Words and more words

Rebecca & Mary-Gail's vocabulary is growing! Tony and I have been working on baby sign language with them and we're reaping the fruits of our labors. I have to credit my sisters, Kristie and JoJo, for doing sign language with their children. I saw the benefits of their efforts, and I enjoyed being able to communicate with my nieces & nephews at an earlier age. Thank you Kristie & JoJo!!!

Just a few of my favorites:

• When Rebecca and/or Mary-Gail crawl towards the dog food, I sign "no-no" and shake my head. Rebecca will hold up her hand and sign "no-no" back to me. She even tattle-tells on Mary-Gail when she heads towards the doggie food. (Note: they used to sign "no-no" and still grab hand fulls of the doggie food. But now, after they've crawled towards the doggie dishes, they stop and sign "no-no" without taking any!)
• After dinner, and when we're completely covered in food and have dyed our hair the color of what dinner was, I sign "bath/tub." Rebecca & Mary-Gail go crazy with excitement! They get a little ornery with me since I still want to wipe their hands off (forgive me for not wanting Spaghetti O's mixed in the carpet), but once they're out of their seats, they cruise towards the bathroom. They love love love their tub time.
• Mary-Gail will sign "daddy" and then lean her head in towards Tony. Oh, this melts my heart!
• Rebecca & Mary-Gail sign "doggie" incessantly. I'm glad they like Pixie & ArlaMae (and I'm glad Pixie & ArlaMae tolerate Rebecca & Mary-Gail).

More signs we do and/or respond to:

• Milk
• Eat
• Water
• Sit (Rebecca will even attempt to say "sit" with lots of "S" sounds. She & Mary-Gail tease me when they're in the tub, b/c they will start to stand up just so I sign and say "sit" and then they sit back down and laugh. Silly littles!
• Animal signs and sounds (Cow, Horse, Dog, Cat, Chicken/Rooster, Sheep, Frog, Fish, Bird, Duck, Monkey, Bee, Mouse). Rebecca & Mary-Gail actually wait for you to do the sign and sound before you can turn the page of the book.
• Cow (Mary-Gail will sign "cow" and Rebecca makes the sound with lots of "M's"
• Horse (Oh boy does Mary-Gail love her horses! She rocks her body like a galloping horse as I sign and say "horse" and then make the galloping sound.)
• Fish is a big hit. Probably b/c we play with fish in the tub.
• Rebecca says "piggy" referring to her favorite stuffed animal pig.
• Rebecca says "down" when she's done (being held, eating, etc).
• "who is it?" is what they say when someone comes over or when the phone rings. It sounds more like "hh-sss-it." Cute.

A game we play is "where is..." If I ask Rebecca, "Where is your piggy?" She'll go and look for it (piggy has to be in the room though). If I ask them "Where is Daddy?" they turn their hands out like "I don't know." I'm finding that Rebecca and Mary-Gail love their books with pictures of animals and little kids. They are both very protection of these books and it's hard to referee them when they want the same one. I did learn the sign for share, however, and Tony & I are starting to use that in our daily routine now too.