The Deaf Cousin

When we were in Oregon for our family vacation, cousin Karen, observing Elle communicating in sign language, began to call Elle "the deaf cousin".

Karen is anything but deaf. In fact she is the loudest in our group of cousins. Karen is very animated, always telling a story loudly, and of course with her hands. When Karen began calling Elle "the deaf cousin" I assured her that if she hung out with us long enough she might pick up a few signs and this might make her stories a bit more exciting. At least it would keep her audience on their toes! Here husband gave me the thumbs up.

Elle does love using her sign language, and I love it because instead of yelling at me she can tell me what she wants. (not that she doesn't still yell to get my attention) We started signing to Elle when she was 6 months, and we didn't get a sign back until she was 12 months. Now it seems like she is learning at least one a week!

Elle now signs:
dog
mom
dad
grandma
grandpa
water
milk
cereal
ball
car
hat
all done
more
please
cracker
juice
banana
coat
shoes
bird
apple

She can also, dance, bow, clap, snap (no sound comes out), "get in your seat" (bumbo seat), and show us that Elle is "So Big" all on command. Which are all WAY TO CUTE!

Of course Elle does SAY words, with her mouth too. She says mama, dada, daddy, dog, duck, go, no, nonononono, and she has said a few others, but very infrequently.

Here's an example of the "Clap"