Sign Language vs. Talking

Welp, Ham is learning the art of American Sign Language with a vengeance! She is addicted to her baby videos that we rented from the library. I don't know what we are going to do when they have to go back....again. Yes, I have rented them twice already. I think we should have stuck with teaching her everyday signs with regular objects because she can be pretty incessant about signing, "Baby Video." It's cute, though. We just don't give in every time.

She can sign so many things now. Here is a list:
Apple, shirt, banana, lion, monkey, car, thank you, milk, baby, video, music, fish, tree, dinosaur (I know, SOOO important, right?), doggy, cat, water, drink, cereal, cracker, socks, shoes, hot, hat, diaper, daddy, share, you're welcome, please, kisses, balloon, ball, all done, elephant, train, panda, lion, giraffe, music, sleep, night night...OK, I'm sure there are more, but you get the picture.

She can also now say:
Dog ("daw"), hot ("ot"), hat ("at") which can also be 'cat', ball ("baw"), baby ("bebe"), Aunt Jen ("bin"), Isabella ("beda"), Mommy, Daddy, and Bebe pronounced 'Bay-Bay ("beba").

Hubby and I have been talking a bit about making our own videos for her. We have read differing ideas about sign language and babies talking late. For instance, if you show your child how to sign words, but do not speak the words as well, then the child is more likely to continue signing instead of learning how to speak the words as well. However, studies show that if a baby (or child) learns sign language coupled with learning the word and the spelling (a video often shows the word they are signing), a child usually talks sooner, but also can recognize words sooner...leading to reading at an earlier age. Now that is something we can stand behind!

We aren't all about making Ham into some sort of freak of nature, who sits around reading Pride and Prejudice at the age of 3, but we are into fostering good reading habits and communication. Both of us love to read and it's something we want Ham to enjoy...if she so chooses.

I remember many kids in my first and second-grade classes who would cry if the teacher asked them to read at story time. I always felt sad for them (and mad, if the teacher badgered them in any way) and would volunteer to read so that they didn't feel pressured. I never felt haughty or better than anyone, but I just couldn't imagine a life without being able to read on my own. Because of this, I have also thought about joining a program that helps children (and adults) learn to read.

That being said, Ham is only 13 months old and she has lagged in some ways (whatever that means) by only having 3 teeth at a year old, but she has excelled in others. I think that when we see our children loving something and wanting to learn, we should make it a top priority to sit down with them and guide them in their endeavors. That is what my parents did with me and I am so thankful for it.

So, there you go.

Humble Beginnings and an Anniversary

Welp, I have set up a small workspace in the corner of our kitchen. You may think, "That's not much to look at," and you'd be quite right to have that thought. However, as much as I would love to have a room where I could paint anything on the walls, decorate it with inspiring words, drawings, clippings, etc., this is what will have to do for now.

It's my Creative Corner

I will say this about my fabulous, supportive husband (whom I am celebrating our 5th Anniversary with today). We have a spare bedroom that doesn't get used for anything but storage. It's really too small to put our old queen size bed in there, so if company did stay over, they'd have one twin bed and a blow-up mattress to put on the floor. That being said, we have left room for our old kitchen table, a chair, a small 11" t.v. we never use (which is sitting on an ancient, laminated wood, rolling t.v. stand...seriously, I think this was from when I was a kid in the 70's. I'm sure of it.)

So anyway, my husband has said several times that he would love for me to use that spare bedroom (I'm sure that having my arts and crafts spread all over the house has nothing to do with the generosity, of course). I have talked about painting it a pale lavender, hanging little pixies made of paper, felt, beading, and wire from little swings I'd fashion to the ceiling. Kind of like a hanging mobile, but with little girl and boy fairies. Like this one I found online:

Each time I have a hair-brained scheme like that, he has supported me 100%. Of course, though, all this takes time. And money.

Now, I'm sure that it wouldn't be expensive to paint the room, just time-consuming, and then it would even be cute as-is. It's just...I haven't done it yet.

My first order of business will be to paint a reproduction of this original I painted a few months ago. The one below is 16x20 and my mom wants a much larger one to hang in her main room. I think it's 30x24 or something.

This one is being sold on etsy.com as we speak. I don't know if it will sell for my asking price, but I didn't think the Owl in the Sky With Diamonds would sell for what it did, either. There's always hope.

Here is a couple of close-ups of this painting. I was really happy with the way it turned out, considering I used acrylic paints. I put the paint on so thick that I had to use a hair dryer on the background before I could continue with the flowers. I didn't know that heat would make the paint bubble, so there are some cool textures you don't usually get with acrylics.

So, there's that.