In this instance, our excitement comes from Hayden's new communication skills. We are working on sign language everyday and we have been for many, many months now. At every meal time we try and show him how to ask for "more" or tell us that he is "all done", in that quiet, controlled manner. During screaming fits, we attempt to get him to "tell" us what he wants and then help him work through his frustration. Most of the time all of this effort awards us a blank stare or an even more irritated child. He wants what he wants...he doesn't want to see your hands flailing around in front of his face, or worse, your hands grabbing his trying to "go through the motions" like some torturous form of puppeteering. He just wasn't getting it. Then, the other day, for some miraculous reason, it clicked and Hayden signed back!

His first official response was "all done". His two chunky little hands twisting wildly in the air next to his ears. The grin on his face too precious for words. He was so proud of himself. He figured it out - this mysterious language. The problem now is that he likes to use the sign. So you can feed him his very first bite of food and he signs "all done" and smiles. "More" is the next one to master.

He has signed "more", "please", "dog" and "come here" since his language explosion just a few days ago. We are still working on perfecting those and adding a few more like "thank you", "mommy", "daddy", and "I love you" to his repetoire. -- mam