Signing

Ella's "more". Opa must have been tickling her with his mustache.

When Ella was about six months old, we started using a bit of sign language ourselves at meal times. We'd occasionally take her hands and imitate what we had done. I was told that maybe around nine months, she would start signing back. Nine months came and went and the closest thing we had to a sign was Ella ferociously flapping her arms when she wanted "more". To be honest, this is a sign that she came up with that would have been clear to anyone who knew her or not that this was her "you better help me get some more of that delicious food into my mouth quick" sign. Almost as soon as she turned ten months, signing clicked. She all of a sudden would do "more" without being prompted at meal times. One day soon after, Jon said "in order for her to get more zwieback, she's going to have to say "more please". I laughed at him, but the next day at lunch, I showed her "please", and she tagged it right on to the end of "more" herself. Zwieback has been the biggest motivator in Ella's little world. In that same meal, I jokingly showed her "thank you", and (after she took her bite, of course) she did it. (I'm not sure I've seen that one since.) Sometimes, if she is really excited about something and I'm a little slow, she'll run though "more" and "please" over and over.

The first time she used a sign in a non-meal setting, blew my mind. I am amazed at these little brains and the way they make connections on their own. I was carrying her though the kitchen on my way to the bedroom, and she saw my water bottle and signed "please". The next day, as Jon was going out the door for school, she kept signing "please" as she watched him go out the door. (Kind of sad really, but nice to know what she is thinking, even if she can't get what she wants. She didn't cry when he left, but she got an extra hug because we knew what she wanted.) She also just recently signed "please" when she watched me walk up the driveway after a run. This makes me really happy because I sometimes feel like she is way more excited about her daddy than her mama.

I've heard people speculate that a baby who signs is likely to speak later than she would otherwise. I don't know if that is true or not. I guess I don't care too much. I want her to be able to communicate in whatever way she is capable of. I talk to her all day long, but it's clear to me she's not on the verge of saying much. She makes plenty of noises and different consonant sounds (heavens, she even whistles on occasion) and she can imitate a motorboat sound. I'm not concerned about her not talking, I know she'll figure it out when she is ready, and for now I'm going to enjoy not being screamed at for more food.*



*Although, all signing knowledge goes out the window when ice cream is involved. She's only tasted it once, and after that instance, I'm not tackling it again any time soon. I do understand though, of the 8 lbs 3 oz Ella was when she was born, probably about 8 lbs of it was ice cream.