phillbecker

We all sat down to figure out what Ruth can say.

At 19 months, Ruth can say (pretty closely anyhow) the following:

Mom, Dad, Eddy, “Owie”, stuck, butt, asleep, red, fish, eat, “B” (for Ernie), “B” (for bird), mine, please, thank you, me, no shoes, toes, down, help, woof-woof, meow, wet, poop, hop, oops, wow, ear, noes, eyes, soup, shirt, juice, bottle, book, read, hi, bye-bye, moo, ball, hello, push, pull, hot, “ah-ah” (for count), fall, snow, nope, teeth, beautiful, back pack, pea, bite, food, stop, go, share, Here you go, hat, baby, frog, swing, uh-huh, boy, “elephant noise”, “rooster noise”, duck, “peek a boo”, peekaboo, doll, tickle, boo boo, up, choo choo, sit, outside, feet, sick, …

She can sign:
Owie (hurt), asleep, red, fish, eat, bird, Please, thank you, shoes, food, stop, share, hat, baby, frog, boy, blanket, sorry, blocks, more, build, bear, car, paper, draw, bunny, cracker, potty, brush teeth, sad, awake, grumpy, bath, “StarWars (made up sign), “bottle” (her own sign), cheese, apple, candy, cold, milk, cookie, caterpillar, monkey, gorilla, tiger, train, popcorn, dirty, pig, surprised, all-done, school, play, penguin, stinky, cereal, owl, thirsty,

that we can remember.

“BOOO”

“Ruth, do you want me to read that book?”
“mm hmm.” [nods]
“I’m cooking right now. Can Eddy read it?”
“mm hmm.” [trots off]
“Eddy, could you read that book to your sister?”
“Why should I?!”
“‘Cause that’s what good big brothers do.”
“Oh… OK.”

the mic on the camera’s not so good, so turn up your volume a little to hear them.

Eddy convinced me to go for a picnic on a beautiful sunny day in the park. There was still snow on the ground, but it was definitely getting soggy.
The boy and the dog took a walkabout while Ruth sat in the snow and ate fistfuls of it. Then, to get moving, I put her on my shoulders …

As you can see, she alternates from cutesy wootsy to “DOWN! DOWN!!” demanding.

I need to remember to take vid in higher resolution….

Quite some time back, we caught an episode or two of a children’s show with a focus on American Sign Language. It was well put together, entertaining, and enjoyable for all of us. Then the local PBS station stopped airing it.

We eventually discovered Signing Time at the library and have since borrowed every episode at least once. These are fantastic videos! Each episode has a theme and focuses on several signs for each topic, each signed by children and the host, Rachel. And the songs will get stuck in your head forever.

Eddy, our five year old, discovered that if he signs the things he wants, we have to actually look at him, and pay that much MORE attention to him. hmmm….

Ruth, at 18 months, is obsessed with Baby Signing Time aimed at kids “3-36 months.” She’s picked up so many signs in just the short time we had it checked out and is now very good at communicating. Her pediatrician says that at 18 months her cognitive level is on par with many 2 or 2 1/2 year olds!

Update
At 19 months, Ruth can say (pretty closely anyhow) the following:

Mom, Dad, Eddy, “Owie”, stuck, butt, asleep, red, fish, eat, “B” (for Ernie), “B” (for bird), mine, please, thank you, me, no shoes, toes, down, help, woof-woof, meow, wet, poop, hop, oops, wow, ear, noes, eyes, soup, shirt, juice, bottle, book, read, hi, bye-bye, moo, ball, hello, push, pull, hot, “ah-ah” (for count), fall, snow, nope, teeth, beautiful, back pack, pea, bite, food, stop, go, share, Here you go, hat, baby, frog, swing, uh-huh, boy, “elephant noise”, “rooster noise”.

She can sign:
Owie (hurt), asleep, red, fish, eat, bird, lease, thank you, shoes, food, stop, share, hat, baby, frog, boy, blanket, sorry, blocks, more, build, bear, car, paper, draw, bunny, cracker, potty, brush teeth, sad, awake, grumpy, bath, “StarWars (made up sign), “bottle” (her own sign), cheese, apple, candy, cold, milk, cookie, caterpillar, monkey, gorilla, tiger, train, popcorn, dirty, pig, surprised, all-done, school, play, penguin.

There’s a lot of crossover words between the two lists, and we were never worried that signing would make her speech delayed.

Since Ruth keeps asking for Baby Signing Time again and again, I had to break down and buy them.

Allison has really taken to signing with Ruth, as well. Actually, Ruth and Eddy know more signs than I do! I guess I’ll have to watch more with them to figure it before they start secretly communicating amongst each other.

See if your library has a set, or if you can find it on your local PBS station. Or browse the Signing Time Store.I hope you love it as much as we do.

Ruth shopping with me at the hardware store. On halloween. In costume.

Part 2