communicating with baby

hehe cute

We have always talked to Corban and told him what we were about to do i.e when dressing him "left arm through Bubba" etc I think it is important to involve them even if they aren't able to understand what you are saying. So we always say things like, time for bed, Daddy is going to read you a story then it's nun-nighs time.

One we use a lot is, up up up up up! when pulling him to sitting position from lying on his back he thinks it's a great game

That's really cool. We do the same sort of thing, always talking about what we're doing, and you can tell that they do start to work out what's coming next . My little guy knows when we're about to play his favourite game & starts giggling like crazy!

Funnily enough, the latest issue of OHbaby! Magazine is all about communication, and there's a great article on communicating with babies.

I find it amazing what babies pick up even without you realising it - lil miss was picking up the phone and holding it to her ear and saying "hiiiii" by about 12 months, and whenever she sees the camera she gives you a cheesy grin and says "cheeeeese" - things that she's picked up from watching us and her big sisters.

Music is a big one too, she can "sing" several different songs, obviously not the words but the tune and the rhythm just from listening to the girls sing them and from Mainly Music.

We use a lot of baby sign language now - something that comes easily to me as I have a profoundly deaf brother so learnt sign language soon after I learnt to speak. It's only been in the last few months that we've introduced it to Bethany but she's picked it up so quickly and it really helps us to understand her, as it also gives a context for the words she says. Things like 'milk', 'water', 'num nums' (we use the sign for food), 'pooey' (we're working on her identifying that one lol), 'please', 'thanks' as well as lots that just take her interest like 'ball', 'bird', 'wet', 'shower' etc. The one we started with was 'finished'. It's great cuz she no longer slaps food out of our hands, she tells us she's done! 'More' is also helpful if she's finished what we gave her but she's still hungry.

Not sure if that's the kind of thing you're after, but I def suggest giving it a go - it's so much fun. For the first little while you just keep doing the signs whenever you say the word, then all of a sudden you catch them doing the same! (And of course you feel so proud )