Words

With each new day Daniel gets better at saying his words. He's been saying things here and there for the past month or so but now he's really starting to be able to repeat things unprompted. However, we don't think he fully understands what the word means that he's saying. Or, he believes that one word can be used to respond or converse regardless of the context. For example:

Chris: Daniel, are you still hungry?

Daniel: No, no, no. (grabs food and puts it in his mouth).

C: Then you're all done?

D: No, no, no. (pulls on bib to try to indicate he's all done)

C: Are you all done? (Chris signs "all done")

D: No, no, no.

C: Are you just saying "No" to say "No"?

D: (silence, puts more food in his mouth, pulls on bib)

C: (confused)

Then there's my personal favorite.

Daniel likes to grab everything (no surprise) and then throw it on the ground (no surprise, again), tip it over, or put it in a bag and carry it around. Obviously, this kind of behavior becomes a problem when he grabs things he's not supposed to...like the locked garbage can in the kitchen.

If Daniel attempts to touch something he's not supposed to he's told, "No, Daniel. No, thank you."

Apparently we say this often enough that now, whenever he passes by one of the "don't touch" things in our house, he stops, turns and looks at it, and says "No, no, no.", and walks away.

We can't tell if he's reminding himself not to touch it or its some kind of learned response...