There’s a benefit to learning to sign with your baby that we don’t talk about much on our site adn I am a bit embarassed to mention it.
When our daughter was 9 months old I took her to the grocery store with me to pick up a few things. I placed the bassinet portion of her car seat in the shopping cart and off we went down the aisles.
As we stopped at the cheese counter, she made the sign for cheese. I cooed “good girl! You want some cheese?” and made the sign back to her. She made the sign for cheese again.
The cheese man practically leapt over the counter with a sample for her to try. “Does it really work? I have heard about doing sign language with babies. How did you teach her?” Soon, the nearby counters were deserted as he co-workers were called over to see the adorable baby who could say “cheese” with her hands.
In a matter of moments, there were 5 people gathered around as she played for her adoring public. She has since learned that signing with the man at the cheese counter is a good way to score an extra large sample of her favorite cheese and is absolutely shameless.
I’m a bit of introvert, so all the attention made me a little anxious, but the feeling of pride I had in my daughter was so worth it.
My heart seemed to grow a couple of inches. And it did every time people would take notice of her signing ability. I’d walk a little taller. I’d smile a little wider. I’d feel even closer to her. It’s one of the earliest memories of our special “signing” bond.
And if it seems like I’m bragging, well, I can’t think of a better thing to brag about. If you can’t take pride in the accomplishments of your children, then I don’t know what you can take pride in.
And BabySignLanguage.com is all about giving you that feeling of good, pure, wholesome pride. We want you to feel as much and MORE than even we have. It’s our mission.
In fact, if you’ve already had some proud baby sign language moments, write us and tell us about it. We’d love to hear how your baby is doing!
To a deeper bond with your baby,
Lila
