Saturdays at 10 you can find Jameson and I learning sign language.

A friend from school who recently had a baby as well decided to start sign language classes. She is a translator, with a baby herself, so it made perfect sense for her to start something like this. She is with Signing Smart, which she chose because they use real American Sign Language.

I had been interested in it already, since Jameson will be learning some signs at daycare. Plus, the kid mystifies me everyday. Anything to help me decipher what is going on in his little head sounds like a good idea to me! Plus, the deal included a booklet of information and two DVDs, cheaper than usual since this was her first class. I decided to go for it.

Who am I kidding? I did it primarily so I would meet some more people with babies!

Remarkably, I am actually retaining some information. I know MORE, FINISH, OUT, PLAY, BALL, BEAR, DOG, and MILK. Even more remarkably, Jameson is signing back!

JUST KIDDING.

But he is really focused. Whenever I do signs, he stares intently at it. It might just be because I am not usually a hand talker and so the movement is unusual, but I am hoping that he will start to understand. I would love to have him tell me when he needs CHANGED, or when he needs to SLEEP. Also, it might be nice if he could tell me how much he LOVES me. For some gratification for all the hard work I do everyday.

Also kidding. CHANGE is on my list of words to learn, but SLEEP and LOVE are not. I can already tell when he needs to sleep. And love is all in his smile </cheesy>

Another fun thing about the class is that since I work all day, I don’t get to see him interact with other babies. He just likes to watch them right now, and occasionally reach for their toys, but it’s nice to see a part of him that I don’t usually get to experience. And I get to sing to him, making signs without feeling stupid. There are like 6 other adults who are doing the exact same thing.

Apparently, 7 months is a good time to start working on the signs. It’s a 10 week class though, and I’m not supposed to expect to see any signs back at me during this time. But there are 13-, 14-, and 15-month-olds in the class who are signing already, so if I keep at it, he should be earlier.

So his progress right now after two weeks is really my progress. I am learning the signs and trying to be consistent about using them (and harassing Brian to do the same). We’ll keep you posted if he suddenly shows signs of genius.

P.S. Jameson had his 7 month photo shoot on Saturday. It was the hardest yet, we had to give him another block to distract him. It was also the most fun yet, because he is showing such personality. His devious grin clearly shows it.