Adding "-ing" to our vocab

Our speach pathologist at the NICU Follow-up clinic suggested we encourage Rebecca & Mary-Gail to use "-ing" when they speak their verbs. "-ing" is something that 2 year olds pick up, but since Rebecca & Mary-Gail speak so well for their adjusted 18 months of age, she said we ought to begin now.

Rebecca & Mary-Gail have caught on with "-ing." They used to run around our dining room table saying, "Run! Circle! Run!" But now they've added "-ing" and are "Running! Circle! Running!" I'm finding that I use "-ing" a great deal more too.

Other suggestions we received were:

• continue with signing (yay!)
• encourage pronoun useage
• multiple directions (i.e. go to your room, get your shoes, and bring them to me)
• proper use of words - Mary-Gail's blanket is not a "tick-ah" anymore. It is now "blanket." (sad, boo-hoo; sad, boo-hoo)

I'm thrilled that Rebecca & Mary-Gail are communicators and can easily tell me (with words &/or sign) what they want. Helping them learn new words is so exciting!