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Signing With Babies Chat #26, with Sarah Bingham of WeeHands
( www.weehands.com )
3/31/05

16 mamas in attendance

21:08:17 WeeHands WELCOME TO MOMMYCHATS!  I'M SARA FROM WEEHANDS AND I'M YOUR MODERATOR FOR OUR SIGNING WITH BABY CHAT TONIGHT!
21:08:28 ourwiefamily Yeah Sara!
21:08:28 mamaofdkl hello sara
21:09:22 WeeHands welcome, welcome, welcome!
21:09:25 ourwiefamily any specific topic tonight or just open questions about baby sign?
21:09:33 WeeHands how is everyone tonight? :-)
21:09:41 mamaofdkl good you?
21:09:53 ourwiefamily pretty good :)
21:10:04 WeeHands we keep things pretty informal!  just share stories and ask questions!
21:10:29 ourwiefamily I'm so excited this week ... we ordered the signingtimes dvds and cds after the last chat I was at
21:10:40 WeeHands love signing time!!!
21:10:42 ourwiefamily So far, the kids have watched numbers 1 and 2 and love them
21:11:00 WeeHands they only get better!  I think my favourite is #4!
21:11:11 ourwiefamily Even my 11 yo who initially thought he was too old for them is totally into it.  In fact, he is the one pulling it out, showing it to the little kids, then quizzing them on the signs lol
21:12:05 ourwiefamily We used to sign with our oldest two when they were younger because we had a deaf friend ... he no longer lives near us so it fell by the wayside.  I'm amazed not only with how fast some of it is coming back to me, but my older two also!
21:12:35 mamaofdkl that's cool
21:12:36 ourwiefamily They are cobbling together sentences now.  It just feels so good to be doing this again. I honestly didn't even realize how much I missed it.
21:13:05 mamaofdkl I taught myself some when i was younger
21:13:08 ourwiefamily But the best best best part is that my 2yo son actually did a couple of the signs already!  Milk and Signing
21:13:20 mamaofdkl a million years ago lol
21:13:40 ourwiefamily And my 2yo niece did too ... she does more signs than him though.  And mind you, this is after just one week of seeing the dvds
21:13:51 ourwiefamily sorry to be talking so much!
21:13:59 vonnie on way to get hot sauce - but can'twait for our DVDS!!!!
21:14:10 vonnie darn i live in a town where it takes forever for things to arrive to us lol
21:14:25 WeeHands ourwiefamily that's fantastic that you are so excited about it!  it's an incredible thing to share with your whole family!
21:14:30 ourwiefamily mamaofdkl have you started signing with your children yet?
21:14:53 WeeHands vonnie, are you talking DVDs or chinese food (arriving for you!?) :)
21:15:01 mamaofdkl My 1 1/2 yr old is delayed so about 5 weeks ago I started signing
21:15:24 ourwiefamily has he responded to it yet?
21:15:33 mamaofdkl on Easter he signed his first sign milk""
21:15:57 chjahns hi
21:16:01 mamaofdkl and has done it once a day since
21:16:03 ourwiefamily hello!
21:16:07 mamaofdkl hi
21:16:28 chjahns i am a new member.  just starting signing now.
21:16:55 mamaofdkl my 6 yr old came home from school signing the abc's
21:17:07 chjahns i dont think he is always interested in looking at my hands to see the signs i am making.  any thoughts?  he is 7 mos.
21:18:20 WeeHands ha, got kicked out of my own chat!  :/
21:18:36 mamaofdkl oops! lol
21:18:40 WeeHands chjahns congratulations on your baby's first sign!
21:18:53 WeeHands how old is your wee one  chjahns?
21:19:03 chjahns 7 mos
21:19:36 WeeHands wow, that's fantastic!
21:20:06 ourwiefamily how old are children usually when they use their first sign?
21:20:25 WeeHands typically between 9 and 12 months of age
21:20:36 WeeHands my first signed at 9 months, my second at 11 months
21:20:58 chjahns when did you start?
21:20:58 ourwiefamily was it  chjahns or  mamaofdkl whose child used their first sign?  I'm getting confused.  :)
21:21:12 chjahns can you show too many signs at one time?
21:21:21 mamaofdkl it was mine i think
21:21:51 WeeHands I started signing with both of them when they were 6 months old.
21:21:54 ourwiefamily okay ... so  chjahns, your little one has not done his first sign?  Is that right?
21:22:27 chjahns right
21:22:34 ourwiefamily glad to hear that  WeeHands ... my baby is 6m in a couple days.  I was worrying maybe I waited longer than I should have to start.
21:22:36 WeeHands my son signed with his sister though when she was 3 days old (ran to me signing nurse" when she was crying) too cute!"
21:22:42 bebesho are you hiding from someone? me?
21:22:43 ourwiefamily not that it would ever be too late, but ykwim...
21:22:53 WeeHands bebesho ?
21:23:01 bebesho is this a signing chat?
21:23:06 ourwiefamily the chat is scheduled to be in two different rooms
21:23:15 ourwiefamily the web page says one and the reminder message says the other
21:23:18 bebesho I amjust bouncong an lost
21:23:21 ourwiefamily here or baby and toddler
21:24:24 WeeHands i think Tina (the owner of this site) and I had talked about having this chat in the babies/toddlers area at one point, but sometimes we go over and there's a baby wearing chat there at 10 (in the babies/toddlers room)
21:24:41 WeeHands yes, this is the signing with baby chat
21:25:04 WeeHands it's never too early or too late to starting signing with your little one
21:25:11 signingbaby I'm here
21:25:17 ourwiefamily I got froze up there for a second
21:25:18 WeeHands monica!
21:25:24 vonnie ok back
21:25:25 signingbaby This site is not very user friendly or maybe I'm just an idiot!
21:25:34 WeeHands you are not an idiot!!
21:25:37 signingbaby Hi Sara!
21:25:39 WeeHands don't ever say that!
21:25:47 signingbaby :)
21:25:58 signingbaby Not sure how long I can stay, I have to get Corbin in bed.
21:26:31 signingbaby So do you usually have a good turnout?
21:26:32 vonnie on the topic can't wait for the DVDs to arrive
21:26:38 WeeHands chjahns you can show your baby whatever number of signs that you are comfortable with.  i typically suggest about 10-15 signs that are really motivating for your baby
21:26:43 ourwiefamily how many signs should be introduced at a time with little ones ... is it okay to just use all the ones I know?  Afterall ... that is what vonnie does right vonnie?  So if it is what one does with deaf children, then fine w/ hearing children, right?
21:26:44 vonnie but Chinese was already here so saying i wouldn't be on until im done yummy lol
21:27:09 vonnie i sign anything like parents speak to their kids
21:27:10 ourwiefamily okay ... you kind of already answered my question weehands.  :)
21:27:13 vonnie what do you mean exactly
21:27:14 WeeHands usually there's about 5-10 people here - we have a lot of fun!
21:27:22 signingbaby That's awesome
21:27:34 vonnie oh its fine with both hearing and deaf children
21:27:34 WeeHands ourwiefamily kind of? what other questions do you have?
21:27:54 ourwiefamily thanks vonnie ... just thinking out loud about what someone else had asked
21:27:59 chjahns is there any rules to follow when signing?
21:28:11 signingbaby Be consistent
21:28:21 ourwiefamily well, we are working on praising the kids for any little effort, esp my 2yo.
21:28:29 WeeHands make it fun for both you and your baby
21:28:32 chjahns what about the nanny.  should i make sure she does it too?
21:28:40 tricia_sign_instrr chjahns - to answer your question- I don't believe you can sign too many" signs at once to your child. Remember Deaf parents sign continuously to their children just like hearing parents are always "speaking to their babies" from the time they are born."
21:28:55 chjahns good point. thanks!
21:28:59 WeeHands that's one of the top questions i get asked  chjahns, re: child care
21:29:09 ourwiefamily We just started this last week ... so now every time he signs milk, I am currently saying yes, though that won't always be the case, but he isn't signing very often so I want to give the feedback.  Of course, his 4 older brothers and sister all cheering
21:29:13 ourwiefamily is also great feedback.  :)
21:29:13 signingbaby My husband didn't sign with my son and he still knew over 100 signs by the time he began to speak
21:29:41 chjahns signingbaby...wow!  impressive.
21:29:52 chjahns how did you do it?
21:29:52 signingbaby That was in response to the childcare thing ... it helps if the carer does sign but it doesn't mean that they won't succed
21:30:04 WeeHands my husband didn't sign with our son, until the little guy had a small breakdown after signing cookie" to his dad and not getting any!"
21:30:17 chjahns too cute!
21:30:24 ourwiefamily I wish we had started signing w/ my 2yo when he was little because he had some delays and really was frustrated w/ communication in general.
21:30:25 signingbaby Kevin signed/signs to Lauren
21:30:32 signingbaby But didn't with Corbin
21:30:54 WeeHands we've had two child care providers for our kids and they both just couldn't get enough information about signing
21:31:01 ourwiefamily My husband is watching the signing time videos with us and studying up ... when we had our deaf friend, Jeff didn't get to be around him much and never really learned very many signs ... so I'm excited he is joining the journey this time
21:31:20 mamaofdkl that is how Logan is
21:31:21 WeeHands Sign2Me's Quick Reference Guide" is a great thing to keep in the diaper bag for caregivers"
21:31:40 signingbaby That is great when other people are interested. People are more interested now with Lauren now that she cannot speak and needs to communicate with sign, I wish they had been more interested when she was younger
21:31:42 ourwiefamily I went to sign2me's website to see if there were classes near me.  Doesn't look like it
21:31:52 WeeHands where are you  ourwiefamily?
21:31:55