Skepticism rears its ugly Head

I have a secret.

Even after I witnessed Nathan signing 'more' in my baby sign language class I had doubt. Yes, even after my own Baby Boo signed 'fan', I still had doubt. A lingering little doubt that screamed, "You are being snookered!" at the top of its lungs.

A monkey can be trained to sign. Heck, my dog knew a sign or two. Rover, shake. Rover, point.
Wasn't this just imitation? Pavlov's dog? Good boy. Here's a biscuit?

The teacher had signed 'more music' in class and 8 month old Nathan signed 'more'. Don't all babies copy? Isn't mimicking part of learning? Are these babies really communicating? Are they exchanging ideas, expressing thought.....shooting the breeze?

I did have a few family members chuckle at my attempts to sign with Baby Boo. "Hey, let's put Junior at the head of the table. I want to hear her thoughts on the War on Terror." A cascade of laughter always followed.

Didn't I laugh, too? Didn't I think this was a tad bit silly? Training a baby to do tricks like a seal??

Hmmmmmm? Little did my inner skeptic know that her days were numbered....