Oh banana!

It's nine in the morning on football Sunday, Del is sleeping soundly (fingers crossed), Daddy F and I are in PJs on the couch with hot mugs of tea, and the skies outside are grey and gloomy. It almost feels like actual winter here in the land where palm trees trump pine trees and where tourists think it's swimming weather even when it's 45 degrees and raining. I say that I miss "the seasons," but I think what I mean is that I miss the beauty of autumn and the fun and surprise of spring. I certainly don't miss the four months of frigid air and slate-colored skies. Admittedly, a Midwest winter leaves much to be desired. Mountains, for example. And sunshine. But since that is where I am from and the winters there are dark and cold, today is one of those rare California days that has me feeling like I'm home. So I invite the nostalgia in to hang out for a while, it being the season and all, and hunker down with us for a few hours of touchdowns and slipper socks.

But before I go, we must of course have a quick chat about language!

ASL charges onward!
Del added a new sign to her set about a week ago, which Daddy F and I had been trying to decipher. She very carefully makes the sign for "D," and then bends and unbends her index finger. Since this is fairly close to her name sign, we were wondering if she was trying to sign her name. We also guessed she could be signing "do-do?" because her daddy signs that to her all the time. Neither of these seemed like the right guess, and didn't line up with typical development, as I was expecting her next few signs to represent tangible things (nouns) like cereal or toy or water. So we just continued to encourage her by responding to the new sign in different ways, hoping that idiot mom and dad would sooner than later figure out what our clever little lady has been trying to tell us for a week now.

Then, (pah!) it all came together. . .

Earlier this morning Daddy F, Del and I were all chatting with Grandma J on the video phone (VP). Del recognized her Grandma right away and got very excited and started waving. I sat Del between Daddy F and I on the couch and attempted to eat my oatmeal as Del climbed all over me and lunged for my breakfast. I did my best to restrain her on my lap and continued to eat, while Grandma laughed at Del's antics. Then Grandma told us she saw Del sign the new "D" sign with finger wiggle that we had just told her about. I looked at Del and sure enough, she was still signing it. I still didn't know what she wanted, but I knew she was hungry so I handed her to daddy and grabbed a banana from the kitchen. When I gave it to her she got really excited (more so than usual. . .she loves to eat and really loves bananas so banana eating is typically an exciting event), and signed her new sign again. Then again. And looked at me with the expression that looked like, "Finally mommy! What took you so long?" and Daddy F signed "banana" and Del flapped her arms and laughed and signed her version of "banana" once again and it was like magic. It was so incredible not just to learn what she was trying to say and to have it reinforced that she is truly communicating with us, but to see her gain trust in us, that we will try to figure out what she wants to say.