Signs of a Good Communicator

Anna knows two understandable signs. I think she may know more, but I don't understand them, so...I suppose more accurately, Anna knows signs, but I only understand two of them.

The first sign she knows is "all done." And when she signs it, she means it. Especially at the dinner table. If you don't remove her tray of food from in front of her within 5 seconds after she signs "all done" with her look of "remove this food from my sight immediately or I shall strew it about the room with great force!" she, well, strews it about the room with great force. If I didn't have to clean it up, I'd find it extremely funny to watch. Who am I kidding? I find it extremely funny, regardless of the fact that I spend most of my evenings chiseling chunks of chicken, dried mac 'n cheese and globs of coagulated yogurt off our kitchen floor and walls. The food flinging is always very purposeful. She grabs handfuls of food and flings HARD in all directions until the tray is emptied. Then commences screaming at ear-shattering pitches and volumes until she is removed from her high chair.

She also signs "all done" the moment we lay her on the changing table. This is also (usually) accompanied by ear-shattering screams, unless I can get her interested in a rousing rendition of "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" or "Shake It Up Baby" by the Beatles. She's got good taste, that baby.

The second sign she knows is "more." She signs this, so far, only when I say the word more, and ALWAYS when I say the word more...even if she doesn't actually want more of the item(s) in question. That's how she started with "all done" too so I'm hopeful that soon she will calmly and politely request more juice or milk by gently placing her cup on the tray and signing "More, please" instead of thrusting her cup at me and emulating a teenager with the attitude on her face accompanying her nod that, yes, indeed, she would like some juice. On the double.

She is becoming a better and better communicator and it's fun to watch. As much as these posts might sound like me cowering in fear of Anna's screaming (which I do spend a LOT of time doing...), I hope that it's clear how much I truly enjoy being her mom, strong will and all. It's so amazing to watch this person emerging from what just a year ago was this eating, sleeping, pooping, crying little bit of a human.