I have been meaning to do this for ages.. right back when Lauca was the baby signing, and now it is Cormac doing the signing and neither of them are babies anymore.
We use American sign language because that was the book given to me and at the time when I was teaching Lauca as a baby, and there weren’t as many Australian resources back then either. None of us in the family has deafness, we sign for the enjoyment and practicality.
I love the children’s signing but I have only ever caught a few signs previously in photographs and generally by accident. We have had some good conversations with them as babies through their signing. Today when I got home from work Cormac told me about his day using signs. He is eighteen months old. (He does speak also, and is increasingly making sentences now using a combination of words and signs). A couple of months ago he dobbed in his sister using signs, cornered she gave in and admitted to hitting him. He also tells me about his memories: they aren’t exactly fascinating but it is a curiosity to see just how much a one year old likes to re-live his past.
Cormac has been signing since he was about seven months old. After almost a year of signing he now signs constantly. I am not sure how many signs he has now?
Mummy, Daddy, sister, grandmother, grandfather, cat, dog, giraffe, goat, elephant, bear, tiger, bat, monkey, lion, fish, butterfly, fly, spider, lizard, snake, sheep, cow, pig, horse, hen, bird, duck, swing, play, cuddle, people, children, baby, teeth-brushing, hat, glasses, nappy change, aeroplane, car/driving, riding/bicycle, gentle, music, pain, sad, happy, scared, angry, hot, cold, food, drink, cooking, breastfeed, sleep, read/book, work, rubbish, finished, more, shoes, toilet, bubbles, star, rain, jump, where, shopping, water, bath, flower, tree, plant, telephone, careful, break ..
(There are some other signs that he understands but these are the ones I can remember seeing him use).
Cormac signing ‘bird’.
Cormac signing ‘sad’.
Cormac signing ‘cat’.
Cormac signing ‘breastfeed’ or something very rude in Italian, not entirely certain.
Cormac signing ‘Daddy’.
Cormac signing ‘giraffe’.
Cormac signing ‘work’.
The signs are not quite as obtuse as they appear here. Don’t be put off by my pictures if you are considering trying this yourself with your baby. When you are with a baby signing, rather than just looking at a photo you obviously get to see the full movement they are making and hopefully there is also some context. There can be some guess-work too. But you know, I can’t describe just how unbelievably thrilled babies are when you understand what they are trying to tell you. It is really terribly sweet.