Yesterday we received a Facebook message from one of our friends telling us a story worth sharing. we asked her permission and she agreed to let us publish a most wonderful and touching story.
We have changed the names and identifiable details of the story to protect the privacy of the family. This does not diminish at all the beauty and uniqueness of the story.
Most of the stories and testimonies we receive are related to magical bonding experiences between parent and child. This story is quite unique because baby signs served as a tool for bonding with a new caregiver.
Hi!
I am reaching out to you to thank you and to share a story of something that means the world to me. I saw your post about the blanket giveaway and it made me recall how I ended up liking your page. Recently my family faced a very painful crisis. My younger sister who was living across the country became pregnant with her daughter Jana. When Jana was born we made it a point to Facetime and Skype frequently, even when she was not yet old enough to engage with my husband and I we would spend time with her and my sister, singing songs reading baby books and just getting to know our niece the best that we could. As Jana got older my sister began teaching her baby sign language. Both my husband and I laughed about it just a little but in an effort to be supportive to my sister who was single parenting at the time we jump on the bandwagon.
By the time Jana was 10 months old she could use a ton of signs. When we Facetimed I would show her printed flashcards from your website and she would do the sign as my sister and I repeated the word. It was a ton of fun!
Three months ago my sister passed away in a terrible accident while driving to work. Within days my husband and I went from being parents to a cat and a lab to having a little girl at home. The sudden change in routine resulted in a little toddler that was often inconsolable. As much as we had engaged with her online, having her at home was a completely different ballgame. During the first weeks our grief combined with all the changes made for a very stressed little one and very grumpy adults. As things started to calm down I realized that Jana would do signs while having meltdowns. Unfortunately my knowledge of baby sign language was limited to social signs, animals and the signs we had incorporated to our common songs and books. I did not know any day-to-day signs. In fact, it was not until three weeks of having Jana at home that I learned the signs for milk and more.
Curious to know what Jana was trying to communicate I started watching every single video from the baby sign language dictionary. I did it in alphabetical order and I quickly got to the letter B. What a surprise it was to find the sign for bear and shortly thereafter the sign for blanket. That was the sign that my little Jana was repeating again and again during her meltdowns. On a whim my husband and I started to check the boxes with her stuff that we had brought with us from California. In the third box we found a well worn blanket with a teddy bear holder. We quickly pulled the blanket gave it a wash and put it in Jana’s hands!
Now we know, and we have what it takes to comfort our little princess. I am so grateful for your videos!!! Jana is still very much into signs and only says a few words but she has adjusted very nicely and when she is having a difficult time she is able to tell us and we are able to understand. Huge thanks for your website.
Jana’s Aunt
If you have a baby sign language story to share with us or you have questions and need guidance we are here to help you. We are so thankful for stories such as this one!
