.....Continued from Part II

I’ve bought the whole series of Signing Time DVD’s and we'd watch one every morning.
Sometimes I’d do dishes while she watched, and she’d come to me to demonstrate a new sign. I'd have to rush back to the TV and learn the sign so she didn'tt get ahead of me!

At eighteen months we were already ‘talking’ together as her verbal skills were ahead of others her age. In her playgroup she was signing with non signing children aged 2 and 3, and somehow they all manage to communicate well.

Encouraged by how easy it was to learn a few some words, I decided to learn a bit more ASL (American Sign Language) myself. I had tried to learn other languages before, - French, Spanish, but it never occurred to me to learn as a child might! I loved the simplicity of how children learn and I went on another search on the net to find more resources to learn sign, not for K, but for me.

Quickly I found signbabies.com - with lots more research, articles and flash cards. I bought all four sets and arranged them in small photo albums. As I was sitting on the couch in the evening, I’d flip through them, memorizing the signs. I did them to myself with the thought I’d teach K as learned. Within a few evenings, K would point to the flashcard and then do the sign herself! She had seen me do the sign a few times and picked them up just from watching me. Now we go through the flash cards and she does the signs as I turn the pages.

Then, around one-year-old, at the pet store, K started signing fish and then would point to her nose. Smell? Pig? What do you see honey? Then she’d sign cat (drawing whiskers over her lip) and then point to the fish. I was looking everywhere for the cat or kitten, but she was pointing to the fish. As we went closer to the fish tank, I saw - sure enough, there was a fish with whiskers! A catfish!

Now adopted, K is 28 months old and has a signing vocabulary of over 400 signs. She is also talking at about a 39 - 42 month level. She doesn't sign much anymore, but sometimes will say the word at the same time as doing the sign. - Especially if I say no.

If she asks for candy, and I say no, she'll look at me incrediously and sign the word candy, (Finger to cheek) in case I didn't understand her. Funny, I still say no, but I'll sign it back to her. It’s so much fun to watch and share with her.