Luke is signing!

I was just about to give up hope! And then a few days ago Luke signed back to me for the first time! We have been using baby sign language for many months now. Really just the basics: food, milk, more... simple signs for basic needs. For a while now we could tell he understood their meanings. He would have a definite reaction if he was hungry and I began to sign food etc. But he never used the signs in return. On reflection I think it may be that he never really needed to sign. I would always offer him milk throughout the day so he was never really thirsty and he always wanted to eat around the same times (solids) so I usually always had his meals ready ahead of time (or at least new that is what he wanted when he started to get a little fussy around eating time). We continued to use sign language I think more out of habit than anything. We had started when Luke was around 6 months old and we never expected him to sign back right away so we really made it a routine. I am glad we stuck to it because it is amazing to see him able to communicate with us!
I was giving him lunch a few days ago and he starting using the sign for "more" when all his food was gone. I couldn't believe it!! It came out of nowhere. I excitedly washed some more blueberries and once these were gone he signed "more" again. I grabbed the box of cheddar bunnies and gave him a few of these. After a few more rounds of this (and a very full tummy I am sure... sometimes I can't figure out where all that food goes!) he stopped signing for more and I new he was done. He has been signing more ever since. He is using this sign for everything right now. I think he is very excited he is able to communicate and he is using this sign a lot. For instance, we were walking on the sidewalk and he really wanted to walk into the parking lot, which of course was off limits. He kept signing more telling me he wanted to go farther than where we were allowed. Now the big challenge is figuring out what he wants more of when he is signing "more".
Today he added the sign for "food" into his signing vocabulary. When he got hungry today he started signing more. I showed him the sign for food by putting his fingers to his mouth and he understood. Now he is also signing "food". I am still using "more", "milk", and "food" but I have also started using the sign for "help" (because he is often "asking" us for help lately taking our hand and leading us to toys he wants turned on etc.), "finished/all gone"... and hopefully once he starts using a few more of these I can add in things like "bath", "music" (which he loves), "light" (turning the lights on and off is a favorite past time as well) and others. I use other signs in coversation with him like cat and dog (basic stuff that I have been doing for a while, again out of habit) so I am curious to see what his next sign will be.
If anyone is interested in teaching babies/toddlers to sign there is a great book which I have read over and over and has been very helpful. It is called "Baby Sign Language For Hearing Babies" and it is written by Karyn Warburton. I highly recommend this book and the signs that are listed in this book. I have noticed that different books will have variations in their signs but this book has the simplest signs I feel for babies/toddlers to pick up. And my other word of advice... DONT GIVE UP! It took Luke at least 6 months to sign back to us. I guess perserverance does pay off!