Time to Sign

Baby Gabe is just about 8 months old already - That means it's time to start signing with him!  We did this with our last two and it's AMAZING how much easier it is on the baby and the parents when you give them the tools to communicate!  Cognitively, babies know what they want, they just don't have the verbal skills to communicate it to you yet.  By teaching them some basic signs, you are allowing them to tell you what they want or need.  A lot of parents think, "Oh please!  I have enough going on with out adding this to my plate..." The truth is, it doesn't take any extra time!  Follow these easy steps and prepare to be amazed...


Step 1.  Pick the words you want to teach first.  I always start with these three (I introduce them at the same time):  eat, milk, and more.  Here are the signs for these 3 words (these are standard American Sign Language signs)...

Step 2.  Whenever you ask your little one if they want to eat, just do the sign!  The same goes for "milk" (I use the same sign for both bottle and boob).   Use "more" when not only talking about eating/drinking, but playing too!  Be sure to say the word, not just sign it.

Step 3.  After doing the signs to your baby for a few weeks (I do 2 weeks) take their little hands and mimic the sign for them.  You say "Do you want to eat?" doing the sign yourself and then repeat it bringing their little had to their mouth. 

Step 4.  Be consistent!  Encourage family members (big brothers and sisters love doing this!) to help.  Teach all the care-givers the signs and ask them to do it too.  It seems like it takes my babies about 3 or 4 weeks and then BAM!  They totally get it!  The first time they do it you're like, "Wait... Did they really do that or was that a fluke?"  But then they do it again!  Sometimes they do their own variation so be aware of their hand movements.  When you see them do it, be sure to verbally acknowledge that you understand them.  "Oh!  You want MORE?" (still do the sign).  It's soooo exciting and fun to have your BABY clearly communicate with you!  Yes, people might ask you if your baby is hearing impaired (this happened to us!) but smile and explain what you're doing.  Many people are blown away by this, especially when they see your baby do it back!  After mastering these words, add on!  We did "all done" and "help" next.  Try to pick things that they really need.  Google the word you want along with ASL and hit "Images" to learn how to do it, or make up your own sign!

Some people think that doing signing with your baby will delay the verbal language development.  Nope!  The opposite is actually true!  Babies who sign have a much higher vocabulary and pick up new words much faster than those who don't sign.  Not to mention studies show they have higher IQ's plus a slue of other amazing benefits... (See the links at the bottom of this post.)

I first learned about signing with your baby in some of my psych classes while earning my degree in education.  I knew right away that this was something that I wanted to do with my future children.  I purchased a program for my first child.  Here is the one I used:
http://sign2me.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=242 
Dr Garcia made it so easy to do! 


Here are some links with some of the many benefits of signing with your baby:
http://sign2me.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=31

http://theparentsite.com/parenting/signbaby.asp

Happy Signing!!!

First Eats for the Babe...

So, my mama was a total hippy chick.  I am talking hitch-hiking across to country to spend time in a commune in New Mexico with a group called The Diggers who lived off the land type of hippy.   She raised us on good, healthy food and taught me to do the same with my little ones. 

For those who haven't made their own baby food, it's super easy and makes you totally feel like a total super mom!  Here is how I made a batch of homemade organic carrots for Gabe the Babe...

Items Needed:
Fruit or Veg
Large Pot with Lid and Steamy Thing that goes in the bottom
Food Processor or Blender
Ice Cube Trays
Gallon Zipper Bags

1.  Scope out some good fruits or veggies that are on sale and stock up.  If you don't want to splurge on organic every time, try to at least do it for the things that grow in the ground since they absorb so much of the nastiness from all the chemicals used to treat crops. 

2.  Wash the produce and place in pot with enough water to come to the bottom of the steamer thing (yes, I know you are impressed with my culinary vocabulary right now...).  Since I went with organic, I didn't bother peeling them.  Save all the time you can Mama!!!

3.  Cover with the lid and turn heat on med-high heat (watch to be sure it doesn't boil over if there is a lot of water AND that it doesn't evaporate all the water and scortch your pot if there's not enough water- been there, done that!).  Steam the carrots until the are easily pierced with a fork.

4.  Take the cooked carrots and place in the food processor.  I had to do the carrots in a few different batches...  (Before I had this food processor, I used my blender and it worked just fine.)

5.  Puree veggies.  If it's to thick and pasty, add some of the water from the bottom of the pot that you used to steam the carrots.



6.  Pushing the "On" button can be oh so tiring, so this is when you enlist the help of a near-by button-pusher!  Miss Ava is highly trained and came with very strong recommendations!  Don't let the fact that she's in jammies fool you folks, it wasn't morning, it was noon when we did this ;-)

7.  Puree and add water until you get the consistency that you want.

8.  Spoon into ice cube trays.  Two bags of carrots made 5 1/2 trays full for me.

9.  Stick in the freezer (next to your bags of breastmilk ;-) until frozen solid.

10.  Once frozen, put about an inch of hot water in the bottom of your sink and put the ice cube trays in there to loosen up the cubes (this only takes a minute).  Then, pop into a freezer zipper bag and label.  Next time your little one is hungery for some good stuff, just grab a cube, heat it up, and your ready to go!

Hey look - Gabe loves them!  It was all worth it!  Okay, actually, he hated them and this was a fluke picture.  The only way I can get him to choke the carrots down is to mix them with some of his beloved apples or pears.  But I will slowly start adding more and more carrots until he loves them by themselves...  

Other good foods to start with:  Apples (peel and core), Peas (frozen work great), Sweet Potatoes (poke with a fork, microwave for 5 min, turn, 5 more min, then cover with foil and let sit for 10 min, then the skin pulls right off).  Experiment and mix the different cubes!  Another easy one is mashing up bananas or avocados with a fork and feed to your baby fresh.  Have fun - Happy Feeding!