Tell me more!

After months and months of trying, Franny is finally signing "more"! Her interpretation is not exactly proper form, but it is unmistakably "more". Since yesterday, she asked for more milk, crackers, bananas, time in the bathtub and even more music! It is an amazingly powerful sign. There is no question that I was thrilled with her signing "dog" and "ball", but the signs that really help our communication are "more" and "all done", which she has been doing regularly for a couple of weeks now. These two signs have also greatly reduced the amount of food hitting the floor at mealtime!

"more"

"all done"

I am hoping that she is about to hit her signing cluster, where she rapidly adopts a number of signs. Currently, she is consistantly signing "dog", "ball", "rabbit", "milk", "more", and "all done". "Eat" and "cheese" are emerging as well, but she does not use them regularly yet. She also has created her own sign for "music", which is interesting. Last night, after the music had shut off, she started signing "more". I had no idea what she was trying to say, but when I asked her "more what?" she started slapping her legs like she does when music plays. It was an incredible moment!

I must admit, I was starting to wonder if Franny was really going to start signing, but now I am certain that all the months of effort are going to pay off. My hope is that signing will help Franny communicate more easily with us and reduce some of the frustration I frequently see in young toddlers who are trying to say something but just can't get their message across.