When did I started teaching signing to Ezra? Oh, yeah, that was in late May, wasn’t it? Since Joel is still with his ah-po and ah-kung in Sandakan, I’ve been signing with just Ezra.

I’ve been pretty consistent with the following signs: more, milk, drink, eat, finish/no more, enough/that’s all and bathe/bath. I’ve been doing it every day with Ezra, but I thought Ezra would never get it. Until a few days ago, that is. Last Friday, he did the eat sign, which made me jump up and rush to get him something to munch on, just to show him that I understood what he wanted. And then last night, after finishing off a pack of crackers, he signed to me that he wanted more! Exciting! He also has less meltdowns lately. I think he finally understands that he can use all those gestures I’ve been showing him, and that it works both ways. I also find that he’s talking more as well. Speech is definitely improving. I’m able to understand him more now. Phew!

The only thing I regretted not doing when he did signs was that I didn’t get excited enough. Showing excitement does encourage him to do things more. What can I say — I was too shocked when I saw it! I couldn’t react on anything but respond to what he wanted. I’ll make sure to give him more compliments the next time I see another baby sign.

A week after toilet training Joel, I received this Baby Signs Kit from Ethel, signaling (no pun intended) another major milestone in my little kids’ life, specifically Joel, Ezra and our newest edition in July. I’ll get Eric to join in and learn as well, so he too can communicate with his brothers better.

I am confident that signing will not only improve my understanding of Joel and Ezra’s needs, but it will also be a stepping stone for both of them to improve on their verbal skills and speech. I have tried baby signing (using my own made up techniques) the words milk, drink, and eat to Joel when he turned one year old, and if I recalled correctly, he was able to learn in after about 4 months and communicated in signs whenever he needed those. Along the way, though, I stopped. I don’t remember why exactly. Without the signing, both Joel and I get frustrated easily and he would wail and cry while I tried to keep my head from exploding from all those noise. My situation with Ezra is turning to be similar to Joel’s, so I really need to do something about it and this is what I believe can help every one of us.

I hope I’m not bringing in too much change into our family life too often. It’s really only been a week since Joel started being toilet trained, and that’s a major life changing event by itself. What with office work, house work, taking care of the kids, expecting our new baby, and trying to keep up with being healthy, life is already very hectic. I just hope God can give me the strength to go through it all. I’m just glad I currently have a wonderful support system that is my hubby, Eric, my mom and my sisters.

Phew. One day at a time.