Monta Zelinsky Briant, a 7th generation native of San Francisco, moved to San Diego in 1998 with husband Paul Briant (of Cape Town, South Africa) in order to find more affordable housing, more sunshine, and start a family. In 2000, Monta and Paul welcomed their first child, Sirena, into the world, and soon began signing with her. Signing with Sirena was such and amazing experience for Zelinsky-Briant family, that Monta felt compelled to share signing with other families, and began teaching classes in 2001. The classes eventually caught the attention of Hay House Publishing, and Monta's first book, Baby Sign Language Basics: Early Communication for Hearing Babies and Toddlers (Hay House 2004), quickly became the best-selling book on the topic, being published in a half dozen foreign language editions as well. In 2004, when the family welcomed a little brother, Aiden, to the family, big sister Sirena was a big help teaching her new brother signs!Both children have outgrown signing as a primary means of communication, but they still remember most of their signs, and continue to find them useful in a variety of situations. Nowadays, Monta get's her baby-signing-fix with the little signers in her classes. "It always seems like a miracle every time a tiny baby does a new sign in class-- even though I've seen it thousands of times now, I get just as excited as the parents do!" says Monta. "I always walk out of every class I teach absolutely walking on air-- it's the most fulfilling job in the world".