Many of you may have heard about the current babies and sign language craze. Since the public became aware that children learn sign language sooner than they learn to talk, teaching your child sign language has become all the rage. Gus and I decided we would try our hand (get the dad joke?) at a few words ourselves. Most notably, we wanted to be able to communicate with Max while he was eating. We wanted to know when he would like more food and when he was all done, so we looked up the signs for "more" and "all done" and started flapping our hands appropriately. Unfortunately for us, Max is not taken with ASL. He prefers his own versions. "More" is "scream loudly" and "all done" is "smear food vigorously around face and tray". On the up side, the dogs have been very quick to pick up ASL. As soon as we ask Max if he is all done they are immediately at his side waiting for the left overs.
We never tried sign language. Babies were not so liberated in our day. To be fair, sign was prevalent, but we didn't think it was worth pursuing. Anyhow, it sounds like Max's responses are just like the girls. Easy to understand and persistent. Wendy suggests that no one in the James family needs/can be taught to communicate.
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