Communicating

Sam is becoming the Queen of Communication. She's moved from just naming objects to saying them in order to communicate some meaning or idea. It's so fun to see. It started with the word "hi" but she was always hit or miss in using it. But she recently discovered "bye" and she has got it figured out! We knew that she really understood the meaning just a few days ago. I don't know who experienced it first because when we talked about it, she had done with with both of us. So I'll tell it from my experience.

Sammi's going to bed routine includes a cup of milk, a few stories and a few songs and then I lay her in her crib and she goes to sleep. It's always been hard to know if she's sleepy enough to just leave her or if she needs another song or whatever. But the other night I read the stories and sang a couple songs then I told her it was time for bed. I put her in her crib and told her I'd sing one more song. Just as I finished the song she raised her hand up to he eye, waved it and said "bye." I accepted that she was telling me she was ready for bed and said good night and left. She didn't fuss at all! She did the same with Brent. If she says "bye" she doesn't fuss, but if we don't wait for her to say "bye" then she'll fuss until she gets what she needs before she can fall asleep (a diaper change, a cup of milk, another song...) I think it's brilliant that she figured out that she can tell us bye to let us know she's ready to go to sleep! It's so helpful.

Other new words include more, bubble, baby (I have no idea how she picked that one up!), something that sounds like bellybutton. She imitates almost every word I tell her. She is so verbal. I view it as making up for her not wanting to accomplish her motor skills earlier! It's so fun to hear her jabbering away as part of the soundtrack for my day.