Elaine's communication skills

Unlike her big sister, who acquired new words in an orderly, almost dogged fashion, Elly is a much more freewheeling communicator. But here is our attempt to catalogue the words and signs that she spontaneously uses (as opposed to those she has repeated after us, which is a much greater number) so far:

Words:
--dada
--mama
--dog [doh]
--kitty [kee-tee]
--no
--car [cah]
--down [dow-nuh] (when she wants to be put down)
--hi
--there (dar?)
--that (dah)
--all done (ahd or ah-da)
--yes (ya) (showing her Norwegian heritage?)

Signs:
--milk (often made while drinking or milk is mentioned (as in, "I know what you're talking about!"); we hope she learns to make it when she wants milk soon!)
--all done (a one-handed version, with flair, sometimes accompanied with 'ada!')
--a wave for 'bye-bye' or 'good night'

And, for fun, here are the words that, if someone says them by accident, make Sadie start jumping with excitement:
--walk
--outside
--go
Meredith has learned to say, 'Are we going to take the dog for a [stage-whisper:] walk ??!!" Or, better yet, "w-a-l-k," or a similar combination of letters. We know what she means. But Sadie usually doesn't, which is good. Very perceptive of Mer, I think.

-JRR