"Signs" of Language

Man, how time flies when you don't have any!! :)
Learning to be a teacher and a mother and a wife all at the same time is a difficult process. I don't feel like I'm juggling that very well yet, but I'm a work in progress. I (usually) sleep well at night, knowing that I'm trying as hard as I can to give all that I have to everything I do. There, got that out of the way...back to Siena.
Siena has been signing like crazy!! It makes things so much easier when we can understand what she wants! It cuts down both of our frustrations...how nice!
We really didn't use a book or a product, just thought of words that we thought she would probably use often, found the sign for it, and taught them to her. It has been one of the best things we have done so far.
We started out when she was really young. Every time we put her to bed, we showed her the sign while we said it's time for bed. Every time we gave her food, we showed her the sign. Every time it was time to nurse, I showed her the sign for milk. Every time we gave her something, we told her to say please and showed her the sign. The more she saw it and the more we did it, the more she picked up on it. She was picking up way more than we even thought!
The first time she did a sign on her own, we were sitting in the living room playing. It was getting close to her bedtime, but we hadn't said anything about it. She looked at us both and put her hand up to her ear and cocked her head to the side. Surely that wasn't what we thought it was...was it? We asked her if she wanted to go to bed...and she showed us the sign again. So, we got her ready for bed and put her down...and she went right to sleep! It seriously was amazing!! Since then, she has become very used to showing us signs for what she wants.
It's the coolest feeling to have a little one that you can communicate with. Even though she can't talk yet (that we can understand), we are still able to communicate and figure out what she wants. Not being frustrated, and not having Siena crying and upset because she's not getting what she wants is such a treat. These are all the "words" Siena knows: milk, more, please, book, food, drink, all done, sleep, blow kisses, hat, and bye. We're currently working on "thank you".
I would recommend teaching sign language to everyone. It's not hard at all...all it takes is a little repetition and consistency. Before you know it, the communication lines are open!! Here is my attempt to capture some of her signs on camera. We have it on video, and that obviously shows much better, but here's the "still" version:

"Food." - bring all her fingers to her mouth.

"Hat."

"Please." - rubbing her hand up and down on her tummy.

"More." - she uses this one ALL the time...I think for a while she also thought it meant "I want that" because she would do that to anything she wanted...and she got "more"! :)

"Milk."

Watermelon Obsession

So, little Miss Independent is showing her true colors these days! Boy, does she have a personality on her! Watch out! :)

Food is the big thing now. Food out of a jar rarely cuts it anymore. Every once in a while I can get a little breakfast fruit/cereal to go in, but other than that, it has to be stuff she can feed herself. Breakfast time is bananas, Cheerios, "adult" oatmeal (that she can spoon in herself), yogurt, and toast. (If we get lucky and have a breakfast at a restaurant, it's a treat for all of us - and she eats everything we get!) Lunch is string cheese (that she carries around with her like she's grown), lunch meat, bread, fruits (grapes, strawberries, melon, tangerines, apples, etc.), applesauce, grilled cheese, and eggs. Dinner is just about anything. She loves spaghetti, mac and cheese, chicken, other pastas, baby ravioli, corn, beans, peas...or if we're eating something that interests her, she'll go for that too. For dessert, we've hit the jackpot. Watermelon.
The other day, I bought a few pieces of pre-cut watermelon (on the rind) to give to Siena. The first time I gave her a slice, I held it while she took bites off the piece. That started out being fine. The juice ran down her chin and tummy, right into her diaper. But it didn't seem to bother her at all. Then, I gave her the watermelon to hold herself, and you would have thought it was $100. She thought she was the coolest kid on the block. She put her whole face down into the watermelon and came up with a huge bite in her mouth, juice everywhere, and a smile from ear to ear. I cut the pieces in half, thinking half a slice would be plenty for a tiny little person - boy, was I wrong. She signed to me and made it VERY clear that she wanted more. So, a whole big slice of watermelon later, she was on top of the world. I think she would have eaten more if she could find it. After all the pink watermelon parts were gone, she went on to the green rind. She quickly found out (by choking on it) that it doesn't taste near as good and it doesn't go down very easy either. Long story short, she LOVES watermelon...and loves feeding it to herself even more. What a big girl.
Take a look at some of these pictures. I wish the pictures would show the sounds that she was making. She is funny to watch! Note to self: the key to Siena's heart (right now) is through watermelon. :)