More Please!

Early on in the baby books they say you can start to teach your child sign language which will help them to be less frustrated later on when their speech development hasn't caught up with their cognitive development. I started with Clay at about 7 months beginning with the sign for 'more', closed finger tips together like your clapping. After a few weeks of this with no progress I gave up. Especially since some of the other kids in the playgroup were getting it but not Clay. No big deal, I just put the spoon in front of his mouth and if he wanted more I trusted that he would open it.

For some reason I decided to try signing again yesterday. Clay's current favorite food is the freeze-dried blueberries from Trader Joe's. He would shove a handful in his mouth if I let him and look ghoulish as the dark blue/purple saliva dripped from his mouth . So yesterday I gave him two at a time while trying to teach him the signs for 'more' and 'please' (patting the chest in a circular motion). Something clicked because after he ate the first two blueberries -- it was like he knew the signs all along and was just holding out on me! Like a pro he was tapping his chest and pointing every time I gave him more! Little rascal.