The other day, we got our very first comment on your little diary. And it was from someone who is a celebrity in our house - Rachel Coleman from Signing Time! Wow, are we excited or what?! (Rachel, if you're reading, thank you so much for stopping by and saying hello!)
Rachel's kind note got me to thinking that it would be a good idea to add an entry to your diary about your signing. I think it was about two years ago when Mommy bought all nine of the Signing Time videos (there were only nine then, but there are four more now - they are on Mommy's wish list!). A dear friend of mine introduced us to Signing Time and it was an instant hit in our house. Both of you started learning the signs very quickly. For a while in our house, every time I turned around, Abby was signing "more" or "eat" or both!
At first, we were watching at least one video at least once a day. There was a span of two or three weeks when the "Down on Leah's Farm" song would NOT get out of my head, because I heard and saw it multiple times a day. We also listened to the music in the van, and Mommy tried to make signs while driving to day care (BAD idea!). Once we got to day care, we would have to sit outside and play the "Silly Pizza" song with Mommy trying to keep up with all the pizza toppings before we could go inside. My favorite time to turn on the videos was in the morning while you two ate breakfast. I know, watching t.v. during meals is a bad, bad thing. But I felt like Signing Time was an okay exception (and it's not like we haven't broken that rule before anyway). You were more attentive to the signs when you were eating, and it kept you entertained while Mommy finished getting ready. The only bad thing about that arrangement was the Mommy couldn't see the signs, so I was behind and had to catch up! After a while, we started watching the videos less often. I'm not sure what happened, other than we just got busier and you two started figuring out how to play with each other once Abby got a little bigger, so you were off doing things together, which is also a good thing.
But a couple of weeks ago, the videos came back. I'm not sure what did it, but Abby has rediscovered the Signing Time videos and Mommy is so happy! We have been watching the Favorite Things video a lot - and singing/signing the Rainbow Song. It's now a standard bedtime song request (except I have to change the names from Alex and Leah to Andrew and Abby, of course). We have also been watching the Family, Feelings, and Fun video a lot - Mommy's favorite song is "In a House, In a Home."
I would love for you both to learn second and even third languages (if I could find videos that teach Spanish as well as Signing Time teaches sign language, we'd have those, too!) and I know now is the time to start. Being able to sign is such a valuable skill - I wish I was much better at it. So I'm going to work hard to help you both keep learning. One way I want to try to do that is to take pictures of you both making signs. And then we can post them here! I think it will make it fun for you and it will also give us a good record of what you're learning.
So for our first Signing Time with Andrew and Abby, here are pictures of you signing "A" - for Andrew and Abby!
Update! I found out that there is a live performance of Signing Time this Saturday in Indianapolis (that's just south of where we live) - and it's FREE! Unfortunately, Andrew is supposed to go to the Blue & Gold dinner for Cub Scouts from 4 - 7pm and the Signing Time performance is at 6pm. I asked Andrew about it and he actually said he'd rather go to see Signing Time! Me, too! I'm not sure if I'll let him skip the Cub Scout thing or not...it's hard for me to be objective because I think you would both have such a good time and I would SO much rather go see Signing Time. I may have to let Daddy make the final decision.
I'll let you know what we decide - and I'm sure I'll have pictures!
love,
Mommy
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