Olivia can sign!!!! Our Baby Signing Experience

by Jessie Hubbard
(Baltimore, MD )

My babysitter mentioned that she was teaching her daughter to sign and that I should try it for my 10 month old daughter, Olivia.

I really didn't think it was too necessary since Olivia was pretty good at communicating with us and had already spoken her first word which was "leche" or milk in Spanish. She didn't say it often but when she did it was clear.

Well I decided to try it anyway and got the DVD recommended on this site. While we were watching the video I was practicing the move for "milk"and lo and behold Olivia copied me immediately.

It is now less than three weeks since we began and Olivia can clearly sign the word for "leche" or "milk" and "more".

It is so exciting for both of us and I can't wait to teach her more! So far we are working on "eat" "daddy" "no" and "shoe" and "I love you".

question tho. I am not able to find the sign for "kiss". Can you help me with that one?


Response from Baby Sign Language Team

Hi Jessie!

We really enjoyed your Baby Sign language story, thank you so much for sharing! We are betting other parents have enjoyed your story as well, especially as it's very inspiring and exciting!

I'm sure it's a surprise for many to hear that Olivia is already signing at 10 months old.

As for your question, the sign for kiss is pretty similar to the sign for "more". The difference between the sign for "kiss" and the sign for "more" is that the hands is that when the tips of the fingers all meet up together, it's signed much more quickly than the sign for "more". The movement, motion, and handshape are all the same. The sign for "kiss" is signed more quickly (a split second for the motion).

Also, at the same time that you sign "kiss", your mouth makes a kissing sound.

Alternatively, you can use the sign "kiss-on-the-cheek" by using your right hand shaped as if you were going to sign "more". Instead of your hand meeting the other hand, it simply touches your cheek. And again, in comparison, this looks like you're using the sign for "eat" (with one hand), however the motion is extended to your cheek in a very quick movement (like a quick kiss on the cheek). And again, the mouth makes kissing noise as well. It resembles a "kiss on the cheek".

As we want to be sure you understand how to produce this sign correctly, we will be adding this sign to our next new Baby Signing chart for you! This chart will be free of charge for Babies-and Sign Language.com members. To keep updated on when this will be released, simply sign up for our Baby Sign Language newsletter updates here.

Now we have a question for you: Can you tell us exactly which DVD it was that you ordered? And in the three week time period, how often did you two view the DVD together? Please feel free to answer in the comment by clicking the link immediately below.

If you have any other questions, please let us know, of course. And again thank you so much for sharing your terrific experience with us!