Stubborn Little Boy

I do believe that we have one of the most stubborn little 16 month olds in the world. He is so hard headed sometimes. Here is just one example of what we are dealing with. Around 6 months of age we started teaching sign language to both of our kids. Areyna was a pro at signing “please”, “thank you”, “more”, “thirsty” and “all done” by the time she was 9 months old. Zeke on the other hand has taken his time learning these signs and tends to only sign on his own terms. Now, I understand that each child will learn things on their own time table and that each child is different, but on the other hand, I do believe that our little guy is just plain stubborn. I have seen him sign ALL of these words at one time or another with my own eyes so I KNOW that he is capable of doing them, but he pretends that he doesn’t know what sign language is sometimes. Okay, back to the example. Last night at dinner he had eaten a pretty good dinner and was finishing up with some grapes. Usually we let him get away with certain sounds that inflect a yes or no meaning behind them, but last night I was determined to make him sign or SAY what he wanted. I guess I’m a little stubborn too=) He clearly wanted more grapes but refused to sign “more”. He started crying and screaming for more but insisted on standing his ground. He would say “please” and “thank you” but still no “more”. Needless to say he didn’t get any more grapes and he wasn’t gonna give in so he let us know that he was all done and wanted down, so I said “Zeke, say please”…only to get a jerk back and a loud grunt in return. What??? Not even a “please” now? You’ve got to be kidding me! So, Zeke sat in his seat until we were well done eating and cleaning the kitchen. Finally, Josh gave in and forced his hands in the “please” sign and let him out. But wouldn’t you know, as soon as he was down, he was a completely different child. He played and laughed and even signed “please” to get his ball that he dropped on the floor. Unbelievable. This is Zeke sitting in his chair while we waited for a simple gesture to let us know that he would comply with our demands.