I know that Rachel seems a bit ahead on some issues, but she started crawling a little later than some of the other babies I know. She refuses to sign anything, but can now associate about 45 words with actions, pictures or objects. We know this how, you may ask? Things like...I was making pie the other day (mmmm, pie, but I digress) and she was sitting in her high chair watching. I was pretending to be a chef and explained that one has to sift the flour, etc, etc... As soon as I said "flour", she turned and pointed to the flowers on a side bar. I was a bit startled she could pick out the sound from a full sentence. We do a lot of "Where's _______?" and she points to whatever it is. We haven't really pushed things, but if she points to something we'll tell her what it is. (dog, cat, light, car)

She's a smart kid. However, from having read your postings about Alex, I'm think your phrase of "we're doomed" will be echoed in our house. :)

She's going through some pretty serious separation anxiety now which I'm hoping will pass in another couple of weeks.