No, no, no...

Brooklyn loves her 'Signing Times' DVD's, and has been watching them for a few months now. (Don't worry; I don't plug her in daily; she's lucky to watch an hour of TV every other day!)  Well, one of the signs on the video is 'No'. Really? Was that necessary? To encourage our kids to learn 'no'?! Don't they already learn that one pretty easily? Not only is it a sign that they teach visually, but it's accompanied by this lovely song appropriately entitled 'No, No, No'!  (I can't type the title without singing it in my head.)  So wouldn't you know that shaking her head is her new favorite thing to do!! It's non-stop. And hilariously adorable, I might add!!  She brings her chin into her neck and rapidly shakes her head left to right, with a very serious face.  In attempt to counteract this negative action, I've been working with her to learn how to say 'Yes!'. She's having difficulty with this one, though. Problem is that her head doesn't rock. It becomes as stiff as a board.  "Do you want oranges?" No, no, no. "Bananas?" No, no, no. "Muffins?" And she rocks her knees and bottom back and forth, back and forth, saying 'yes!' Funny how she interprets some of our non-verbal cues. Nodding of the head somehow turned into rocking her midsection.  And she's invented some of her own signs, too. Somehow pulling on her ears means apple. Slapping her wrist means cracker.  And grabbing her tongue is a request to brush her teeth!  Of course she's verbally telling you what she needs with every sign. Only problem is that it usually sounds like 'mama'.  :)

Joking aside, I can honestly say that she has quite a vocabulary. She's just decided not to say them the same way we do. Maybe one day she'll entertain us with conformity. But for now, only a select few can crack her code.