The toddler uses a language of sounds

I regret that we did not make more effort to learn the toddler sign language. She still gets by with her pointy finger and lots of grunts. But I realize that she uses a lot of sounds to indicate what she wants. And it works for her, because we understand her… Perhaps the sounds are not such a bad thing, and it works on the same principle as sign language.

Sounds used by the toddler: (I hope I get it right)

“Ah-Ah-Ah” with open mouth – she wants to be breastfed
“Woef” – used for the dog
“grrrr” – ants
“sswee-ssweee” – going to the toilet
“weee-weee” – planes (with hands making a sweeping movement above her head)
“uh-uh” – anything she wants, with pointy finger
Negative “eh-uh” – NO!
“poef” – dirty nappy (with finger trying to pull nappy down)
“s-s-s-s” – fish
“hawrrrrr” – roar used for lots of animals, such as lions, tigers, foxes

That’s about it! It is remarkable that she can do so much with these sounds. Luckily we hear that she is beginning to copy us when we say something…

Related post:
The toddler is 20 months

Playing Friday Follow 40 and over. Check Java for the details at Never Growing Old.

Sign language for the baby

I have voiced my concern about Mieka who screams and hits at other babies when they come near her. Tasneem, an occupational therapist, suggested that “some children develop conceptual language faster than they develop language ability “. They get frustrated, and that’s why they start to hit. Some throw tantrums. She suggested we could try sign language. It has made me think that it is worth a try. I googled some of information on the Internet, but I am not sure how to learn the signs to the baby. Last night I tried to learn her about the sign for a ball, holding my hand in a round form, and twisting it. I did not get any response.
Mieka waves at us, and she claps her hands when we sing “Handjies klap” (clap the hands), but we are still trying to teach her how to blow kisses to us. She starts to make the b-r-r-r sound while pulling her hand over her mouth when we blow kisses to her.
Do we create our own sign language, or is there a good site out there which could help me? I am not very creative coming up with signs.

(Another photo by grandfather James on Sunday)