how do you teach sign?

someone recently asked me how did I teach Owen to sign? I have not had any training or support, I haven't read how to do it, I have just followed my own instincts and I wonder what others do ?

When Owen was about 8 months old I started reading to him before bed and I read the same 2 books every night they are a really simple one animal/item per page


I went on to the Auslan website and found some of the signs for the animals or items in the book at first I just did Dog and Duck and Cat. I read the book with Owen sitting on my lap, the book in front of us and use my hands over his and make the sign or I would do the sign with my own hands (for example duck is hard to do with a hand over hand).

When he watches Playschool or his Your Baby to Read dvds, or when I sing nursery rhymes I would do the same thing, hand over hand signing.

I really think for Owen it was the sensory input that was most valuable in learning the signs, I mean I know the visual is important but I really think it was feeling the sign that was most vaulable. Now that we use sign to communicate Owen can learn a sign very fast (recently he learned "poo" in one day. At the moment I am not learning any more new signs I have hit a hump, we know about 40 and it meets our needs in the day. Owen also sayes just 5 or 6 words I am also working on him verbalising more and sharing baby babble back and forth with him.

Cheeky Monkeys and a Hat

There are three cheeky monkeys in our house but it is the middle monkey that is the most mischievous, I love the first photo where you can actually see him plotting to take Owens beanie and the last photo you can see his delight at Owens reaction!

MIA

No posts and no photos recently because I have been sick with vertigo for the last 10 days. It was probably a virus but I realise that this crisis in my health is probably a reflection of the constant day to day stress I put myself under with little time for friends, time out, hair appointments etc. The vertigo was completely debilitating all I could do was lay in bed, if I got up I was staggering and bashing into furniture and the walls and the nausea was overwhelming. Randall was calling me "Future Mum" - because I would have to have someone to support me to walk to the toilet! My partner Col looked after the boys, the house, the cooking and me (and I am a pretty awful patient), but he had to go back to work last week so my mum flew from Adelaide to look after us all, she left yesterday. I am running on about 90% of normal just the ocassional dizzy, nothing debilitating. Back to fulltime parenting tomorrow !

Here comes the sleep train

One nap a day has shifted things big time.
Owen is waking just once a night now and woke at 6.30 this morning !!! and I can put him down at nap time without nursing him (he is just so tired he falls asleep with just a little patting) YAHOO fantastic. I feel a million bucks.
Its a job to keep him awake at 10 o clock but with a quick snack and a drink he can get through until about 1130 (he is having lunch at 11am. I moved Cy's nap too now his going down at 12pm (was 1pm) and waking at 2.30pm an hour earlier which means he is sleeping through the night without the antics.

Owen has found EYES are for poking ! I ask him where are your eyes and he points to my eyes and then his own eyes (well sometimes its his ears) and he goes back and forth back and forth sometimes poking both my eyes one after the other as if to say, and you've got two of those ! Very cute. Photos to follow