A Huckleberry Over My Persimmon

This weekend we started signing bird. I often leave sliding door to the deck open to keep the house breezy and to widen our living space. The deck is baby proofed so we spend most of our days out there. Each morning I open the doors in order for us to enjoy the birds chirping. This daily ritual is one of Singer’s favorites, she shows great wonder in their songs. I haven’t taped her reaction to the birds yet, but I have some pretty good footage of her amazement in thunder, as you can see by watching below. She does the same gaze at the sky, pointing, and oohing when she hears the birds sing. This week if the rain predictions come true we’ll start on that sign as well. She recently picked up the sign more and we’re still working on the others that I’ve covered here too. Yesterday while looking at a book about a dog she signed dog to her Papa, what a great moment for him to witness.

Signing: Make the bird sign by making a beak shape with your index finger and thumb by bringing those two fingers together, while making a mini-fist with the rest of your fingers. Then tweet like a bird, by bringing your fingers together and apart.
This is one of my favorite signs!

Usage: When you see a bird point it out and make the sign for bird. I often add a tweeting sound effect to the bird sign, to make it a little more fun.

Signing: To sign rain, open up both hands, and starting with your hands above your head and bring them down. Your fingers are like the raindrops drifting down.

Usage: Use the rain sign when you and your baby are stuck inside on a rainy day.

For more on baby sign language please visit www.babysignlanguage.com

This past week we went ahead and added Thank You to the mix as Singer has been very sharing lately. Click here to view the video.

 Signing: To sign thank you, extend your fingers and thumb. Touch you fingers to your chin and bring your fingers forward. It is almost like you are blowing a kiss out, to thank the person – but the sign is a bit lower.

Usage: The thank you sign is a great gentle introduction to manners. It is great to get older babies in the habit of saying thank you when given something. The thank you sign is also a great way to remind older kids to be polite when out in public without being overbearing or embarrassing them.

Information courtesy of Baby Sign Language.

We haven’t added any new signs in two weeks. We’ve been working each day to use the ones that we’ve already  learned, and some that she hasn’t quite caught on to yet. Singer didn’t consistently start eating solid foods until around 9 months, that also delayed a cup, which is her preference- or a sippy cup if on the move.

Breastfed babies don’t need water, especially if they are exclusively breastfed. This is due to there being such a high content of water in breast milk, it consist of 88% water. Armed with that information we didn’t introduce a cup of water to Singer until 9 months, and even then I only offered it while out to eat if she seemed thirsty. Around 11 months we got a little more serious about giving her water because my milk supply could be changing very soon.

She has shown preference to a regular cup over a sippy cup, if she’s in her highchair or at a restaurant a glass of water is what she gets the majority of the time. We do offer a sippy cup of water during the day for her to drink from as she pleases as well. It is for those times that we are eating as a family that she needs to know this sign, when her glass is in front of me- to prevent spills. Currently she does a bird chip and reaches forward to request a sip.

Why not offer her a sippy cup always? I believe children are capable of doing much more “adult” things than we give them credit for. Singer not only shows more interest in drinking from a cup like ours, she often requess a fork as well, and tries to use it. I let her be little, but I also try to foster her independence per her requests, so far it has worked well this way for our family.

To view the signing video, click here, due to new website technical difficulties.

Signing: The sign for drink looks just like you are holding and drinking from an imaginary cup. To sign cup, make your hand into a c-shape as if holding a cup in your hand. Take your hand up to your mouth as if drinking from the cup.

Optionally, dads can open your mouth, making gulping sounds, burp, then wipe your mouth on your sleeve.

Usage: Use drink whenever you give your baby their bottle or sippy cup. Soon they will associate the sign with getting a drink, and will begin to sign it back when thirsty.

All information below obtained from BabySignLanguage.com

Signing: To do the sign for more, flatten out your hands then bring your thumbs under to make an O shape. Then, bring your hands together and separate them repeatedly.


Your baby will often simplify more, gleefully clapping their fists together. As they get older and more proficient, you may want to encourage the more correct form of flattening out their hands and creating the “O ” shape with their thumbs as a fun way to help them develop fine motor skills.

Usage: More is one of the most popular signs with babies because it gives them a lot more control over their life. We start using more when eating or drinking to communicate when they have not quite had enough of something. So when I am giving our baby her bottle and she stops half way. I will ask her, “Do you wantmore?” (while at the same time doing the more sign). Then give her back the bottle.


Once your baby gets more advanced, we start using more in other contexts. For example when we are playing a game or tickling our baby, we might stop and ask “Do you want more tickles?” That kind of question/response pair is a great way to start getting your baby starting to learn how questions and responses work. Remember to do an exaggerated rising inflection in your voice when you ask the question, “Do you want more tickle?” Your baby is learning as much from your tone and body language as from anything else.

Eat from Baby Sign Language on Vimeo.