signing time

I have one smart little 2 year old.  We have been teaching her sign language since she was about 8 months old.  We started simple, "milk" and "more" we showed her over and over, and over again, with her looking at us with this blank look in her eyes.  "what the heck are you guys doing?"
"milk?" "more?"  "more milk?"we would repeat this all day everyday.... until one day she did it, she signed "more"  YEA!!  We were so excited!  It was like the gods were singing down from above, she finally signed!  Milk followed shortly after.  Then book, then bath.... now at two she knows about 73 or 74 signs.  She can use three in a row, like "more milk please."  Today we had a small comnversation with her using her signing vocabluary.  She signed drink.  Which looks like your holding a glass and you tip it up to take a drink...
I asked her milk or water?  she wanted milk.  Right as I was about to give it to her she signed please.  I handed it to her with pride in my eyes I am sure.  She took a little sip and decided she was satisfied.  Then she signed "thank you".   I can see a sense of accomplishment in her face when I understand what is telling me or needing.  She knows she can sign help then bring me my phone so I can turn it on for her.  If I have no idea what she is talking about, I can see her frustration.  She cries and will try to sign so I can understand.  The thing is I don't know all her made up signs, not yet anyways.  She will learn a new sign in a matter of minutes.  I show it to her a few times and she has it mastered!  It is so amazing!

Today we read, we read every book we have out.   First I read, then Nevaeh read.  Then we read them again.  One of Nevaeh's most favorite thing to do is read.  She has since the day she was born.  I would read to her and she would listen and watch.  It's a time I love, she will crawl on my lap and help me turn the pages.  She sometimes takes the book and will read it on her own.  I love to hear her little voice babble on and on making no sense at all, but she would have such a pitch up and down, sometimes she will stop to giggle and point to the picture, and then sometime she would read with such excitement almost yelling at her book.  Her reading is much more interesting then me reading.

Nevaeh is a great big sister!  She loves to just watch Maëlle.  She sits like this and will kiss her every so often.  She will share her toys with her, bonking her on the head,  But Maëlle really doesn't seem to mind all that much.   I can see it now thay will be the bestest friends!

~Melissa