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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The Great Communicator

While Myla still hasn't said any words other than Mama and Daddy, she has definitely taken her communication efforts to a whole new level recently. Most notably, it seems like she does a new sign every day. She now knows signs for the following words:

*More *All done *Eat *Change (diaper) *Bath *Bird *Cheese *Book/read *Help *Milk *Please *Thank you *Sleep

That's in addition to the things I would describe as "gestures," like up/down, hi/bye, blowing kisses, pointing, shaking her head "no," etc.

The best thing is seeing her take a sign and use it in a new way, or to see her use two signs together. This morning, she told me that she wanted "more cheese." And when I got her up yesterday, she started by telling me she needed to be changed, then she wanted me to read her a book, and then she wanted to eat--all without me saying those words first.

I'll share one final little anecdote that really gave me an indication that a lot more is going on in her head than I realize. Yesterday M.J. was playing with her toys while I got her dinner ready. When I came in to get her, I realized that her hair barrette was missing. I went ahead and fed her dinner, and when we finished about 30 minutes later, I took her back in the living room and started looking for her barrette. I asked her if she knew where it was--not expecting an answer. But she crawled over to our window seat, lifted up the cushion, and there it was! She had hidden it there before dinner, and found it for me when I asked her. Pretty cute.

Of course all kids do these things, but it's incredibly fun to watch your own child figure things out and start to interact with you like this.

2 comments:

Nana said...

This is a great stage. I can remember when all that starts happening its hard not to just tell everyone, because it just seems each day something surprising happens. Great days ahead.

Matt and Jennifer said...

How exciting! Doesn't every age just get better and better :) I love that girl!