Signs Here are Noah's signs, which we have been showing him since he was about five months old and he has been repeating back to us since about seven months. [Addendum: 8/21/04] Since the last update, some of his signs have changed.  For example, water now very closely approximates the actual sign (tapping a "W" to your chin).  And some of his signs have been discontinued since he's started speaking (like "mom").  We haven't actively been teaching him new ones since we've been working on his speech. [Addendum: 2/28/05] Unfortunately, he has apparently lost most of the signs that he knew.  Some that he has continued to use are "I love you", "water", and "together", but many of the other ones are now gone.  I suppose that's natural after almost a year of not encouraging him. The first column is the sign; the second column is the date on or about when he first started performing the sign (sometimes very approximate); the third column is how Noah performs the sign, which isn't always how it would be done in American Sign Language. last update: 4/6/04 total number of signs: 120 A      B      C      D      E      F      G      H      I      J      K      L      M      N      O      P      Q      R      S      T      U      V      W      X      Y      Z A animals ask   5-11-03 1-5-03   hands tucked into sides, up and down wiggle downpointing midde finger   B bad kitty bath big big, strong bird black blue Blue's Clues book brown butterfly bye-bye     3-03 4-14-03 11-03 12-03 4-26-03 2-29-04 9-15-03 10-24-02 10-02 12-26-03 12-03 5-02     point at cat and shake head both hands in circular motion on chest both hands out to sides "flex muscles" motion pinching motion with finger and thumb "shade eyes", then back and forth rotate upraised right palm open and close both hands spread hands wide rub neck under ear hands together and flap waves   C C car cat close cold cookie (original) cookie (revised)     12-15-03 5-14-03 11-29-02 12-18-03 5-19-03 3-03 8-03     like "see" driving/"steering wheel" motion brush knuckle/fingertips on cheek bring hands together like "love", but shivering tap palm with one finger tap palm with fingertips   D dad diaper down (original) down (alternate) drink duck     2-03 2-3-04 8-02 11-1-03 7-02 12-03     palm to side, gesture away from face pat hips with both hands wave down with hand reach both hands down squeeze hand into fist pinching with fingers and thumb   E eat elephant     12-26-02 4-5-03     tapered fingers to mouth like "giraffe", but in front of nose   F fan finished/all done first fish 5 full funny     8-02 5-02 1-5-04 9-02 12-20-03 6-2-03 2-03     twist wrist toward fan make circles by twisting wrists like "1" wiggle hand back and forth all fingers outstretched pat stomach with hands and nod wave cupped hand by nose   G giraffe go go upstairs (original) go upstairs (revised) good good job Grandpa Paul green     3-29-03 9-03 10-02 7-03 12-03 9-02 1-13-04 6-5-03     wave hand up and down [like neck] sharply point straight ahead at base of stairs, sign "down" at base of stairs, point up similar to "thank you", but also nod clap like either "go" or "out" shake wrist at side, fingers point in   H hat heaven help me hot     3-21-03 6-5-03 3-03 3-03     pat top of head once raise palm and look up like "no touch", but draw toward wave hand repeatedly   I I don't know I want that I'll show you ice ice cream in   itsy bitsy spider             1-03 9-02 4-5-03 4-28-03 2-5-04 7-10-03   6-4-03             spread hands to sides point at object like "help me", but then run off rub fingers together rub hand back and forth on chest put one finger in other fist   spider: alt. taps thumb and finger rain: hands above head, palm down wash spider out: both hands to side sun: hands above head, palms up spider, then good job   J Jehovah     2-03     turn palm up at side K Kari (Schaver)   3-25-04   wiggle letter "K"   L L light like lion listen little look love     12-22-03 5-02 12-03 4-21-03 11-29-02 1-1-04 11-03 4-28-03     thumb and middle finger raised palm toward light tap chest with both hands rub top of head put finger to ear thumb and forefinger close both hands stretched out in front cross arms and sway back and forth   M make Mr. Potato Head mom more (original) more (revised) music     12-30-03 12-11-03 2-03 6-02 11-10-03 9-02     rub knuckles together like "hat" palm to side, gesture away from face tap fingers on other hand tapered fingers tapped together "conduct orchestra"   N no no touch Noah notebook     4-19-03 12-22 11-03 9-24-03     shake head (vigorously, if necessary) like "more" (original), but tap once point at own chest finger to palm of other hand   O O oh no! 1 open orange out     1-8-04 9-25-03 12-20-03 12-18-03 10-03 12-03     right arm curved up, left cradled one or both hands cover open mouth raise one finger (actually middle one) stretch hands apart tap fingers to thumb quickly point toward window   P patience (original) patience (revised) pick me up play please prayer purple     4-21-03 9-03 9-02 10-7-03 4-22-03 8-02 10-03     one finger to cheek one finger to mouth pat target's legs twist both wrists rub stomach briefly clasp hands together thumb and forefinger point down   Q quiet     5-4-03     put fingers to mouth   R red ride run     6-5-03 12-03 12-03     tap finger to mouth like "car" or "truck" tap fingers along table in front of him   S see sit sleep smart (original) smart (revised) soda sorry stand stop     12-03 6-1-03 7-24-03 11-11-02 4-03 10-11-03 3-31-03 1-24-04 9-03     back of hand to eye then stretch out like "no-touch" cradle head in hand on shoulder back of hand to temple smack top of head like "water", but directed to drink circular motion on stomach pointing at open palm palm out repeatedly   T 10 thank you 3 tickle together train tree truck turtle     1-13-04 12-24-02 1-12-04 3-23-03 7-10-03 8-20-03 3-17-03 5-14-03 12-03     fingers on both hands outstretched palm to open mouth middle, ring, pinkie fingers raised touch sides with both hands clasp hands together make "choo-choo" motion twist upright palm driving/"steering wheel" motion left hand over right, wiggle right hand   U up     11-03     head back, raise hand   W wash hands water (original) water (revised) what white word     11-24-02 4-20-03 7-03 12-25-03 10-8-03 6-20-03     wipe one palm on other tap side of open palm to mouth wave open palm at side drop open hand to side bring pinched fingers to chest point to mouth   Y yawn yellow yes     5-11-03 10-8-03 4-25-03     pat open mouth twist one wrist nod head and body total: 120