R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Cracker"

She usually says "Ca Ca Ca" when she does this sign but didn't do it for this video. She often walks around signing this when she's in the kitchen, and especially if she spots the big tub of Trader Joe's Organic Animal Crackers that we feed her for snacks sometimes. She also loves to just randomly say it even when it's decidedly not snack time nor are there crackers in plain view.

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Bird"

We have a bird door knocker on the front door of our house, and every time we open the front door, R can't wait for us to lift her up so she can play with it. She says--and signs--bird whenever she sees it.

She does the sign a little backwards, though. Normally, your fingers are pointed outward, like a bird's beak, as you see here. R, though, points her fingers towards her mouth when she does it. But it's distinctively "bird" for her, and in the video you hear her kind of saying it as well.

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Lion"

And here's "lion":

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Bear"

We've been working with R on some of her animal signs. Here's "bear":

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Cheese"

I couldn't believe how quickly she picked up this sign! Before we got it on video, I saw her doing it wrong, but she self-corrected until she did pretty much what you see here.

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "All Done"

R has just recently learned this technique. We're trying to get her to use it in place of simply flinging her food on the floor.

Coming Soon to a Home Theater Near You...

(hopefully!)

R has been learning all kinds of new signs. It's amazing how quickly she picks them up. A couple of days ago, I was complaining about being cold, so J and I did the sign for "cold" and J actually got her to copy it! When her food is hot, we sign "hot" and she has even said something that sounds kind of like hot.

I visited with a friend the other day with R, and the two of us taught R how to do "baby" while looking at this Baby Faces book. When I told J about it at home later that day, we asked her to do "baby" and not only did she sign it, she said it! We were so excited!

And we've been trying to get these signs on video for y'all.

Unfortunately, this is harder than it seems like it would be at first glance. You may or may not have noticed that most of her sign videos are taken while she is in the high chair. She's a captive audience in the chair, of course, and she's also not running all over the place. It's much easier to get her attention when she's not distracted by being able to run over to the nearest toy, cat, or pillow.

So I'm telling you here and now-- she's learned these signs (not necessarily the meanings for the words, but she's imitating us and our body movements like crazy!)

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "Light"

Here's a video of R signing "light"--this sign is a little trickier for her, I think, because it's not like she asks for the light to get turned on or anything, so there's no real context for her wanting to use it other than to make us happy. But I think you can see she's got the idea in this video--she even almost says it!

R's Sign Language Dictionary, "Please"

By Jove, I think she's got it! She's finally--after much coaching from me and J (and Grandma and Grandpa when they were here)--signing please by putting her hand on her chest. This is a welcome improvement over her previous "please", in which she wiped her hands together as if she was saying "be done with it already!"

R's Sign Language Dictionary: "More, Please"

At one point when my brother, A, sister-in-law, M, and nephew, G, were visiting us last month, I found myself alone in the kitchen with G while he tapped his hand on the top of his head and babbled loudly. He obviously wanted something, but I couldn't tell what. So I called out to A & M in the living room asking what G was "hollerin' about." When M came in, she explained that G was asking for Daddy--his head-tapping was him signing "Daddy."

I'm really impressed by how many signs A & M have taught G. He signs a lot at 18 months and is really responsive to what you say to him. But, G's sign language, like pretty much any baby talk, is somewhat indecipherable to other folks without a translator (i.e., A or M) who can tell you what he is signing.

R's sign language is turning out similarly. So, to facilitate comprehension when y'all come visit or when you see R next, here is the first installment of

R's Sign Language Dictionary: More, Please.

M actually taught R "more" when the gang was here last month, and we followed M's advice to add "please" once "more" caught on. R isn't great at saying please--we often need to prompt her more than once--but I think it's catching.

I'm also not quite sure why she does it the way she does. Typically, the sign for please looks like this, and what R does looks more like she's washing her hands of the whole business. (And also, just for reference, here is the sign for "more.")