(I scheduled this post to a later date, so this update might actually be a few weeks off the original timeline)

It has been three weeks since I used the baby sign language book I just purchased. I only watched the DVD once. I haven’t opened the quick guide that comes with it. Ezra and especially Joel absolutely loved the little baby signs book for the pictures. However, one time Joel was holding the book and somehow managed to get his face sliced off a bit from the sides of the book, sort of what you get with a paper cut. I decided to put the books away for a while, but I’ll be putting them out again some time later.

As for the signs themselves, it’s still a learning stage for all three of us. Currently I’m focusing on only a few signs that I think are critical to lessen Ezra’s meltdowns. Those are drink, eat, milk, bath and finish/all done. I haven’t seen one indication from either Joel or Ezra so far. I’m not so worried about Joel now. His articulation is getting better. Ezra still gets frustrated when I can’t read what he wants. I showed and repeated the baby signs to him, to which he doesn’t respond. Then when he wails, of course my stress levels go up, and I stress out quite easily.

He does try to speak a few words, like mommy, habis (finish), daddy, and a few more, but not the other important words like milk, drink and eat. I guess I’ll have to wait a couple more months to see if I can communicate better with Ezra using the baby sign language.

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.