My poor kids, they end up getting all sorts of experimental haircuts from me. I just can’t bring myself to pay money for haircuts. My aunt is a hair stylist and she taught me how to cut my husbands hair when we first got married. I’ve pretty much mastered his haircut, but now I’m teaching myself how to do my kids. Annie’s hair isn’t too bad, but poor Brandon. Today I tried to use the buzzer, or clippers what ever you call them. I thought I had the same length that I used last time, but apparently I was wrong. His hair got sooo short. I had to keep going though, otherwise it would be completely uneven. The poor boy looks like he’s in the military. Good thing he’s only two and he could care less. Hopefully it looks better in a month or so, I just don’t want to tell anyone that I did it!
I wanted to share this story with everyone because I think Maria is one of those everyday heros we can gain inspiration from.
Hello Andrea!I am writing to you as suggested by my sister-in-law Emily Boehme to tell you a little about my little girl, Courtney, who is 20 months old.She has had a tracheostomy since she was 4 months old due to breathing problems she has had since birth.She has Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome (CCHS) and will likely have her tracheostomy till she is 5 or 6 years old.
We started basic baby signs from books we checked out from local libraries and she started of course with the sign for milk at age 8 months.She is very bright and finally now is starting to say Mama, Da (Dad), du (duck), and ba (ball).She is using most of the signs that I know and I look forward to learning more so that we can continue to communicate more effectively.When I learned of others signing with their babies when my two older children were babies, I have to admit I thought it would be time consuming and unnecessary.However, since this has been the only way I have been able to communicate with Courtney, I am starting to wish I had done baby signing with all of my children.I have been able to communicate sooner and more effectively with her than I ever did with my first two children.
Signing with Courtney has saved both of us so much frustration.I’m glad that Emily met you.Thanks in advance for your interest in our little family and for any help you could give to enhance our communication skills.
Fall is always busy, but there is excitement when school begins and we get to learn so many new things. My students at school are learning ASL and they love to sign songs in our class. Signing songs is a good way to help them remember new signs and have fun with the music. Don’t be afraid to dance around, sing, and sign! Your kids will love it! I was dancing around and signing songs just this past week in front of 60 students! If you have some children’s songs on CD, listen to them, pick out the signs you know and use them. Don’t worry about signing everything, make it simple and you will have a great time.
Marilyn Daniels Marilyn Daniels found that preschoolers who were taught sign language scored significantly higher on the Peabody Vocabulary Test when compared to preschoolers who did not learn sign language. Daniels concluded that a preschooler’s vocabulary can be improved if words are presented visually and kinesthetically as well as verbally.
You can learn more about the research conducted by Marilyn Daniels in the following articles and books:
Daniels, M. (1994). The Effects of Sign Language on Hearing Children’s Language Development. Communication Education, October, v43 n4, p291(8).
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing Language: The Effect Over Time of Sign Language on Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Daniels, Marilyn, Dancing with Words: Signing for Hearing Children’s Literacy. Bergin & Garvey, October 2000. ISBN: 0897897927
Way to go Holly! Thanks for promoting our site. For those of you that would also like to win a signing 4 baby DVD, simply add a link to your blog or Internet site, then send me an email with a link so I can check it out. signing4baby@hotmail.com
We will be awarding the next DVD set at the end of October! So act now and get your name on the list. Plus the more you mention, the greater the chance to win… good luck!
I’m really proud of myself and Debbie for actually getting the DVD put together for Signing 4 Baby. The truth is it took us a long time. In the videos I was 8 months pregnant with my second child Brandon, and now I’ve had my third child Ben. I laugh at myself every time I see it on the TV, I just hope people realize how pregnant I was and don’t think I’m just oddly shaped. Also, in the quick reference guide I had just barely had Brandon, so I’m still pleasantly plump. Now I’m filming the signing 4 baby documentary of me teaching Ben sign language, so yet again, you see me pregnant or post pregnancy… hopefully some time people will get to see me in my regular condition (if I even have a regular condition anymore).
Debbie wishes we could refilm too. I’m so proud of her, she has lost over 40 lbs and she looks amazing! You’ll have to watch the video and then go to the about us link on the blog and look at her picture now… you’ll be in shock. She’s going to kill me when she finds out I posted this blog, but oh well. She doesn’t miss a day working out and she’s completely changed her eating habits, way to go Deb! She’s my inspiration for getting back in shape after this baby.
Man, having a new baby sure makes me tired! My husband says he’s an advocate of breastfeeding because then he doesn’t have to get up at night and make a bottle. My 12 week old is 18 lbs, and to get that chunky a baby has to eat a lot. About every 2 hours it’s feeding time again, it can be exhausting, but worth it. My two year old has learned that when I’m feeding the baby it becomes his time to do as much mischief as possible… if there’s a mother out there that knows some good tips to control a toddler while nursing a baby, I’m all ears. I don’t really have a point to this blog, just letting everyone know I need a little sleep.
When I was pregnant with Ben, my two year old just couldn’t grasp the fact that I had a baby in my stomach. He kept pointing to my belly and saying ball. Then he got to thinking and started pointing at other things, (I’ll let you figure out what things), and saying ball, ball, ball. Everyday after that he’d remind me that I had three balls in my shirt. It’s nice to know that he’s figuring out his shapes… I guess.