Baby Sign LanguageBooks

A few people have asked me what books we are using...

These are the books we have and use:
Baby Signing 123 by Nancy Cadjan The Easy-to-Use Illustrated Guide for Every Age and Every Stage (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book because it has a section on what to use at each age and suggestions on how and when to use the signs.)

The Everything Baby Sign Language Book with DVD by Teresa R. Simposon
This book comes with a great DVD that shows every sign shown in the book. A live person really makes all the difference.

Baby Signs by Joy Allen (Illustrator)(a board book for the kido)
This is a nice picture book for Allie to illustrations of another baby using baby signs.

Baby Fingers: Teaching Your Baby to Sign by Lora Heller (another board book)
This book has pictures of real children using signs.

Sign away!

Tuesday night Allie made the sign for "MILK." It was awesome. She was soo proud of herself too when I clapped for her. All she has wanted to do for the past 2 days is say MILK MILK MILK. It's too cute. I"m very excited about her being able to communicate with us in another way.

A Season of Firsts

WOW!!! Soo much has happened in the past two months. Allie is growing big and strong day by day. She's had a season of firsts. A list of her most recent firsts include: first solid food (rice cereal mmm yummy, then oatmeal and mixed cereal), first vegetables (she's now had sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, sweet peas and green beans), first juice (Allie tasted apple juice for the first time this week), first fruit (she just had bananas today), first time drinking water, first time drinking water from the end of a straw, first time rolling over from back to tummy, first time sitting in a high chair, first time out to eat at a restaurant (Corky's Barbeque - don't worry she didn't order from the menu), first time sitting alone unsupported, first time getting up on all fours, as well as first time seeing snow. Allie has done a lot of growing up in the past two months. She's talking a whole lot more.

We have been teaching her sign language. We always speak when we use the signs. So far we use the signs for MILK, ALL DONE, MOMMY, DADDY, DIAPER, CHANGE, LOVE, DOG, SLEEP, FOOD, and MORE. She hasn't used any signs yet herself but smiles when she recognizes the signs for MILK , ALL DONE, MOMMY, and DADDY. This month we'll be introducing a few more signs to her. We have four books and a dvd about signing with infants and all of them have great information. Baby Signing 123, by Nancy Cadjan, states that the developmental norm for a child at 12 months is a possible 2-3 spoken words, while a child the same age that signs has 25 signs and 16 spoken words. That's nothing! At 36 months the norm is to understand 800 words and use 3-5 words sentences easily, while the signing child has speech like a 47 month old up to 1500 words and almost total control of everyday language. By the time the children are 8 years old the IQ of signing children is 12 points higher than the developmental norm.

Allie is checking many things off of her milestone list. She's getting bigger and doing soo many things. She has outgrown a ton of clothes and is now wearing some 3-6 month and 6 month+ clothes. One of her biggest accomplishments is her ability to feed herself. Allie loves to hold her bottle during mealtime. Here is a picture of the first time she held her own bottle on February 10, 2009.

As time flies by Allie continues to amaze us. We love her very much and are excited to watch her grow. We can't wait to see what she will do next.

She's A Leader, Not A Follower

This afternoon I walked in to check on Allie. It was about time to get her up from her nap. This is what I found. Allie sure has her own way of doing things.

A Long Time Coming

It's been a few months since I have sent out an update on Allison. She is growing up so fast. As of Monday, she now weighs in at 12 lbs. and 5 oz. She is starting to out grow her 0-3 months clothes now. Allie is definitely a smile baby. She smiles all of the time. It's very sweet to see. One of her favorite times to smile is when she is getting her diaper changed. It must be really exciting to her because the second she hits the changing table she has a HUGE smile on her face and she starts giggling and babbling away. Speaking of babbling, Allie LOVES to talk. She babbles all of the time about anything and everything. She makes sure you are listening to her by raising her voice if she doesn't have your undivided attention at times too.

Allie is ticklish! Her biggest tickle spots are right at her collar bone and the back of her neck. She shrugs her shoulders up and laughs hysterically whenever we tickle her there.

This week Allie mastered rolling over from her tummy to her back really well. She rolls ALL OVER her crib and pack n' play. She thinks rolling over is a game too. We play rolly polly with her. Allie can also sit up in her Bumbo chair and loves it. She really likes to stand up though. She's working on her balance daily as she tries to stand on our lap with our support. She smiles brightly any time she stands up. This week she has decided that when we try to put different clothes on her while she is laying down that she has to stand up. It's really silly.

Allie has an exersaucer that she is just dazzled by. She loves the bright colors and plays in it often. She likes to watch the lights go off and on and listen to the music. She spins round and round in her seat and has a ball.

Allie is still on a 100% breast milk diet. She seems to be doing great with it so we aren't changing her diet. We will start her on some cereal in the next month or 2 as her doctor recommends. I'm excited about giving her her first solid foods, but I want to enjoy every little bit of her childhood, so I am perfectly happy with her all liquid diet. She has started to watch us a eat a little closer though now.

Allie has been teething for some time now. No teeth have popped through yet but she is one drool monster for sure. She even blows spit bubbles. She loves to stick everything in her mouth.

For Halloween we dressed Allie up as a pumpkin. The costume was WAY too big but we put her in it anyway. She looked adorable. Allie had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent it at my parents house in Oceanside. She got to meet more of the family and of course was the star of the day. Her cousin Hailey was mesmerized by her the entire visit. Hailey helped feed and change Allie while we were there.

Shortly after Thanksgiving Allie started sleeping all of the way through the night. It's WONDERFUL being able to get some rest at night now. She sleeps from about 11 p.m. to 8 or 9 a.m. She's definitely a night owl like her mommy and daddy.

Allie's first Christmas was great. She got some clothes and a few toys that she loves. We got a Baby Bjorn carrier from our Aunt Kris. This carrier has been a life saver. Hands free with the baby is wonderful. Allie loves to be strapped in to it and go for walks with me and our dog. She's also been to church with me in her Baby Bjorn.

Allie's personality is really developing. She'll steal your heart and make it melt in no time.

We will be doing a baby dedication in the coming weeks. We plan to raise Allie to Know and Love the Lord. We'll get some pictures and be sure to share.

We love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

And He Saw That It Was Good...

Allison Kayla Baumbach came into the world at 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, July 22, 2008. She weighed in at 3 lbs. and 8 oz. and was 16 inches long. She arrived shockingly early as she wasn't due for about another 10 weeks. She came in God's time, not ours. She was very strong and only had to stay in the hospital for 5 weeks until she learned how to eat and weighed 5 lbs. She is definitely a miracle baby, she never even had to be on oxygen while she was in the hospital!