love

I saw this church sign today and it totally inspired me:

What a great motto to live by!

guest post: baby sign language

Baby Sign Language as a Family Experience

Who says Baby Sign Language is just for babies? We know many families who have incorporated sign language for babies into their family’s routine and here are a few activities; methods and lessons learned that we’d like to share from those experiences.

Sibling teaching sibling

Just because this is your second or third baby doesn’t mean you can’t start now. Just like it is never too early to start teaching baby to sign, it is also never too late. Older siblings can have loads of fun learning to sign along with baby and you. They can help by picking out a new sign of the week or day, by playing teacher and demonstrating the signs on the baby sign language flashcards, or even helping read storybooks and incorporate the signs. And just like baby sign language has been shown to bond babies and parents, the same applies for siblings. While they won’t always agree on which movie to watch or which board game to play, you’ll marvel at the moments when you catch those kiddos playing sign that animal. 

Teaching numerous children

While a little competition is encouraging for some children, make sure you cheer on all the children and babies you are teaching. It is tempting to get excited when baby starts to sign, but don’t forget the toddlers and older siblings who have been learning and doing the signs right alongside you. Make sure they know that they have contributed to baby’s success too!

Also keep in mind that there is no cookie cutter method to learning sign language. Just like every child is unique, you will find that one child may need a different approach than another. Babies will learn at their own pace, too. Just because your first baby was signing at 7 months, doesn’t mean you should give up when baby number two is 9 months old and still not showing interest. She may suddenly surprise you and sign her way to asking for fruit instead of veggies for dinner one evening.

Making BSL a family affair

We’ve heard much success about the ease of getting the siblings on board, but what about when the grandparents are skeptics, or only one parent wants to commit to learning and teaching BSL? Our advice – Don’t be discourage, but also don’t push. Select your few starting signs and practice, practice, practice. Let baby start signing back and that will be all the convincing the rest of the family, caregivers and friends need. And when they ask where they can learn more, send them to babysignlanguage.com!

Mey Lau

www.babysignlanguage.com

thrifty: toddler activity center

Today's fantastic find wasn't at a thrift shop. It was from a yard sale. Before Julianna, I went to tons of yard sales on Saturday mornings. I could stop here and there, no problem. Now that I have a little one, it's harder to make those quick, impromptu stops at a yard sale because I have to get Julianna out of her car seat, tote her around, try to keep her happy, and search for good deals. It's just too much work. The benefit to thrift stores is that the ones I visit have shopping carts so Julianna can ride around the store without me having to get the stroller out.

I had to make a quick trip out this morning and I passed about 5 yard sales in less than 4 miles. I drove slowly by them to see if there was anything that caught my eye. I saw a little easel thing at one that looked interesting. I've been looking for an easel for Julianna but I didn't want to pay much for it. I called Josh and he left work for just a few minutes to go check it out for me. He told the people that he would pay $5 for it and they said okay! Turns out, the easel is more than just an easel. This is what it looks like on one side:

On this side of the board, you can clip on paper to draw or paint and it also functions as a whiteboard. Then you flip this board over and you get the other side:

And on this side, you can move the objects around and they stick to the little pegs. Julianna has already had a blast playing with this side of the activity center. I'd say this was $5 well spent! YAY for being thrifty!

she's growing up so fast

Julianna is growing up to be such a big girl and it's happening way too fast! It seems like yesterday, she was this little tiny newborn and now she's a toddler!

She had 2 pretty big moments this week. First of all, she's been eating much better. Actually trying her food before throwing it. She even stopped throwing her plate as often too. She's started to use utensils on her own. I bought her these:

She ate her entire meal and even licked her plate on Thursday night. She was successfully eating with her new utensils too. Go JuJu!

And our other big moment this week involved the potty. I bought her this potty on Tuesday:

This potty seemed like a great choice but it's also a step stool and you can take the potty seat off and put it on an adult toilet. I sat her on it naked before bathtime every night this week since Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday she just kind of sat there but on Thursday, she peed in the potty for the first time! I was so excited for her! Well, she did it again on Friday night! Mommy was proud but so was she was JuJu because she smiled and clapped after she peed. I think we're on the right track. YAY!

remind me

I absolutely love this song. Brad and Carrie sound so good together!

thrifty: fun shoes and great finds

Did yall know I'm a thrift store junkie? I seriously can't get enough of thrift store shopping. The majority of my wardrobe, as well as Josh and Julianna's is from thrift/consignment stores. If I buy something in a "normal" store, it has to be at least 75% off and we rarely splurge on any items. We're thrifty and it's fun. I have no shame in wear 2nd hand clothes or shoes, that's what washing machines are for. I often find brand-new or hardly used items. So chances are if you like my outfit, it's been thrifted.

So my little family went out yesterday to check out a new thrift store that we haven't been to yet and our old favorite one. We spent $71 but got: 1 pair of shoes for me, 2 tops for me, 1 dress for me, 1 sweater for me, 3 dress shirts for Josh, 3 pairs of dress pants for Josh, 1 pair of work out pants for Josh, 6 shirts for Julianna, 1 bathing suit coverup for Julianna, 3 pairs of pj's for Julianna, 1 complete outfit for Julianna, and 1 dress for Julianna. One of the shirts for Josh was brand-new with tags, Chaps brand and my sweater was a cute black cardigan from Talbot's with tags. I'd say we got our monies worth!

Here are the fabulous Liz Claiborne flats I got for 4 dollars:

Now that you all know how stinkin' thrifty we are... I plan to start posting pictures of our thrifted outfits and other awesome finds! :)