First Words

It seems that Clara is officially using words in their appropriate context. The first word was car, which she used to identify parked vehicles, photos in the newspaper, and for her Matchbox cars. I know Doug and Kathy thought she was saying it a while ago, but she, then, also used it to signify non-car things. Now we feel she's accurately matching signifier and signified. And as of just this evening, Greg reports that they were looking at our old photo albums together, where she pointed to pictures of me, saying "mama", and pictures of Greg for "dada". I was relieved to hear this news because for the last few weeks, Clara has insisted on "speaking" her desires, rather than signing them. She is adamant that her babble is understandable to me, and I'm just not trying hard enough. I insist that she knows signs for things, and she should keep using them until she can speak in a language I know. Stalemate and subsequent tantrum ensues. So, just when I think it's fine she's given up on sign language, we're reading our bedtime story tonight, when arriving at a picture of a sleeping baby, she signs "sleep"! Clara is the next great communicator.