Baby talk

I thought I would be the hip mama that would do all the cool stuff.  Organic food, natural toys, wearing her on a sling - I've done all of that.  I suppose when it came to sign language, I just got lazy.  I never bothered to look into it seriously, though I was always impressed by the idea of it.


My stepmother was telling me recently about a family she'd met who's 1 year old, younger than Cassidy, has been signing for months, and now is speaking.  At one.  She said he was just amazing.  It was remarkable.  Blah blah blah blah blah.  (What is it about that wall of defense that comes up and says "do not tell me about any baby that is smarter, cuter, more coordinated than mine because I don't want to hear it?")  After the polite "Wow, really?" I thought about it a few moments more and said, "But I love Cassidy's language right now.  I would be sad if she were speaking so soon."


And it's true.  We have the longest, silliest "conversations" that go something like this:  
"Doot doot doot doot DOOT doot doot dee dee?"  
To which I will answer, "Deet deet DOOT doot deet deet DOO doot dee."   
And it will go on and on like this.


Or there are her long soliloquies complete with dramatic hand gestures and unfathomable words that are left to my interpretation:
"What?  Are you serious?  You want to make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich and we're out of BREAD?  Wow.  That really IS a bummer!"
She cracks me up with the theatrical flair, and I crack myself up deciding what it is she must be saying.  I can't get enough of this game and this, too, will go on and on.


And then there's the "Eh! Eh! Eh!" and point.  
And usually I know what she wants.
"Oh, you want your water bottle?" 
 And when I take it off the table and give it to her, there is such a gratified glee, her smile practically breaks her face.  It could be her blanket, or a toy, or a cracker.  It's usually not hard to figure out and we are both so smitten with satisfaction when the request is delivered.


I wouldn't want to miss any of this.  And of course I understand there are great benefits and joys that must come with signing, and that signing isn't even necessarily a precursor to early verbal language.  But just thinking of a one year old who is already speaking made me feel even more grateful for this time that I find so enormously delightful.  I don't want to hurry one minute.  Of anything.