Hey Baby, Why Cry When You Can Sign?

I wrote this article below many years ago and published it in Mommy Mundo's products and services website, Mommy Pages. It was a few years after Reese had outgrown an amazing skill her Dad and I taught her, it was Baby Sign Language, and I wanted other moms to know about it.Reese was a signing baby. Although she only learned around 6 signs, it was enough for us to be amazed with how she communicated her needs to us, and it made her a confident, calm baby who, as far as I remember, rarely, if not never, cried. When she was hungry, she would just sign for "milk", when she wanted to read a book, she signed for it. (The photo below is actually Reese, at 11 months, signing for a book!)One of my favorite stories about Reese's signing was when I was pushing her stroller in Podium Mall, we were strolling quietly when suddenly she turned back at me excitedly, and put her hand across her nose, fingers moving left to right, left and right. I asked her, "oh reese, you see a "flower"?" knowing that was the sign for "flower". And when I looked just right beside her, there was a store window decorated with paper flowers. Wow. And I wondered, if Reese had not been signing and she would still appreciate and be excited about seeing that flower, but she would have to keep all that excitement inside herself and not be able to share it with anyone. Then my gratitude turned to amazement, realizing how our babies have such developed brains and mental faculties at such a young age, and with Baby Signs we show them a way to communicate and interact with us even while they have not developed the physical ability to speak verbally to us.It was my sister, Jaymie, who introduced Baby Signs to me, as she is one of the first in the country to become a US-Certified instructor.  After getting certified, Jaymie even took up supplementary American Sign Language classes to make sure that the signs she was teaching was consistent with ASL. I think this is quite important since Sign Language is an official language on its own, so if we are learning it together with your baby, you might as well learn the official Sign Language that the hearing impaired community also uses.Jaymie talking about her daughter Nia who was an avid signer:)---From Mommy Pages: my post on Baby Sign Language by Jaymie Pizarro:Why do babies cry? Well, because they can’t speak and tell us they’re hungry, or wet, or just want a cuddle. Now there’s a way we can help ease the frustration for both baby and parent: teach baby to communicate through hand gestures or, as modern mommies and Oprah call it, Baby Sign Language. This wonderful discovery featured in the O show a few years ago, has been a big help to many Filipino moms (me included!) since Jaymie Pizarro started holding Baby Signs classes in the Philippines since she got her US certification almost (4) years ago.AMAZING is the word i would choose to describe seeing my daughter “talk” to us through baby signs when she was just around 15 months old. She started with simple signs like “milk” and “book”, and later on moved on to more words. When she was hungry she would ask for an “apple” through baby signs.When we are feeding her and she’s not quite done she would sign “more”. With her signs she showed us that there’s truly a lot going on in the brains of our little babies! :) My little girl has outgrown her signs because she’s discovered verbal language but she still remembers her signs and this is something I will definitely recommend to other moms.Photo from Ourawesomeplanet.comBaby Signs Contact info here.More info on Baby Signs here at Mom Exchange.Jaymie has finally confirmed a schedule with us for an introductory workshop on Baby Signs which will happen at our upcoming Pregnant Pause event on August 10, 2013 at the newly re-opened Babyland store along Shaw Blvd. For more info on that class, click here. This is a class exclusive for expectant moms and dads-to-be.