Is He Deaf? | Baby Sign Language

Have I mentioned that The Beast doesn't talk much?  He has been talking more in the past week or so, and is picking up new words like wild fire, but he wasn't one of those kid's whose verbal vocabulary was impressing strangers at 9 months old. 

Even though he is expanding his verbal vocabulary currently, I remain thankful everyday for our "choice" to use baby sign language. To be honest, it wasn't really a conscious choice - it was something I was messing around with one day at lunch when The Beast was 6 months old or so and while I was bored. I signed the word for "cat" his one true love at the time, within that lunch time, time frame, when I would sign cat, he would look around for the cats.  I was hooked. 

We are not as big on signing as some, we started "late", we don't do many signs, we don't go to baby sign language classes or story times and we usually just look up signs as we see a need for them. 

What We Have Loved About Signing:

• The Beast has been able to sign "please" and "thank you" well before he could ever say it verbally. He still can't verbally say thank you, but he signs it with enthusiasm! Manners are very important to us, so The Beast being able to express gratitude and politeness have been a big deal to us. 
• We can understand him. He still whines, he still cries, but once you get past his inital frustration with needing something - we can understand what he needs
• Gray and the beast have their own thing going. When we wake up in the morning, I stay in bed and the boys go take a shower. The Beast uses the potty while Gray gets a head start. Yesterday Gray made the remark that he loved, loved, loved how he can make The Beast laugh by the inflection of his signs (in this instance, he was being stereotypical and making a joke by using an over exaggerated sign for poop,). Minus the conversation topic - heart melting, no? Gray has been talking more and more about how much he loves that they have whole conversations using sign language in the shower. This is enough to makes it all worth it to me.
• We get to see how much Wes really understands conceptually - much more so than we would otherwise. If you are my facebook friend (hi!), I am sure you saw this, but the other day we were laying in bed and he would poke my arm, then his arm and do the sign for "same", then move on to my chin and do the same thing and it just continued. We would have had no idea how much he truly understands. Now I am like quantum physics? Why not?
• It has been invaluable for potty training. I can not even begin to describe how essential it was to a non-talking 14 month old who decided he was done with diapers. Holy Cow. 
• In loud spaces, or places where he needs to be quiet and he has wandered away from us, we can communicate. Gray and I use signing with each other in this way. It is awesome. 
• I feel as though it has fostered a bit of creativity for The Beast. He has a few signs of his own that we now use as a family. This makes me laugh. 
• At 19 months, if The Beast cares about a sign, he will pick it up in a matter of minutes. Animals are usually popular 'round these here parts. I showed The Beast the sign for "pig" a few times yesterday, and just for the sake of needing a picture, I asked him what the sign for pig was....and he did it. So, turns out, he picks them up quickly. 

Things That We Have Not Loved:

• We get asked if The Beast is deaf at least once a week. It isn't that we don't love this, it is no big deal and a valid question, I think I am just over answering the question. Yup, this is my only, pathetic, complaint. 

Baby Sign Langague Chart by Childcare Is Fun

 Interested in picking up a few signs of your own? Here are some links:

• Baby Sign Language Dictionary
• Printable Baby Sign Language Chart (a ew basic signs)
• YouTube, oh my gosh YouTube! It was much easier to watch a video than look at a chart for me. Here is the sign for "more" and "gentle"