 11 months - eat, no, more in the first week!
20:12:28 ellie Emily was the same way as sabrina
20:12:45 ellie she came up with a word a week after 12 months of age
20:12:47 WeeHands all sabrina's first words were mainly about food! :)
20:12:50 rafael he's on my lap right now so i'll be doing more listening than typing :)
20:13:24 WeeHands you asked about good online resources - our website, www.weehands.com , has some great signing links to sites that I highly approve of!
20:13:26 ellie food is probably the best place to start especially with milk
20:13:55 WeeHands i thought sabrina had just about finished nursing" until she learned the sign for it! :)"
20:14:04 WeeHands hi mommytocali!
20:14:09 mommytocali hello :)
20:15:08 WeeHands starting with the signs for things that are really motivating for your wee one is important - e.g., the sign for chocolate" would be a great place to start for me!"
20:15:53 ellie ditto
20:16:46 WeeHands it's also important to choose signs that you do frequently throughout the day, e.g., for babies the sign for change" is probably done lots throughout the day!"
20:16:58 mommytocali my dd has most of the easy starter signs down
20:17:11 mommytocali milk, more, all done, help, change, ect.
20:17:28 ellie one thing that i read that really had an impact on me is that when we teach sign to babies we do the same thing that we do when we teach a little one to say bye-bye. We usually do the action of waving when we say bye bye and the same is true for signing.
20:17:29 mommytocali what do you suggest to move onto next, she is 16 months old now
20:18:08 ellie I did animals with my 16 month old. bear, dog, cat etc
20:18:20 mommytocali ohhh, that sounds like fun
20:18:42 mommytocali but she can say those words already
20:18:47 mommytocali not that it matters though, lol
20:18:47 ellie she really likes those first word books with pictures and she would sign and point to the pictures
20:18:58 mommytocali i never thought of getting books
20:19:02 mommytocali i should look into that
20:19:21 ellie Emily is verbalizing the words as well but I still reinforce the signs
20:20:03 ellie I found that emily is starting to use 3 word sentences like more milk mommy" verbally I think it is because she knew the words from signing"
20:20:38 mommytocali i have been trying to get Cali to do two signs together
20:20:41 mommytocali like more please
20:20:46 mommytocali but no luck yet
20:20:51 ellie she'll get it.
20:21:56 ellie I found some other books that are excellent board sign books for babies. They are upstairs right now so I don't know who makes the book. They are all ASL signs and she loves them
20:23:10 WeeHands for older babies using lots of sign to sign to is great - e.g., twinkle, twinkle, etc.
20:23:12 mommytocali i have a sesame street video that is songs, and one of the songs, they sign in it....she loves that part
20:23:38 WeeHands the eric carle book brown bear, brown bear" and others is great to sign to!"
20:24:06 WeeHands I've just starting using the Pick Me Up CD from www.sign2me.com  in my classes and it is wonderful!
20:24:09 ellie another video that is really good is the signing time videos. My kids love them
20:24:26 ellie how is the pick me up CD?
20:24:42 mommytocali i need to get going on some more signs, i pretty much stopped after all the starter ones
20:25:23 ellie what is your little one interested in
20:25:35 WeeHands the Pick Me Up CD is fantastic! I highly recommend it along with the Signing Time videos/DVDs. You can get to both from www.weehands.com
20:25:39 mommytocali she loves elmo, lol
20:25:42 mommytocali she loves to color
20:25:44 mommytocali and sing
20:25:46 mommytocali and dance
20:26:03 WeeHands that's okay mommytocali - you're doing great!
20:26:25 mommytocali thanks
20:26:30 mommytocali i think it's wonderful
20:26:43 mommytocali most think i am nuts when they find out I do signs with her
20:26:48 WeeHands introduce the signs for colour", "crayon", "paper", music, dance, and sing!"
20:26:50 mommytocali they say well, is she deaf""
20:26:51 mommytocali lol
20:27:12 mommytocali oh, yeah, those are perfect
20:27:27 ellie i've had that to but be proud! once some parents hear what you are doing they become very interested
20:27:31 WeeHands my kiddies got that too! until people saw what they could do - 16 months with a 70 word vocabulary!
20:27:43 mommytocali she does sing already
20:28:07 mommytocali yeah, i am very proud
20:28:12 mommytocali i don't let them bother me
20:28:22 WeeHands that's awesome - really go with what her likes are, as well as signs that you use daily, change, sleep, eat, bath, mommy, daddy""
20:29:11 mommytocali she does a few of those, but thanks for all the suggestions, i am writing them down
20:29:26 mommytocali so I can look them up
20:29:33 WeeHands i've found that more and more people are hearing about siging with their babies. i just started a class today with 8 babies and for half of them, several family members all came to learn! wonderful!
20:29:49 ellie i some times find that i get lazy because she is becoming more verbal
20:29:52 WeeHands www.born2sign.com  has a great dictionary!
20:30:05 mommytocali thats so great
20:30:14 WeeHands so you have to keep yourself motivated as well as her!
20:30:18 mommytocali i feel the same way ellie
20:30:43 ellie I almost gave it up but my husband motivated me to keep it up
20:30:52 mommytocali my husband thought i was crazy, until she started using them, now he thinks it's the greatest thing
20:31:01 WeeHands i have to recommend the Pick Me Up CD again then - the songs are those that you will use daily and they are also very fun!
20:31:19 WeeHands there's a frank sinatra type song to use while changing a diaper
20:31:34 WeeHands a corny country song to use when someone's hurt
20:31:40 ellie that sounds like fun
20:31:51 WeeHands an elvis song to use when getting dressed to go outside. . .
20:32:18 WeeHands really fun but extremely functional songs that you'll find youself singing (and signing!) with your daily routine with baby!
20:32:30 mommytocali ohhh, that does sound like fun
20:32:41 mommytocali cali absolutely loves music, so she would love that
20:33:06 WeeHands my husband thought the same too - until Joshua at 12 months was signing for a cookie and was getting frustrating that his dad didn't understand - daddy learned quickly after that!
20:33:33 WeeHands what area of the world are you all from?
20:33:42 rafael southern california
20:33:47 ellie I went to gymnastics last week and it was cute to see my husband signing to emily.
20:33:48 mommytocali lol, we had the same sort of thing happen here, I had to tell him hey, she's signing to you, pay attention
20:33:53 ellie canada
20:34:15 mommytocali i was born and raised in southern ca rafael
20:34:19 mommytocali i live in pa right now
20:34:43 WeeHands also, in canada - just east of Toronto!
20:34:56 ellie hey cool!
20:35:06 WeeHands where in canada are you ellie?
20:35:16 ellie london, not far from you at all
20:35:25 WeeHands i think we should all visit rafael in a few months!
20:35:32 rafael we're in san dimas :)
20:35:33 mommytocali rafeal, what part of s. co are you? I was born in san diego
20:35:37 ellie i'm in
20:35:46 WeeHands i'll pick you!
20:35:52 mommytocali i agree weehands, lol
20:35:58 mommytocali great weather over there
20:36:26 WeeHands toronto to london to PA and then southeat to California!
20:36:36 ellie sounds like a plan
20:36:38 WeeHands southeast!
20:36:53 mommytocali southwest, lol
20:36:58 WeeHands oopps!
20:37:00 mommytocali sounds like a plan to me too
20:37:08 mommytocali we will be there to visit in jan anyway
20:37:22 WeeHands can't spell and my directions are way off - must be mommy-brain!
20:37:49 mommytocali yep, that mommybrain will get ya
20:37:52 WeeHands how did everyone first learning about signing with their babies?
20:37:58 MM hhii
20:38:03 WeeHands hi MM, hello housepoet!
20:38:13 housepoet hey there
20:38:20 mommytocali through my many pregnancy, baby internet searches while preg
20:38:22 ellie i learned about it over the internet and then did a class in london
20:38:26 housepoet is there a discussion about baby signing going on ?
20:38:28 rafael our neighbors did and and also my sister in law
20:38:58 mommytocali housepoet isn't in our room yet
20:39:24 ellie i wish i signed with my first one
20:39:43 mommytocali i wish i would have done a class....i just did it myself, she might have had more signs if we had taken a class
20:39:47 mommytocali i actually looked into it
20:39:48 WeeHands did you take a class with Shannon ellie?
20:39:59 ellie yes!
20:40:04 ellie she is great
20:40:18 mommytocali but couldn't afford it at the time
20:40:21 WeeHands we love shannon!
20:40:31 ellie emily loved shannon as well
20:40:50 ellie do you have meetings of parents who sign in toronto
20:40:57 ellie wish we had a group in london
20:41:00 MARY Hello?
20:41:16 MARY can anyone see this?
20:41:17 WeeHands hi mary, hi housepoet did you want to join the signing babies chat - we're in the meeting place room
20:41:26 WeeHands I can see you Mary!
20:41:29 MARY Hi Sara!
20:41:36 ellie sometimes thats the best support other signing parents
20:41:37 MARY Yes how do I do that?
20:41:41 ellie that's why this is good
20:42:10 MARY I think I did?
20:42:14 mommytocali welcome mary
20:42:24 MARY Thank you
20:42:36 WeeHands i'm switching over to the meeting place room - you can see the link under the purple bar on the right. . .scroll down under mommys_lounge. . see you there!
20:42:46 WeeHands hello again!
20:42:54 WeeHands hi mary!
20:43:03 mommytocali you went and got them weehands :)
20:43:23 WeeHands still missed housepoet - i love this site though!
20:43:29 mommytocali i find that cali tried to make up her own signs sometimes
20:43:34 MARY Sara can you explain the sister sign to me I am looking at the book but I cant remember
20:44:18 mommytocali weehands, are you sara?
20:44:26 WeeHands yes i'm sara!
20:44:30 mommytocali me too :)
20:44:42 mommytocali only with an h ~ Sarah
20:44:57 WeeHands oh the H - i'll still talk to you though!
20:45:05 MARY Anders I think is beginning to recognize Mummy and daddy signs I think, he defintely knows Up and Nurse!
20:45:07 mommytocali lol
20:45:26 MARY Opps sorry sarah with an H!
20:45:29 mommytocali what do you do for nurse
20:45:31 WeeHands *applause*
20:45:39 mommytocali i just used milk
20:45:50 WeeHands the website www.born2sign.com  has the sign for sister on it
20:45:56 MARY sarah with an H taught us one
20:46:23 housepoet I recently bought the ASL phrase book, I'm wondering if it is alright to try and teach my son those signs or just make up whatever comes to mind with him.
20:46:35 WeeHands I've used a a" shape tapped on your chest for the sign for "nurse""
20:46:38 bionicsquirrel HI, this is my first time here. We sign with the aid of the Signing Times videos.
20:46:50 mommytocali ahhh
20:46:52 ellie great videos
20:47:02 WeeHands it would be easier to use ASL signs plus it's a beautiful language!
20:47:04 ellie can't wair for number 4,5 and 6
20:47:13 mommytocali hi bionicsquirrel, welcome
20:47:17 bionicsquirrel Yes, they are awesome. I love the songs.
20:47:25 WeeHands how old is Anders, Mary?
20:47:36 ellie especially silly pizza song
20:47:45 MARY hes 5.5 months
20:47:57 bionicsquirrel Hi mommytocali
20:48:09 WeeHands the SigningTime videos are wonderful! I love them as much as the Pick Me Up CD and Resource Guide - links to both on www.weehands.com
20:48:29 ellie do you sell the signing time videos sara
20:48:36 WeeHands hi bionicquirrel!
20:48:44 ellie i bought mine from the states
20:48:45 bionicsquirrel I haven't heard of those, I will check them out. We are definitely ready to move on to more advanced signing.
20:48:56 MARY Im looking at the video for sister" and I still dont get it :shocked:"
20:48:58 WeeHands i really can't spell :embarassed:
20:49:06 housepoet what do you think is the best first sign for a baby to learn
20:49:16 housepoet my son is already a year old, is it too late to teach him?
20:49:20 bionicsquirrel I bought my videos from a distributor off Ebay...nice seller.
20:49:26 ellie we started with more, milk and eat
20:49:35 mommytocali no housepoet, it's not too late
20:49:39 mommytocali i started with milk and more
20:49:43 WeeHands okay sister - with your dominant hand point to your chin, then touch 1" shapes of both hands together"
20:49:44 mommytocali cali got more down first
20:49:59 ellie i started signing with my daughter when she was 12 months old
20:50:22 WeeHands there are a few ways to sign sister" - I think the easiest is what I just typed"
20:50:47 mommytocali she did more first, then eat, then milk
20:50:47 MARY Hmmm I think your are going to have to show me that one again tomorrow in class
20:50:52 bionicsquirrel We started with more, eat and drink, but my son, Zephyr, really didn't catch on until we started using car, truck and ball.
20:51:22 WeeHands the best signs to start with are milk, more, and eat" as well as 4-5 signs of really motivating things for your baby and 4-5 signs for things that occur frequently throughout the day, e.g., diaper change"
20:51:31 ellie that's a sign of a true boy
20:51:32 housepoet nice! that's a great tip
20:51:37 MARY Ohh yes the other one he knows" is rattle"
20:51:45 housepoet I know 'more' and 'eat' and 'finished'
20:51:54 bionicsquirrel There is a sign for diaperchange?
20:51:56 housepoet and I do that with him during the day, though he hasn't caught on just yet
20:52:02 WeeHands no, it's not too late to teach him - my little ones learned the most between 12 and 18 months and they learned the fastest during this time!
20:52:09 housepoet I know that boys are slower learners than girls
20:52:21 ellie i agree weehands
20:52:38 housepoet awesome! it's not too late!
20:52:53 housepoet I can't wait to communicate more with him
20:52:55 ellie definitely not
20:53:02 housepoet what is the sign for tea kettle or tea?
20:53:11 housepoet I'm making tea in the moring and through out the day
20:53:13 MARY As a teacher I wouldnt say that boys are slower learners than girls but they do learn differently
20:53:20 housepoet when he hears the kettle whistle he runs tot he ktichen
20:53:23 housepoet it's quite cute
20:53:30 housepoet thanks mary
20:53:31 bionicsquirrel I am looking for more food signs...bacon, eggs, all the fruits...any suggestions?
20:53:34 mommytocali ahhh
20:54:01 WeeHands my kids never wanted to use the sign for diaper change! they just didn't care! the signs for fish", "cookie" and "bread" were much more important!"
20:54:13 WeeHands especially since we put Nutella on bread!
20:54:20 WeeHands hmmm chocolate bread!
20:54:30 bionicsquirrel Cookie is a big one in this house, so is icecream
20:54:53 mommytocali cali loves the change sign, although she only uses it when i say time to change your diaper, she doesn't initiate it
20:55:11 WeeHands i think, housepoet, that you have to keep in mind that all babies are different. my son wanted all car and train type signs, but my daughter was only concerned with food until about age 12 months
20:55:38 bionicsquirrel Anyone else have a child who will go into robot mode and just throw signs at you one at a time, over and over again?
20:55:44 ellie my daughter started using sign to trick us to get her out of her crib. She would sign stinky diaper and then we would pick her up and she would be dry. Cheeky monkey
20:55:58 MARY What is really interesting is that the comminucation parts of the brain in relation to emotions light up for girls and for boys its all about context. I think this may have some interesting applications for ASL
20:55:59 mommytocali lol
20:56:04 mommytocali thats too cute
20:56:10 WeeHands housepoet, you could include tea" and "hot" on your list! there are signing links on our webpage www.weehands.com to some great dictionaries"
20:56:40 MARY ellie thats adorable
20:56:58 WeeHands smart baby ellie!
20:57:00 ellie we've caught on to her now
20:57:43 WeeHands bionic, your baby may just be using the signs to get your attention (which is great) or just doing a kind of babbling with the signs
20:57:49 WeeHands all good stuff!
20:57:57 MARY Sarah I have an animal sign to addfor tomorrow...and OWL and and donkey
20:58:31 WeeHands i know donkey but will need to look up OWL - I'll bring my dictionary!
20:58:54 bionicsquirrel He started this on a big trip we took, he was also feeling pretty crummy at the time. It made me think that maybe it was an attention thing. Also pretty funny.
20:59:30 MARY I wonder if it has something ti do with the eyes?
20:59:46 WeeHands my daughter signs and sings just about everyone song she knows just before she goes to sleep - very cute but very tiring for her parents!
21:00:01 WeeHands what do you mean Mary?
21:00:18 mommytocali ahhh, that sounds cute
21:00:25 MARY Owls have such large eyes
21:00:32 ellie Talking about babling, I once found my daughter signing in her sleep instead of talking. It was very interesting and freaky at the same time
21:00:38 MARY maybe its something like glasseses
21:01:05 WeeHands oh, you're right. i've looked it up before, the sign for OWL, and it does have to do with the eyes. I'll have the exact sign though for tomorrow's class!
21:01:27 bionicsquirrel Zephyr likes to show me a sign, then wait for me to sign, No...Cookie, " No...Car" etc. He thinks it is so funny!"
21:01:34 WeeHands i've heard lots of stories of babies signing in their sleep - very cute! they're dreaming in sign!
21:02:04 MARY Thats amasing!
21:02:41 mommytocali that is amazing
21:02:45 WeeHands our babies are incredibly smart - signing allows us to see just how smart - usually in ways that we would have NEVER thought of :D
21:03:44 MARY Well folks its time for this lady to hit the hay! Have a great evening and sarah we wil see you tomorrwow morning
21:04:00 mommytocali good night mary
21:04:14 bionicsquirrel Thank you for allowing me into your chat...I hope to see you here again if my toddler allows it.
21:04:30 ellie I thought of another cute story. Emily had her hands full and she was trying to sign more cookie and she was saying it verbally. I told her not to sign with her hands full. haha
21:04:52 mommytocali haha, that definately makes me laugh ellie
21:05:09 housepoet I will check out the site
21:05:11 housepoet thank you so much!
21:05:12 mommytocali who would of thought
21:05:24 WeeHands I've got to go now you fantastic mommies - have a fantastic week!
21:05:32 mommytocali by sara
21:05:37 mommytocali bye*
21:05:49 ellie bye thanks for the chat and goodnight
21:06:23 mommytocali i guess no one stays up late, lol
21:08:15 rafael i was away from the keyboard.. got back and everyone was gone :)
21:08:45 mommytocali haha
21:08:54 mommytocali guess they all went to bed
21:09:42 rafael well.. my 4 month old is getting restless crawling up my shoulder
21:09:49 rafael better go entertain him
21:09:56 mommytocali okay, have fun :)
21:10:18 rafael cya :)

 

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