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Rocky Mountain Sign Language

Rocky Mtn. Sign Language

Mom gets big surprise when baby signs

Cutline for Paula and Rose McCall: Paula Wise Baker is shown with her 2-year-old daughter, Rose McCall. Paula started teaching sign language to Rose when she was just a baby and has now started her own sign language business to help parents communicate with their infants through sign. (Courtesy photo)

By Gaye Bunderson

All signs are pointing in the right direction for Paula Wise Baker.

The 28-year-old is the owner of Rocky Mountain Sign Language. Her interest in signing began when her baby girl was born two years ago. Baker had read about a class for parents of infants that helped facilitate communication through signing.

“Your baby has a lot to say, and with just a few simple signs, you can start communicating with your baby before he or she even starts to talk,” read a release about a program called Signing Time offered locally through the Saint Alphonsus Health System.

Baker took the class, caught on to signing, and started teaching it to her baby, Rose McCall.

“I wanted to know at what age she would start responding,” Baker said.

She describes herself as “shocked” when Rose starting signing at 6 months.

“Her first signs were for ‘ceiling fan’ and ‘lights.’ Then came ‘ball,’ ‘milk,’ and ‘cracker,’ then ‘dog’ and ‘cat,’” Baker said. “Investigative words like ‘where’ and ‘why’ come later.”

Two-year-old Rose now knows her colors and can count to 20 in sign language. Baker’s original skepticism about babies being able to sign was put to rest and soon she wanted to teach other parents how to utilize signing to communicate with their infants; she discovered other parents were eager to learn.

“People saw me signing with Rose at the park and they’d ask, ‘How did you learn that?’” Baker said.

Thus began her entrance into entrepreneurialism. She received sign language certification through Signing Time and started Rocky Mountain Sign Language in November 2017. She introduced herself to the public at the Canyon County Kids Expo that month and began approaching libraries about the possibility of offering her programs. She holds classes at the Cherry Lane branch of the Meridian Library District and at the Library! at Cole & Ustick in Boise. She also teaches in some day cares around the valley.

The classes, for kids 2 and under, are highlighted by music and videos. “Your kids understand their hands mean something,” Baker said. It’s the same process that takes place when they start to realize their spoken words have meaning.

“Learning needs to be child-centric or the kids won’t learn,” Baker said, explaining that what parents want to teach and what children want to learn are often different. “Parents want help communicating with their child about bedtime or going to the bathroom.”

On the other hand children, especially extremely little ones, want to communicate about their needs and first experiences — hence, why Rose first started signing about things she saw above her crib and then about food, which in a baby’s case is milk.

Another misconception is that children need to be deaf or hard of hearing to take advantage of sign language. Neither Baker nor her little girl are hearing-impaired. The program Baker’s involved in is designed for hearing children with oral skills, though it was originally created by the mother of two hearing-impaired children, Rachel Coleman.

“Signing Time has brought American Sign Language to the early education mainstream. Armed with a basic child-centered vocabulary, parents and young children are able to communicate in a fun, efficient, and mutually beneficial way,” reads a statement at rockymountainsignlanguage.com. “Talking children also benefit immensely from learning ASL because until our children reach the age of 5, they have the ability to learn almost anything as long as the learning pathways are established early.”

It also does not hamper a child’s ability to speak verbally. Rose uses oral language like any child her age. “Communicating verbally and with sign uses the same side of the brain,” Baker said.

Baker has always been interested in working with children; she worked with them at summer camps as a young person, for instance. She is particularly motivated when it comes to early childhood education, and she has joined forces with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children and the Women’s and Children’s Alliance.

She also said she’s a lifelong learner who has always worked; for many years, she worked in medical laboratory science. Surprisingly, she didn’t have a model childhood that easily shaped her for success. She grew up in a trailer park. Her mother was a janitor who graduated from high school at age 20, and her father worked in construction.

“I grew up in poverty and beat the odds,” she said. “I should have never gone to college” — meaning all the indicators were not in her favor. What did work in her favor, however, was that she loved learning and her parents nurtured that love. Her mother took her to the library as frequently as she could. Subsequently, in elementary school Baker ended up reading at a 12th grade level.

“Then, at 12 or 13, I was reading Ayn Rand,” she said.

Her own fondness for learning has led her to want to help children who, like her, are instilled with a desire to grasp all the knowledge they can. Sign language is one thing to learn, but it also facilitates the learning of many more things by igniting curiousity and contributing fuel to young brains firing on all cylinders.

“I want to see kids reading and talking, and get them interested in science,” she said.

In March, she began talking with Trailhead North, a startup co-working space in downtown Boise, about opening an office where she might teach kids sign language on the weekends. Her plans were to start small, with about four families. She would also like to eventually work with adults who are hearing impaired, she said, and is working on obtaining funding.

For more information, go to rockymountainsignlanguage.com or email rockymountainsignlanguage@gmail.com.

Horney Village

Horney Village

7 tips for traveling with kids

Cutline for Kids Sleeping: Clara, 3, and Sammy, 2, sleep in an airport while traveling with their parents. (Courtesy photo)

By Jessie Horney

When I was 22 years old, freshly married and kid-free, I had the foolish confidence of someone whose main job is to take care of themselves. So when my sister offered me a free plane ticket to visit her in Hawaii — a free ticket which was a carrot on the end of a long stick named “but you have to bring my 3 kids with you” — I was like yeah, sure, bring it on! I think I may have said, and I quote, “How hard can it be to fly with three kids?”

Laughing, laughing, laughing all around, cue my inevitable humiliation and whatever disasters awaited me. No matter WHAT happened on that trip, I would deserve it, if only for the audacity to imagine it was easy.

Everything was fine all the way to San Francisco, where I fed them lunch, the 1-year-old, 4-year-old, and 6-year-old I was about to cart across the Pacific Ocean. We boarded the plane for Honolulu when the 4-year-old announced that her stomach hurt. After we settled into our seats, she leaned over and hurled that airport lunch all over herself. I cleaned her up in the spacious confines of the airplane bathroom with the wet wipes and extra outfit her mom had advised me to pack, praying it was an isolated moment of motion sickness. And then my dear niece proceeded to projectile vomit. For five hours straight. I am not exaggerating. She threw up on her clothes, she threw up on her second set of clothes, she threw up on her seat, she threw up on her sister’s seat, she threw up on her brother’s seat, she threw up on my seat, she threw up on her stuffed animals, and in the very worst move of the entire stomach-emptying episode from hell, she threw up on the DVD players that were my last hope.

I don’t even remember the middle three hours of that flight. I think I blacked out for a while, purely for self-preservation. At one point I asked the annoyed flight attendants for yet another large plastic bag, which I ripped with my teeth to create head and arm holes for my miserable niece to wear as a puke poncho. An older woman walking down the aisle patted my shoulder, then leaned in and said, “Honey, you are a saint.” I gripped her hand, pulled her down to face me, and with wild eyes whispered back, ”These aren’t my kids.”

Since that adventure, I have traveled thousands and thousands of miles with my own kids, by planes, trains, and automobiles, with my husband and by myself. I gladly share all of my hard-won and pathetically earned secret information to make your travels as painless and smooth as possible when accompanied by small, selfish people who think gum is a food group.

1. Take advantage of people’s pity. For the most part, your fellow passengers are glad to be traveling alone and oh so glad to not be you, and this translates into a helpful attitude. When they ask if they can help, be ready with an answer! Can they hold the baby for a split second while you hoist up your carry-on? Can they pull a bag out from the stroller basket? Can they unzip that DVD case for you? Can they carry your bag up to that bench by Starbucks?

Give them a chance to do a good deed and give yourself a chance to breathe for a split second. Everybody wins.

2. Be the last people on the plane. Not the first. Never the first. You’re just wasting precious running around time — run their little legs ragged while you can, people. And then you won’t have to wait in a long quiet line, or walk slowly in a line down the aisle, or have to hustle your kids out of the way when you finally find your seats. Go on last. Trust me.

3. Pick the flight with longer layovers or none at all. Because pre-children, you might have been able to make a 20-minute connection with a bathroom break AND a coffee run, but now you need to find the family bathroom, change a diaper, nurse a baby, let the kids run up and down a few empty hallways, eat lunch, wash hands, repack carry-on bags and then maybe finally buy an overpriced latte. Give yourself enough time to do all of this or plan a direct flight. Short layovers are a bad idea.

4. Plan for terrible things to happen. I always pack two extra outfits for each kid and enough diapers/undies for an entire day without our luggage, and in case of: spilled apple juice, peed pants, diaper blow-outs, smeared animal crackers, delayed planes, et cetera ad nauseam. Pack their extra clothes in gallon Ziplocks so that you have somewhere to put their dirty clothes, and don’t forget to bring a fresh shirt for yourself as well.

5. There are no atheists traveling with kids. I don’t care what you do or don’t believe about a supreme being. When you are 37,000 feet in the air or 237 miles away from your highway exit and one or all of your kids are crying because you can’t hold them / let them walk / feed them lunch yet / find their binky / get them to sleep, YOU WILL FALL TO YOUR KNEES IN PRAYER. You will cry out to God to fast forward time and space and to please make your baby stop crying, and you will whisper a grateful “thank you” when everyone arrives unscathed. There are no atheists in fox holes, and there are absolutely no unbelievers traveling during nap time. So don’t be afraid to go there; you’ll be better off with a prayer on your lips than a curse word. Although a few of my prayers included curse words, so…. Whatever it takes.

6. Be thankful. Recognize the incredible privilege of even being on an airplane or on a road trip, the magnitude of wealth that a plane ticket or a tank full of gas and a working car represents to billions of people all over the world. You might be getting stressed in the circus of TSA security measures or really tired of hearing your kids ask when you’ll get there, but there’s a mother out there who isn’t sure where her baby’s next meal is coming from. So. Put your shoes on the conveyor belt and be thankful.

7. If all else fails, who cares? My sister-in-law told me this once. It’s helpful. If things just aren’t going your way, if the day has been long and hard and your baby or toddler just cannot be consoled, please don’t worry about the passengers around you. They will likely never see you or your kids again. They will go on their merry way and not give you a second thought, so why worry about what they think? Most of them probably feel sorry for you, honestly. And if they are actually upset about a helpless, tired, confused baby who dares to (God forbid) cry on a plane…. Who cares? Kiss your baby, close your eyes, and remember that eventually you will arrive.

Happy summer travels to you and yours!

Jessie Horney is a freelance writer and poet. Find her at www.horneymomtellsall.com.

Explore Your State

Explore your state

Enjoy Idaho as a family this summer

By Daniel Bobinski

I’ve long said that Idaho is America’s best-kept secret. At least it was. According to Census Bureau figures, Idaho is now the fastest growing state in the country. Don’t fret — Idaho is still ranked 39th in overall population, so we’ve got a long way to go before we’re as populous as Colorado or Washington. But even with the rapid growth we’ve seen recently, the Gem State is still awesome, and it’s full of best-kept secrets.

Why are so many Idaho destinations still a secret? Because flashier places get more attention. Las Vegas, Seattle, and San Francisco are heavily promoted tourist cities, and parks like Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park get featured on the cover of travel magazines.

By contrast, Idaho is a large state with limited freeways, so getting to its scenic and historic places isn’t always convenient. But here is where you have an advantage. Because so many interesting places in Idaho don’t get huge crowds, and because you live here, you have easy access to these “secrets.”

What follows is a short list of Idaho landmarks you could visit this summer. The list could be MUCH longer, but no matter where you go, what I’m suggesting is more than just a visit. Any trip creates memories, but I believe those memories can be enhanced and family bonds can be strengthened by making a trip “educational.” Also, Idaho is our home. It’s one thing to live in a place, but it’s something more to know about its history and how that history affected the communities around you.

For example, take Shoshone Falls. It’s one of the largest waterfalls in the United States — even higher than Niagara Falls. It’s not hard to print the Shoshone Falls page from Wikipedia and set a goal for each family member to learn five facts about the falls. Possible things to learn include:

• What was its significance to the native population?

• How have irrigation and natural springs affected water flow?

• What happened in 1905 that caused the falls to go dry, thus leading to the region’s name becoming the “Magic Valley”?

Bonus: Entrance to Shoshone Falls Park is only $3, and it’s an easy day trip from anywhere in southern Idaho.

Bruneau Sand Dunes is another Idaho “secret.” The park has the tallest sand dune in North America, and it’s also home to the Bruneau Dunes Observatory. If you like camping, you could do an overnighter at the campground and spend a late night at the observatory. It would be easy to learn five fun facts doing that, but questions to ask include:

• Most sand dunes “migrate.” Why do the Bruneau Dunes remain fairly stable?

• What kind of telescope is used at the observatory?

• What makes the Bruneau Dunes unique compared to other dunes in North America?

If sand or space isn’t your thing, perhaps your kids might like to know what living in Idaho was like 150 years go. If this is the case, I recommend a trip to Silver City. This ghost town in the Owyhee mountains near the Oregon border is not easy to get to, but it’s worth every effort. The cool thing is that this ghost town still has friendly (living) residents, and you can even spend a night in the hotel, which was built in 1863. Talk about taking a trip back in time and learning what it was like to truly live “off the grid.” You can even take informative guided horseback tours. If your kids don’t learn five cool facts about Silver City while there, they were sleeping.

By the way, the only place that serves food in Silver City is the hotel. Suggested Silver City questions include:

• What Idaho “firsts” happened in Silver City?

• What’s the city’s summer population? The winter population?

• At its peak, how many mines were in operation?

Lastly, let’s talk about Craters of the Moon. With all the recent volcanic activity on Hawaii, both you and your children may like to see what a lava flow looks and feels like after it’s cooled. The landscape, devoid of all vegetation, will make you feel like you’re on a different planet. The area has 60 distinct lava flows, and if you want to go below ground, you will be amazed at how cool the caves can be despite it being hot and sunny at the surface. Things your kids might like to learn while at Craters of the Moon:

• When was the most recent lava flow?

• The deepest rift in the USA is here. How deep is it?

• How many miles was the longest lava flow?

None of these activities need to be week-long adventures. In fact, many can be done in a day or over a weekend. And, like I said, this list could be MUCH longer, so please forgive me if I’ve not mentioned your favorite Idaho location. But do think about what a “gem” Idaho is. America’s best-kept secret has so many fascinating places, and you can easily turn visits to these locations into fun learning expeditions that bring your family closer together. What are you waiting for? Pick a place and start planning!

Daniel Bobinski, M.Ed., runs two businesses. One helps teams and individuals learn how to use Emotional Intelligence. The other helps companies improve their training programs. He’s also a homeschooling dad, a best-selling author, and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. Reach him at daniel@eqfactor.net or 208-375-7606.

Adoption: A different Kind of Love Story

Adoption: A Different Kind of Love Story

‘Unexplained infertility’ – soul-piercing words

Cutline for Chicas Photo: The DeWinkles’ six little “chicas” (“girls” in Spanish) include, left to right, Brynn, Janelie, Angelina, Raina, holding Cora, and Eleana. (Photo by Emily Robinson Photography)

By Katie DeWinkle

Cory and I got married in March, 2007. We had been married for almost 6½ years, living in Nampa, Idaho, and desperately wanting to start a family. Cory worked on his family’s dairy farm and I worked cleaning houses and in a home décor store. But I so desperately wanted to just be a stay-at-home-mom. At the time, it seemed as though all our friends and family were making pregnancy announcements daily. It stung.

We ended up going to a fertility clinic and were diagnosed with “unexplained infertility.” We both struggled with guilt and hopelessness. We had been looking into adoption and in vitro but couldn’t wrap our minds around the costs.

In August 2010, we were out on a date and heard an ad on the radio about foster care. We went home and prayed about it and felt like God was calling us to look into this. We called the coordinator and got into the next class that following month.

The class was hard and emotionally draining. They talked of attachments and then loss and so much hurt. Six years had been a long time to wait for children. Could our hearts handle this? Could our marriage? Praying it would lead to adoption, parenthood and peace, we kept attending the class, hoping for clear direction.

Before we had even finished our month of classes, we got a call about four sisters who needed a placement for just two months. Their ages were 6, 4, 3, and 18 months old. I immediately said, “Four? That’s too many, too soon. And only a temporary placement? Nope!”

I cried all day.

We finished our classes and completed our home-study and inspection. Licensed for three kids, ages 0-3, we waited for another call.

Two days after we had signed our licensing papers, we got that call. A friend was over having coffee with me. She had been struggling with infertility too, and it was nice talking to someone going through a similar situation.

I will never forget that day.

It was the same caseworker who had made the first call. Those four little girls still needed a home; otherwise, they were going to get separated. … My heart!

Without checking with Cory, I just told the caseworker, “Yes, we will take them. Give me the details and we will get ready.”

I still don’t know why we got that phone call. We weren’t licensed for that many children, and their ages were outside our “preferred” age ranges, plus we had also said we weren’t willing to take kids that came from certain abusive situations.

Well, these little girls didn’t fit into “our plan.” But we started to realize that maybe there was a reason.

A quick run to Walmart to stock up on milk and bedding and Goldfish Crackers, and 48 hours later, those four little girls showed up at our door. Them and all their belongings. Cory and I looked at each other as they pulled into the drive, and we laughed. Holy. Smokes.

My parents and sister showed up that first weekend and took the girls shopping and helped us take a trip to Zoo Boise. I don’t know what we would have done without my parents’ support that first weekend of parenting. My dad dubbed the children his “chicas,” as they were the cutest little Hispanic girls, and we all fell in love.

They had been living with their Tia (aunt). She wasn’t able to care for them all anymore as a foster parent. The care plan was that these four beautiful little sisters would be with us for about two months until their grandmother in New York would be able to adopt them. Until that time, we were just to love and care for them, without getting “attached.” Our hearts were so in love with these girls. They had such love for one another and had been through so much pain and sorrow. Their biological mother wasn’t able to take care of them anymore and all other family placement options had been exhausted. They had been in foster care for over 1½ years, and we were the fifth placement in that time.

That first month, we tried to not let ourselves get too attached to them, but it was impossible. We fell so in love with their smiles and personalities. We prayed and prayed. As they were foster children, they still had weekly visitations with their biological family. Their family could see how happy the chicas were with us and that they were thriving in our home. Even in that short amount of time, they could see such growth and healthy attachments forming in these girls — things they hadn’t seen before.

The visitations were actually really hard on the girls, and it was taking its toll on the oldest. She was the “mother hen” of them all and was so protective of her sisters. She constantly reminded them that Cory and I weren’t their REAL parents and that their REAL mom was going to get them back and live with them in New York. Those words always stung. It was the reminder that I wasn’t her “mother” in that sense. Part of the adoption myth is that you see your baby and you fall in love. Some of the girls were quicker/easier to love than others. When they are hurting, they think they don’t deserve love or need it. The one-sidedness of that love hurt. But over the next few months, it continued to soften. Change was happening.

The two months of temporary placement turned into three months. At that point, we tried not to get our hopes up. We strived to believe that the New York option was not going to be the end of our story with the chicas. Finally, our caseworker called just before Christmas to ask if we’d be willing to be the chicas’ permanent placement — a.k.a. adoption. Apparently, something came up in their grandmother’s living situation, and the state said that nixed her as a permanent placement option. That left us as the only option.

The following week, the biological mother asked us if we’d be willing to adopt them. I bawled. That love! The mother knew what she was not capable of, and though it broke her, she terminated her parental rights and asked us to be her daughters’ official parents. The magnitude of that love and sorrow still makes me weep. We will be forever grateful to her.

Our oldest fought this termination the hardest. The three youngest had attached themselves to us so quickly that she worried their biological family would be permanently forgotten. We promised her that would never happen. We love their family and are eternally grateful for the four beautiful gifts they gave us.

In November 2011, the adoption was finalized.

There were so many friends and family members who came alongside us and walked us through. Even today, there are still some struggles that we face with the girls because of their past and circumstances that were out of our (and their) control. However, never for a minute did we regret adopting these chicas into our family. Some days are not easy, but they have blessed us in so many ways, and we can’t imagine our life without them. You have to love them through it all — unfailing love. We aren’t perfect parents and don’t pretend to be. If it weren’t for God’s grace, I wouldn’t be here to tell the story.

We continued to do foster care for about a year later. But God closed the door on that phase of our life. As hard as it was to be told “no,” there were other plans in store for our family. In March of 2014, we had a beautiful, healthy daughter born to us. Then again in September of 2016, another daughter! So, yes, that’s now six girls for us!

We moved our family up to northern Idaho to be close to family and bought my grandparents’ alpaca farm on 36 acres, where we live and love. We call it estrogen acres. But we wouldn’t change a thing.

As a mom both biologically and by adoption, I know that adoption requires different parenting. There will always be challenges, even with biological children. But the power of love is amazing. And He will bring complete healing.

Adoption has blessed us and been such an amazing part of our story. We never could have imagined how those piercing words of “unexplained infertility” would eventually bring so much joy.

Meet the Publisher

J.J. Plew is Idaho born and raised. J.J. and his wife, along with their 4 kids have lived in the Treasure Valley for the past 15 years. J.J. has stayed actively involved in his kids’ activities as a coach, umpire, and volunteer. He enjoys music, dance, sports, and anything fun which helps keep him a kid at heart. J.J.’s desire for Idaho Family Magazine is to be the resource for families in the area looking for things to do and whats going on while also providing a positive and enjoyable magazine for readers. Feel free to reach out to J.J., he would love to hear from you.

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