The house that spells (Draft dated: 10/27/08)

Rebeccan & Mary-Gail have been signing since January (we have been thrilled with their communication and how smart they are) and because of their increased signing, Tony & I can't sign the words we would normally sign, like "outside" or "bath," or the signs to show how we were feeling: grumpy, excited, sick, etc. But, we've had to change how we communicate with each other because our girls know all the signs we've been using! So, Tony & I have been spelling the words for a while now, and it really irritates the rest of my family. They aren't used to having to think about the words that we're spelling - they just want us to say the words!

On our drive home from my Mom's house last week, I told Tony that I would put the girls in the "T-U-B" if he'd unload the car. Rebecca heard me say "T-U-B" and said: "Double-U; X....Z!"

Saturday we went to the Provo Canyon and stopped at McDonald's before our drive up. Rebecca saw the over-sized "M" in the McDonald's sign and said, "M, M, M. M says mmmmmmm." Mary-Gail quickly followed with, "O, P, Q, S, T..."

And yesterday we were driving to Springville to go to the Walmart there and Rebecca saw the "Y" on the mountain. You guessed it - she pointed to the mountain and said, "Y, mommy, Y. I see it!!"

Now were hear the girls saying, "Stop sign says 'stop.' " Is that possible? Yes, it is and it's true. Rebecca & Mary-Gail pick up on everything we say, which is why they say, "Green says go!" (I'm sure Signing Time has a little something to do with that too). I just hope they don't repeat all the slang that Tony & I use!