Baby Sign Language

So for a while now I've been signing potty to Clay as his only real consistent sign, but I've been trying to remember mommy milk every time he nurses, and we do the sign for massage when he gets one, kitty when he notices one, and mommy and daddy when we remember. It's been pretty half-hearted which is totally fine since he won't be able to sign back for another few months (although I figure that doing the sign for a word every time I say it will  help it become second nature to me). My enthusiasm was given a kick start today... I'm not sure what by, but I'm diving head first into the world of baby signing and today I learned a whopping 28 new signs! I chose the ones I thought would be most relevant to our life at the moment... Here are all the signs we're working on now.

Potty (closed fist, thumb bewteen pointer and middle finger, twist like your turning a door knob)
Diaper Change (closed fists, palms together, rub in circles)
Kitty (hand in pincer, start at cheek and pull away from face a couple times, like pulling whiskers)
Massage (opens hands, palms together, rub like your rubbing in oil)
Mommy Milk (slightly open fist, squeeze, squeeze, like milking a cow)
Mommy (open hand and fingers, thumb taps chin then hand moves away from face)
Daddy (open hand and fingers, thumb taps forehead then hand moves away from face)
Up (open hands pat shoulder/chest area)
Down (point down)
Kisses (open hand, tap cheek lightly with finger tips, tap tap)
Good Morning (open hand palm facing the ground, start below eye fingers pointing to nose and wind shield wipe across eye to the outside of face)
Carry (in a carrier) (cross arms into an X in front of chest, closed fists, tap tap)
Bath Time (both hands closed fists, move up and down over torso at the same time)
Toys (closed fist, up and down as if pounding the air, or shaking a rattle)
All Done (open hand and fingers, twist back and forth at the wrist)
Not for Clay (thumb meets pointer finger and middle finger, like pinching)
Tickle (both hands squeezing the air)
Sit (pat where baby is sitting with one hand, pat pat)
Sorry (closed fist, make reversed circles around your chest)
Get Dressed (open hand palm down, descends from above head to below chin like a wind shield wiper)
Get Undressed (open hand palm down, ascends from below chin to above head)
Bus (pointer finger makes little circles like wheels turning)
Sleepy Time (open hand in front of face, fingers close into pincer and eyes close at the same time) 
Bottle (closed fist, bring fist to mouth, tap tap)
Hello (wave hello)
Bye-Bye (wave bye bye)
Inside (one hand closed fist, other hand in pincer motions as if putting something inside closed fist, tap tap)
Outside (pincer to forehead  bring away from forehead and open hand to the sky)  
Stroller (closed fists facing forward, push forward and back like pushing a stroller)
Funny (pointer finger and middle finger of one hand, start at bridge of nose and stroke off the nose a couple times)
Gentle (gently pet top of your head)
Car (closed fists, like your turning a steering wheel back and forth)
Icey (frozen breast milk)(open hand facing outwards, finger tips point to mouth, stroke cheek from mouth to ear with the back of the hand a couple times (like rubbing cheek because of teething pains))
Upset (open hand facing face descends from forehead to chin, thumb on one side fingers on the other, pout)

I've modified a few of them, especially if they originally required 2 hands lol. This is the site I've based most of the off of...babysignlanguage.com


So it's been about a week now, and I'm getting the hang of using a lot of these signs. It's really neat too because Clay seems to calm down, and pay attention more when I use the sign in conjunction with what I'm saying. For example, when he's upset I ask him, "Why are you upset?" and sign upset, and he seems to calm down like he realizes that I recognize he's frustrated. 

Some signs are harder to get him to pay attention to, such as "mommy milk". Because once he knows he's getting it, all of his attention is on it, not my face or my hands :P oh well, I make the sign anyway. In this case I usually try to make the sign before it's given to him, before I lift my shirt and he gets all excited and single minded lol.

I'm so excited for when he actually starts to sign back!! It'll be so cool to communicate like that, before he can verbalize words. I think it's an extremely valuable tool when it comes to a baby/toddler trying to convey their needs in a way that avoids many tears and tantrums. We'll see how it goes!