Baby Signing

When the Teenager was just a little hunk of human, my sister-in-law introduced us to a very cool book called 'Baby Talk' by a kiwi couple called Karyn and Giles Warburton.  It's basically a way to teach your pre-talking little sponge how to tell you what they want without throwing themselves down and head butting the ground.  I have since used it for both my kids and it was easy, fun and my kids loved it plus they looked freaken gorgeous communicating with little pudgy hands.
This concept is so easy, you don't need to go and enroll in your local international sign language workshop, its all stuff we do anyway but its a way to really spend some quality time teaching and playing with your babe.  It doesn't stop them from speaking because you are saying the word while you sign it and they just naturally copy.  Kids are way smart they can be multilingual before they are 5 if you want them to be so throwing in some easy signing is peanuts really.
It's also pretty handy when your on the other side of a room from a mischievous face who has just picked up Nana's precious vase and is looking like shot putting it through the front window.  A simple cough to get their attention and the 'No' followed by the 'down' sign is pretty impressive way for some control without having to hurdle the couch screaming like a banshee.
We started doing signing from about 10 months but they didn't properly start responding until about 14 months.  The book comes with a quick reference chart which I just stuck to the fridge so everyone could see it and do it.  One time when the baby 7yr old was at his grandparents for the day we picked him up and were told that he had been acting a little strange, he had been wiping crumbs off the front of his jersey all day? Actually what he was doing was signing the word 'please'.
My Kids used 'More' 'Drink' 'Food' 'Poos' 'Please' 'Mum' 'Dad' 'Ball' 'Outside' 'all done' 'don't touch' and 'help me' the most but knew signs for animals, plane, hat, noisy and heaps more. 
They signed right up until they were probably just over 2 when words came more easily and we just slowly dropped the signing.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is about to have a baby or is struggling with clever little people who just can't seem to get their point across.
www.baby-talk.co.nz