Signing!

We've been using sign language with Olivia for a long time now, and as I posted before Christmas, she's gotten a start at it. But now it seems that her language ability has really blossomed. This is one of the most important signs- "eat"! Fingers all together, moving toward her mouth.

This one is "bird"; thumb and forefinger come together like a bird's beak. She is also getting good at signing "help" when she wants help getting down from a high place like a chair, or opening a door. Other new signs- "banana", "sit" (as in her high chair), a very important "hurt", and one of the most useful- "touch-no". This one makes many of the two-year-old type issues much easier (or so it seems right now)- she'll look at something, and sign 'touch-no' toward it while looking at us with an inquisitive look on her face; we can then tell her if the thing in question is 'no touch' or not. Without any signs or words, she'd just have to go touch everything and see which things produced what reaction from us...

here's "bath"- both fists rubbing her chest, scrubbing. Olivia loves baths, and asks for them frequently! She really likes to splash; we recently decided we need to move her baby-bathtub from the kitchen floor to the big bathtub, to contain the water!