Gracias del Corazón

We obviously have been teaching Sofía to say “gracias” at the appropriate times: when someone gives her something, when she asks for something and receives it, etc… Usually we have to tell her to say “gracias” and she usually just signs it. Sometimes she actually says the word, “gracias”, but this has only been a few times. Last week, for the first time, I noticed that her friend Marnix handed her a toy teléfono and Sofía signed “gracias” WITHOUT me telling her to!! From then on, she has signed “gracias” on her own many times without me reminding her. Moi- the Linguistic Nerdo has been so focused on the word “gracias” that it never occurred to me that she would learn the concept of WHEN to use it. If I didn't know it before, I know it now:  We really do teach by example!