The Signing Explosion

At 13 months, Leah is only speaking a few words, but her signing is remarkable! I read that babies at this age have the hand dexterity and cognitive abilities to express what they need with signs. I can totally see it with Leah.

Though she's been signing for a while now, Leah is now signing/ trying to sign these new words:
- All done/ finished
- fish
- bath
- tree
- cereal
- cracker
- water
- friend
- hurt
- music
- monkey
- cat
- fan

These 13 signs plus the 7 (milk, more, up, baby, change diaper, dog and bird) she already knows makes it 20 words! Leah is also combining signs. She has asked me for "more milk" and "more cereal".

Now compare that to Leah's verbal skills. Leah can say these words very clearly (in order of when she said them):
- Mama
- Ah-Ma
- Dada
- More

She also tries to say these words (but it's harder to figure out):
- ball
- bird
- up
- moon/ balloon (they sound similar, so it depends on the context to figure out what she's trying to say).

Babies at this age can only say about 5-8 words, but those who sign can express so much more! I'm so glad we stuck with it! Tom and I are constantly amazed by what Leah knows. Sometimes it feels like she's not watching us sign to her, but then out of the blue, she signs a word we've been teaching her. :)

Leah understands a lot of the things we tell her too. She understands "give, kiss, hug, where, bye bye, hi, put your head down" and lots more.