A wonder baby has managed to use sign language as a way to communicate with her deaf grandparents.
Jane McCullough, a 6-month-old tot, has gone viral after her mom posted a TikTok of her daughter “babbling in sign language to grandma and grandpa.”
In the caption of the video, her mom, Mara McCullough, wrote, “Notice as she waits for her turn to sign back.”
“She’s trying to communicate!” the proud mother added.
Mara gave more insight on the video in an interview with WJXT-TV, saying that she is surprised by the amount of attention her TikTok, which has racked up over 10 million views.
“She’s starting to show us that she’s trying to communicate and use the language, so it’s been really cool,” the Florida mother told the station.
In the video, closed captions explain that the tot’s grandmother is using sign language to tell the baby, “You love talking to grandpa.”
Jane responds by moving her hands forcibly, seeming to make the word, “yes,” in sign language.
The grandparents continued the conversation by asking if the baby had “good dreams” during her “long nap” that day.
Jane once again answered her grandparents with energetic hand motions — something her mother called “babbling sign language.”
Mara told WJXT-TV that her daughter is “still just babbling in sign language so there’s no correct signs yet, that’ll probably come in a few months. She’s showing us that she’s starting to understand it.”
Despite the awe-inspiring connection captured in Mara’s video, the bond that Jane is creating with her grandparents isn’t too unexpected, a sign language expert told WJXT-TV.
“There’s no wasting time when you’re teaching children,” tutor Karen Lewis-Hannah said. “They’re like sponges so you want to get right in there.”
The baby’s mother said the 6-month-old has plenty of opportunities to pick up sign language since Jane, her parents and her grandparents all live together in the same house.
“She’s been pretty alert and observant since the day she was born so we knew it was coming,” Mara said in an interview with Good Morning America.
The young mother shared that it is “really eye-opening for people to see that babies are able to grasp language and that they’re so intelligent.”
“I think a lot of people already knew that babies can use sign language before they speak, but I think to see her babbling in sign language took things to a new level for a lot of people,” Mara added.
