Why doesn’t Abigail say “baby” anymore? That perfect early word has degenerated into ba-ba, her same word for ball and book and bye-bye (which also used to be much clearer). I miss it. I guess it’s a fair trade for her learning to shake her head yes and no this week. I can’t tell you how much easier it makes her and my lives now that she can answer simple questions. Of course, her style is still pretty awkward. She looks like a tiny Pearl Jam fan when she nods yes. When she shakes her head no, she looks like she’s being attacked by a swarm of flies. The other problem is that she hasn’t quite learned to apply the “yes” properly. I will ask her if she’s sleepy, she’ll nod yes, and then not be able to fall asleep. Or she nods yes to milk, and then drinks only two ounces. The “no” she understands perfectly well. Her most recent one occurred when her dad suggested that Mama carry her inside after a swim, instead of him. The swarm of invisible flies descended. No way Jose! I did it anyway, and she survived just fine.

Abi also has an invented sign that I can’t quite figure out. She opens and closes her hands simultaneously, like emergency blinkers. It sometimes seems to mean “I like this” and other times to mean “I want that.” She also enjoys signing book, car, hat, milk, and bubbles. Most of those come from a sign language book that she has. I remember the first time she said and signed bubbles, over fourth of July weekend. My mom was here and noticed Abi having fun with her profuse drool. “You sure like those spit bubbles,” mom said. “Bubble. Bubble,” said Abi, and made the sign, which is squeezing your fingers together in the air like you are popping bubbles. Now she looks for bubbles everywhere just so she can say it and do the sign. Her newest verbal words are up (pronounced ha-UP) and fan (pronounced nana), because she likes watching the ceiling fan turn in the dining room while she eats. We find our entertainment where we can round these parts.

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