Signs of the Times

A couple months ago, we started teaching Liam some sign language.  He's really started to pick it up recently and its been great.  When he wants something or is interested in something, he can communicate a little better than just pointing and grunting.  I got the camera out today and asked him to say "more" (which is putting both hands together - above).

Then I asked him to say "eat" (which is putting your fingers to your mouth):

Finally, I asked him to say "cat" (which is the most difficult one for him because it is an "OK" sign that you slide from your mouth to your ear - representing whiskers).  After looking around for the cat, he figured out that I just wanted to see the sign:

  

 
He's gotten the sign for milk (squeezing your hand) and dog (patting your thigh) mastered and is working on light bulb (looks like holding a piece of paper in front of your face and letting go).  We can certainly tell that he understands a lot now.  If we ask him where something is (socks, a toy, the light, etc.) he looks and points at it.  I'm excited to teach him more signs and communicate even more with him :) A video would capture these better... I'll have to remember that next time.

Standing tall

About a month ago, I turned my back while Liam was just waking up from a nap. When I turned around, he was standing up and laughing at his new accomplishment. He still doesn't pull himself up very often. He seems to have a smarter way to approach such things--Find a person who is mobile, say "Ba" and point until they bring you to the item you want. He has also found his own method of communication: "Da" is "this is fun", "Ma" is "I don't like this" and "Ba" is "I want." What more could a baby need?