"Yes" means "No" and "No" means "Book"

This is the problem with communication: you're so confident that you know what you're saying that you often say the wrong thing. Just ask any Vice President of the past 30 years. The girls are at that stage where they understand a lot of things (still have trouble saying them, but comprehension is very good), but there are certain things that they think they know . ... and they really don't. For example, the head shake. This has become an immediate response to everything in the last week or two. You ask them a question and they immediately shake their head "no". A few seconds later, however, you'll find out that they did not mean "no" after all. "Arianna, do you want some juice?" Head shake. Put it in the fridge. Freak out and point up at the juice cup and then suck ravenously once she's gotten it in hand. Last night I'm trying to feed them dinner and they're being pills because their nap was thrown off a bit - Gina took them to a special church service during they day so they had to go down earlier than usual and then they didn't sleep enough. I ask Genevieve if she wants more of her noodles. No. Take the plate away and she screams about it. Then she starts moaning about something (we know words; I don't know why the last couple of days she just starting moaning all the time instead of trying words) so I ask her if she wants milk. No. You want more food? No. You want this book? No. I tried everything, and it was "no" every time. So she's crying and fussing and when we finally finish dinner I pick her up and ask her what it is she wants. She leans out, grabs the book off the table (the same one I asked her about) and starts giggling as she "reads" it. She then totters off to her room, book in hand, completely content. I'm going to stop asking yes or no questions and just try multiple choice or fill in the blanks from now on. Of course, they'll probably just answer "c" to everything. ... that's usually the right answer.