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Of course, in all but the first two of these, Jess is already able to speak the words she is signing ( I do wish I'd thought of filming her signing earlier), but I hope it is still interesting to see her enjoyment of the signs and songs. Click on any link below to view one of Jess' signing "movies"
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Any of you who have read my Signing Story, will know that Jess started signing "love you" by pointing to people. In this clip, when she is 12 months old, we were discussing her signing over Christmas lunch. She hadn't signed "love you" for a while but picked up on the thread of the conversation and you can see her trying to do it (with the wrong hand at first). Finally, she does her love "you" point to Daddy. When I ask if she loves mum, she appears to shake her head as a "no" but, on reflection, this looks like the wiggle she adopted as part of love you! It wasn't long before she added in the "love" sign itself but, even at this early stage, we knew what she was trying to sign!
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A close encounter of a ducky kind! Filmed on the 25th April 2006, when Jess was 16 1/2 months old. In it she has her first really close encounter with our ducks and signs "duck".
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Filmed on 5th July 2006, when Jess was 18 1/2 months old. Jess had only heard the song for the first time in a signing class that day but, when I asked her at tea time that night what she would like to sing she said "cat". I said "Which song was that? " as I genuinely couldn't remember and she said and signed "queen" for the first time ever. This jogged my memory and when I started to sing "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat," I was amazed that she could sign other new signs like London and chair (She had just watched in class, not joined in.) However, by the time I thought of filming it, she had got a bit muddled with a few of the signs. It is possible to spot several, though, and, at the end, she repeats one of two she got wrong in the song - - as if revising them!
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Filmed on 15th July 2006. This clip was taken when we were camping and Jess begins with part of "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat" again before getting distracted by deciding her Teletubbies are sleepy. During the song, she signs "London" and "Queen" albeit with Tubbies in her hands, and then goes on to sign "sleep" before announcing that she is going to sign "up". Finally, she signs "milk".
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Filmed on the 20th July 2006, Jess, aged 19 months, has "Mousey" in her hand but, using her Mousey filled hand , signs "cry", "boys" (A clear sweep under her chin signifying "no beard"), "play" and "ran".
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Recently, Liz Fosseye from Plymstock Clinic invited Jess and I to
attend one of her Baby Signing taster sessions as experienced signers.
When I was talking to Jess about the upcoming visit, and what signs we
know, she was signing like mad. Of course, when I got the camera out, she
wasn't quite so co-operative but there are still some lovely moments which
I hope you will enjoy. I have broken the conversation into three sections
which you can view below:
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Animal Signs Animal signs have always been a favourite of Jess'. In this chat, she signs about ten different animal signs. Of course, some are approximations of the real sign- she is only 20 months old still- but others are accurate. Some, such as "butterfly" and "book", vary. Some days, they are done with hands touching as they should be, but in this instance, as is common with babies and toddlers, her hands are apart. The version of "ladybird" she does, is based on one I invented one day (dotting imaginary spots) as I wasn't quick enough to think of signing "lady" and "bird" when she "asked" me what the sign was.
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Weather Talk In this short extract, Jess only signs "hot" and "cold" and "rain", but I like it for the fact that you can see how much fun we still derive from signing and talking about signing! She does know all the weather signs I mention, but is content to let me sign them in this instance.
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The Airport Our little family trip to see friends in Edinburgh this summer resulted in a six hour delay at the airport. Jess had a fantastic time making friends and playing. She remembers details of this trip (which took place a month or more before filming) in this clip. Signs include "plane" (rather inaccurate due to her enthusiasm), "man", "lady", "boy", "girl" and "bear".
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At the time of the last update to this page, Jess is 21 months old, and still signing daily for fun, for emphasis and, I suppose, just because it is part of her language. You never can be sure when she will sign but, often, one sign brings a flurry of others and she is still enjoying the expressive nature of signing as well as finding it helpful to clarify something when we parents don't understand her enthusiastic chatter! I, similarly, sign when I think it will help her understand me (or to get her to concentrate if what I am saying is important) and she appears to love it when I sign as part of our reading or general play. I keep thinking her Signing Story is over, but perhaps it isn't. Watch this space!
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 "Please" can I have the camera, Mum? I won't get it wet. |