Gaius and Mommy have a Sign Language Conversation
Gaius has been "talking" a lot in the last few months: signing with his hands, while also saying syllables. He communicates so well that life with him is quite entertaining. We occasionally have a time when we misunderstand him, and he gets so, so sad; but fortunately those are very rare moments.
Here's a happy one.
Dinner time, with Mommy and the two kids. Both the 3yo and the 1yo are eating well, so I feel quite happy about my choice of food to put on the table - yay Mommy success!
Round 1
Gaius is in his chair, but he suddenly starts pushing himself to standing, then back down. He repeats this several times, calmly, while I try to figure out why he's doing it:
Gaius, are you trying to reach something?
Do you need a paper towel? That bowl?
Are you all done with eating?
On this last one he turns and looks at me with big brown eyes, and says a very clear: No.
Then he puts up his bunny sign hand (see photo) and hops it up and down smiling.
Oh, Gaius, are you hopping like a bunny?
He nods widely, still with that content look on his face. Then we get on with our meal, all happy and quiet.
Round 2
A few moments later, Gaius is doing the same all over again: getting slightly up from his chair and back down.
Are you hopping like a bunny again, Gaius?
Gaius turns to me and lifts his right hand under his chin, signing: Frog.
Oh, now you are hopping like a frog?
He nods. Happiness.
P.S.: Some of the signs we use in our family are not the standard ASL, and that's perfectly alright. Think of special words your family uses but others would not recognize, like Paw-paw for Grandpa - sign language is no different. For us, examples of personal variations are:
- Bunny: our sign spawned from a Romanian song Mommy liked to perform with her hands - Iepuras Coconas. It involves a hopping bunny that goes across a meadow and hides up in a little bush.
- Hot: Gaius invented his own variation here, which is the latter half of the actual ASL one. The official sign looks as if you are taking something hot away of your mouth; his version is: palm outstretched toward the hot thing, pumping up and down and saying "Hah!!... Hah!!"
 |
| Gaius's bunny sign: this hand in a hopping motion. |
Dinner time, with Mommy and the two kids. Both the 3yo and the 1yo are eating well, so I feel quite happy about my choice of food to put on the table - yay Mommy success!
Round 1
Gaius is in his chair, but he suddenly starts pushing himself to standing, then back down. He repeats this several times, calmly, while I try to figure out why he's doing it:
Gaius, are you trying to reach something?
Do you need a paper towel? That bowl?
Are you all done with eating?
On this last one he turns and looks at me with big brown eyes, and says a very clear: No.
Then he puts up his bunny sign hand (see photo) and hops it up and down smiling.
Oh, Gaius, are you hopping like a bunny?
He nods widely, still with that content look on his face. Then we get on with our meal, all happy and quiet.
 |
| Frog. |
Round 2
A few moments later, Gaius is doing the same all over again: getting slightly up from his chair and back down.
Are you hopping like a bunny again, Gaius?
Gaius turns to me and lifts his right hand under his chin, signing: Frog.
Oh, now you are hopping like a frog?
He nods. Happiness.
P.S.: Some of the signs we use in our family are not the standard ASL, and that's perfectly alright. Think of special words your family uses but others would not recognize, like Paw-paw for Grandpa - sign language is no different. For us, examples of personal variations are:
- Bunny: our sign spawned from a Romanian song Mommy liked to perform with her hands - Iepuras Coconas. It involves a hopping bunny that goes across a meadow and hides up in a little bush.
- Hot: Gaius invented his own variation here, which is the latter half of the actual ASL one. The official sign looks as if you are taking something hot away of your mouth; his version is: palm outstretched toward the hot thing, pumping up and down and saying "Hah!!... Hah!!"
Comments
Post a Comment