My second child is happy to give kisses these days. His physical expression of language is so beautiful to me. He loves to zoom hands for a favorite finger play song, he claps hands whenever applause is heard, makes a "wash hands" sign whenever we are near a sink and today he asked for medicine by sticking out his tongue and putting his finger in his mouth.
Sky is very physically intelligent as well: he kick-dribbles a ball, swings a golf club/bat, throws and rolls a ball. He climbs up into his chair as well as onto the top of the couch. He loves to turn light switches on and off whenever he can reach them. He and North play a game that North calls "Super Cars." They (loudly!) knock over the little wooden chairs and push them very fast all over the house. Sky gleefully copies his brother in whatever the action is in any given moment. If North gets attention for coughing; Skyler will loudly cough too. If North cries in frustration over an injustice, Sky will fall over, purposefully hit his head, and cry loudly.
I chose not to teach my kids sign language but rather to make our family communication strong and diverse. Will Skyler have as many words as North did at a young age? I don't know yet. The difference I see in my two boys is pretty striking already. North is very socially oriented. He needs to be part of a group, to move and make decisions based upon the group. I think North developed his verbal language skills to support those needs. Skyler, on the other hand, seems to be a bit more removed from the peer pressure. He is focused on his own explorations and movements. He learns new behaviors and actions from watching other people but then seems to turn inward to play out his own themes. It seems as though verbal language is just not where his brain is working these days.
Very interesting, this sibling stuff.