Sign Language

Lillia has really started picking up new signs quickly and I have had so much fun teaching her new things.  She uses her signs with prompting and some within context while reading books or when she sees something (airplane, bird, dog, etc).  It has been pretty amazing.  I tried to get her to show off all her signs in one cute video today, to no avail.  So I managed to get about 6 signs on video so you can see her skills.  :)

Dog & Please

These two signs are similar so it is cool that she actually does them differently.  'Dog' is signed by patting your leg (like telling a dog to come here) but she pats her chest instead.   'Please' is signed by rubbing your chest.

Book and Eat

'Book' is opening your hands like you are reading a book and 'eat' is touching your fingertips to your mouth.  At the end of this video, I thought she had enough and was just leaving, but actually walked to her high chair, still signing 'eat.'  Pretty funny.

Airplane and Fish

'Airplane' is basically the UT longhorn symbol flying through the air and 'fish' is waving your hand back and forth like a fish swimming.  She actually does her fish sound in this cutie video too!

Bird and Car

The sign for bird is my favorite one because it is just so darn cute when she does it.  The sign is moving your pointer finger and thumb to be like a bird's beak.  It is supposed to be at your chin, but Lia's bird flies all over the place.  For awhile she just pointed her finger for the sign, and just recently started moving her thumb and finger to make the bird's mouth.  So cute.  'Car' is signed with two fists moving like you are holding a steering wheel.  Lia's hands look more like she is on a motorcycle...  I hope that isn't a sign of her teenage years...  haha

I've been keeping a tally, and I think she knows about 12 signs overall.  Dog, Car, More, Please, Change (for diaper changes), Eat, More, Bird, All Done, Book, Fish, Airplane, and sleep/night night.  We are working on learning ball, shoes, socks, cat, and water.

It has been pretty amazing to watch her learn these things more quickly and sometimes I think she can use two together (more eat) but other times I think she is more trying all her signs to get what she wants (kind of like a dog doing all its tricks at once to get the treat...)  haha.

Yesterday I was shopping at HEB for groceries and had Lia with me in the cart.  We stopped at the fish counter to pick up some fresh salmon and I placed my order.  During this time, I don't recall ever saying the actual word 'fish' but I looked down at Lia and there she is, signing 'fish'.  It was pretty crazy.  Obviously none of the fish in the case looked like actual fish since they were all cleaned, etc.  I still don't know if maybe she saw a picture of a fish or maybe we said the word in conversation, or maybe my daughter is just plain brilliant.    I'll go with option #3.  :)