Monday, September 19, 2011

Signing Away

Today I am sitting at my parent's house, using my brother's laptop as a gentle breeze threatens to flip the pages of The Baby Signing Book that I have open beside me.  Along with deciding not to give Natalie any solids for at least six months (for various reasons), I have also come to the conclusion that I am going to teach her sign language during this critical time in her development. 

That being said, I now must actually learn to sign so that I can accomplish this endeavor. I always wanted to take a signing course in college, but nothing ever worked with my schedule.  This little experiment of mine will not only benefit Natalie (studies show that babies who can sign may actually begin speaking earlier), but it will also allow me to do something that I have always hoped to do.

As of right now, I pretty much have the alphabet mastered along with various signs: the all-important "Mommy," "milk" for when it's time to nurse, "read a book" for when we read, "thank you" to teach her manners (haha!), and a few others. 

I am having so much fun learning this new language.  While I was in school, I always said that I would absolutely love college if only I didn't have the stress of exams.  Well, here I am studying and enjoying myself! 

All of this makes me even more excited to home school in the future.  For now, though, I am going to bask in the joys of having just ONE child  (we want a lot, but I know that the opportunities that I have for one-on-one time with babies will diminish little by little as more little ones come along!) and watching her grow more and more every day.

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