Say Whaaa?

I've heard both positives and negatives about the use of sign language with children who are not yet speaking.  So far, my experience with it as a parent has been VERY positive.  I am definitely a proponent of signing with all of our children because of the benefits we have seen come from it with Reagan.  The other day, I noted all of the words he currently can speak and those he can sign consistently.

Speaking Vocabulary:

1. Cookie (sounds like "ccccckie", no "oo" sound)
2. Dada (depending on the volume level, this could mean Daddy or Rubix)
3. Momma
4. NO (even wags his finger and makes a very stern face)
5. Sit (points down at whatever he's supposed to be sitting on, but is actually standing on)
6. Turtle (sounds like "tuttle", no "r" sound)
7. Uh-oh

Signing Vocabulary:

1. All done
2. Baby
3. Ball
4. Bird
5. Bubbles
6. Dog
7. Eat
8. Fish
9. Grapes
10. Help
11. Monkey
12. More
13. Please
14. Squirrel
15. Thank You (though he waffles between signing and speaking this one)

The amazing thing... signing nearly TRIPLES his vocabulary!  It also saves us (Reagan included) some unnecessary frustration due to his limited speaking vocabulary.  We can almost always figure out what he's asking for or talking about and he rarely gets upset because of a communication barrier!