So Much to Say

Matthew is quite a chatterbox. At just one year, he is already saying about a dozen words including "Good job" (usually a self-congratulatory "Good job!"), "Thank you" and "All done." I love hearing what my kids have to say, so in addition to learning to talk Matthew is also learning American Sign Language (ASL). I taught Cameron ASL when he was a baby and loved getting to know him before he could communicate verbally. By the time Cameron was two years old he knew hundreds of signs. Matthew is following in Cameron's footsteps and is already signing up a storm. Like most babies, his first signs have been directed towards the most important activities in his life -- eating and drinking. "Milk," "more," "eat" and "all done" are used daily, but he's also picked up "read," "thank you" and a few others. This morning I got a very pleasant reminder of why I love signing with my kids.

It was early (too early) in the morning, but Matthew was wide awake and ready to play. Teasing him, I said, "I'm going to eat you all up!" as I signed eat. I grabbed his foot and took a playful nibble of his toes. Matthew giggled and I continued, "I'm going to munch on this little belly!" When I kissed his belly, Matthew laughed louder and signed, "More, more, more!" "Oooh, these fingers look delicious!" I enthused, putting his fingers to my lips and "Mmmm"ing appreciatively. "More!" signed Matthew. Finally, I smacked my lips against his pudgy cheeks, saying, "I'm going to gobble up these little cheeks!" Matthew fell to the floor, gasping with laughter. When he had calmed down enough to catch his breath he smiled up at me and signed, "Thank you!"