Marcus makes his first Sign!

For the past few weeks, I have been trying to teach Marcus to sign. I have always though that teaching hearing babies to sign is a pretty cool concept. What mother or father hasn't wondered what their baby was trying to tell them with their coos and babbles? I think it is also amazing to find out just how much babies understand about the world around them--even at just a few months of age.

I first heard of teaching babies to sign when I saw the movie "Meet the Fockers." (Which is a funny movie if you haven't seen it.) Little Jack, grandson of Grandpa Jack (played by Robert De Niro) is taught baby sign language using American Sign Language signs for communication purposes. Well, as you can guess, they get lots of mileage out of the baby doing the sign for poop and things like that.

I have to admit, that before I had a baby of my own, I thought teaching a baby to sign was something that only crazy-supper-moms did. But, after actually having a baby, I just couldn't resist trying it out. (Or maybe I am becoming a crazy-super-mom??!!)

Well, we have been doing the ASL sign for milk every time we nurse Marcus. But, I have to admit that I wasn't being all that consistent with it. But, last Friday, Marcus shocked me when he actually made the sign for milk. Then, later on that day, my mom was holding Marcus while I was out of the room. I guess, Marcus looked up at her and started to make the sign with his hands. When she didn't do anything, he kept on doing it, and doing it. Finally, she called me into the room and asked me what he was doing with his hand. I was shocked, Marcus was hungry, and was trying to tell her that he needed to nurse. He didn't cry of fuss, he simply used his sign to communicate his needs. After that, I was hooked.

Other cools things to check out:
Video of Baby Signing (this way you know what to look for)
Research on Baby Signing
Benefits of Teaching Baby to Sign