Shopaholic

So, we're not sure where this came from, but Sophie's favorite thing now seems to be to go to the store. Before, anytime we would put her shoes on, she would start signing "car" and maybe also "play" if she thought we were going to the playground, but now she's signing "store". And when we leave somewhere to get in the car and go home, she signs store. And sometimes just at random she signs store.

I think this came about because she didn't really seem to have any story books that she could relate to (other than _Corduroy Goes to the Doctor_--poor Sophie), but at the library one day I was looking at the easy reader book section. The level one books seemed to be something with simple stories that she could handle, and I found one about Joe and his mommy going to the supermarket to buy food for lunch. Sophie always does great at the store, likes to ride around in the cart and check everything out. Well, she just loved this book. We read that one a lot--much more than Pat Cleans Up or Fred Goes Fishing, which is too bad. Max Goes Shopping, however, was also a big hit. It's funny because we don't actually buy anything that she sees or wants right then, but I guess just the act of shopping itself. Or maybe it's just the connection of requesting someplace that she knows. One day as we left speech therapy and were getting in the car, she was signing store. I was already planning to stop somewhere and return something on the way home, so I acted like I was thinking about it and said, "Hmmm... you know, I guess we could stop at the store."

The other thing she is constantly doing right now is signing "water". Literally anytime I run the sink, flush the toilet, start some laundry, fill the dog bowls outside, etc., there she is trying to get my attention and telling me water. She'll stand by the shower and sign water, too. Every once in a while it's because she actually wants some to drink, but mostly just calling attention to it. It's cute the first 30 or so times. Stephanie and I have even started saying it to each other.