My name is Cristina Theberge and I live with Jimmy 18 months in Livermore, CA.  I started signing with Jimmy when he was 7months. old.  He started signing back at 10 months. old.  His first signs were "more" and "milk."  It was not until he was 12months. old that he had a vocabulary explosion. In between this time (10 1/2 - 11 1/2 months.) he stopped signing completely and would just stare at me when I signed to him. Then, at 15months, something very different happened.  He started picking up signs like crazy (about 2-5 new signs a week.)  He would keep pointing to things and asking for the signs.  He would actually look at my hands and wait for a response. This was amazing to me, so I got excited and tried to learn as many new signs as I could.  Each night, I had to look up new signs on the computer just to keep up with him.     At 16 months, to my amazement, he started combining two signs to communicate with me like "cat gentle", "more banana", "go car", "play more", etc.  At 17 months, he started using three signs or signs mixed with verbal words to communicate with me like "more banana please", "go car vroom, vroom", "uh oh cup down", etc.    Now, at 18 months, he will say about 20 signs in one sitting in a fully-fledged conversation.      The pictures that I sent in were taken at a dinner as well as a breakfast the following morning. This is a typical day, but I didn't realize how much of a conversation we had until I took the pictures.  I was about to take out of the high chair, since he finished his dinner and he signed apple.  I sliced one up for him, and proceded to eat the whole thing.  He also wanted to color, so he signed color.  Then, when he was ready to get out, so he signed finished.   The next day, he signed time because he wanted to watch Signing Time videos. This is the first thing he wants to do every morning.  Jimmy was in his high chair and he looked outside and signed leaf and then tree.  Jimmy then asked for some cheese. Then he asked for MORE cheese.  Then he signed thank you for the cheese.  Then he said please after he said more, for guess what? cheese.   Jimmy also likes to look at his books while he eats and so he signed gorilla when he saw it in his book. He then sined alligator after he saw it in his book.  He then signed boy and then hat since the boy in the book was wearing a hat and he signed bird when seeing it in his dinosaur roar book.  The phone rang and then he signed phone.    My friend has a 22 month old and of course she started to cry when I talked to her mother.  I handed the phone over to Jimmy to hear his friend cry and then he signed baby.  He then signed thirsty after I get off the phone and I gave him a drink.  He then signed banana and ate the whole thing after he'd eaten cheese and a whole bowl of oatmeal.  This kid can eat!  He knew the meal was coming to an end, so he signed bath.  He usually gets a bath after breakfast, since he makes such a mess.     Then, I kept on calling "Jimmy sign banana, Jimmy sign thirsty"  and then he signed what.  Too cute. I told him that he was silly for signing what and then he proceeded to sign silly.  Finally, I ask him if he liked his breakfast and he signs I like it.  He also knows the sign for I don't like, so I like asking him if he likes or doesn't like something.  What's funny is that he shakes his head no at the same time when he's signing he doesn't like something.   You can check out all the signs here on this site and follow through our day.    He is learning so fast that for Mother's Day dinner I had to translate for my husband.  He even said something so funny - I just had to share it with you.  He started off by signing the word for "girl" for every girl or woman that crossed his path.  Then he saw one girl sitting across from us and he signed "girl" and then he signed "I like, I like."  I thought that was too funny.   I feel that signing has brought my son and me much closer together and it has enabled him to communicate his needs and express his feelings without the use of tantrums.  I am really grateful to the creators of the "Signing Time" videos for helping me and my son understand each other better.