Signing Times

There is a long list of words that the J-man can now sign...that's right, sign, not say. I was on the phone with a friend the other day and mentioned that he was making a sign and my friend said, "Um...is there something you're not telling me?" When I explained how we use lots of signs to help James communicate and therefore avoid as much frustration as possible, he said, "Oh, I thought he had gone deaf and no one told me or something."

No, he has not gone deaf. But he does sign: potty/poop, airplane/flying, food, drink, more, help, baby, all done, milk , good night, ouch/hurts, Daddy, brush teeth, dog, cat, bus, where, I hear it, phone, music, ball, bird....Those are just what I can come up with right now. He is also working on "bath" and "friend" but doesn't use them consistently yet. Here he is making a sign as we stand outside watching an airplane fly by. I won't insult your intelligence by telling you which sign this is.

Also....James DOES have a few words that he actually vocalizes. Mama? Dada? Nope. He says bus, dog, uh-oh, and shoes. He also likes to bark. Sometimes he even gets confused about exactly which animals make that sound. Although he is working on how to make a noise like a monkey, he has no sign or noise for a ram...yet.

I can't believe he's already 15 months old. He is growing so much every day, learning so much and teaching us so much too. We are so blessed and happy to have him lead the way.


(Edit: Ben says to remind me that, in fact, I forgot one of James' most important signs: Touchdown! He makes the touchdown signal whenever Ben is watching or listening to any kind of ball game, and even did it the other day when the neighbor kids were playing football in the yard. =) He also says "hi, hi, hi" a lot now when he sees people.)