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When I was pregnant with Declan, I briefly heard about teaching babies sign language. I looked into it some and found the Signing Time DVD’s and ordered one when Declan was still very young. The research I had done said that children who learn a second language (American Sign Language, or ASL, is considered a language) not only have higher IQ’s, but that signing helps eliminate the terrible twos and teaches acceptance of people who do things “differently”.

The little boy that I provide daycare for has Down Syndrome, just like my older sister Bonnie. I remember my mom mentioning that they thought Bonnie may never be able to truly talk so they started teaching her ASL. These days we can’t get her to be quiet! Part of this little boy’s therapy is also sign language, because whether they talk or not, it usually happens a little later than normal. Imagine understanding so much, but not being able to communicate or respond.

So we’ve pulled all out Signing Time DVD’s out, we have the first 6, and we’re trying to use as many signs as possible. Not just when he is here, but through the whole day. Declan is really doing so well. It seems like overnight he knew 15 new signs, and it makes me wonder if there was just a certain stage that he reached where it all kind of clicked in his head.

He knows:

• Mama
• Papa
• Orange
• Baby
• Shoes
• Sock
• Moon
• Play
• Apple
• Milk
• Cheese
• Cracker
• Help
• No
• Stop
• Potty
• Water
• Hungry
• Full
• Warm
• Hot
• Cold
• Grandma (kinda)
• Blue
• Share
• Play
• Sit
• Dance
• Eat/Food
• Wet
• Cereal
• More
• Want
• Please
• Sorry
• Horse
• Bird
• Dog
• Cat
• Car
• Plane
• Baby
• Cry
• Diaper
• Cheese
• Ball
• And more I’m sure.

We’ve found this is be very helpful: ASLPro.com - It has videos of just about every sign!

Speaking of how grown-up Declan is getting, he always wants to help wash dishes, but ends up soaked every time. I’ve got my next craft project all planned out. Stay tuned!

Yay! They’re finally completed. I know some of you are just dying to see them.
If there’s anything parenting has taught me, it’s that kids play with the darnedest things. Just now I had to take a backscratcher away from Declan because he was playing in the dirt with it. Right next to him sat a whole set of sand toys, including little shovels and rakes. One thing that seems to be universal is cars and balls though.

Unfortunately throwing has become great fun. Most of the balls we have are wooden and belong to wooden playsets in one form or another. Hello Arcadia Door!!

So I made these:

They were very simple to make - 6 identically shaped pieces sewn together, stuffed and hand-sewn shut. I didn’t even spend a dime, using only what we had on hand. Like I mentioned in a previous post my plan was to disembowel some old stuffed animals and use the stuffing, but Mudder guilted me out of it. Instead I washed up an old grungy pillow really well and used that stuffing. Now that’s using my noggin. The stuffing was a little lumpy, so they’re not perfectly round, but the kids wont notice. It also would havebeen easier if I had a nice pair of pinking shears. I bought a pair, but didn’t realize that pinking shears in the scrapbook section are only going to shred the fabric not cut it. To think I thought $4 pinking shears were a steal!

I also had some square scraps, from some bean bags, laying around, so we made a cube while we were at it. I think it’s my favorite so far.

Today is a busy blogging day. Keep a lookout for more entries!