When Sean first met his new cousin Ruby a few months ago (Ruby was 1 week old), he swore she said her first word to him. It was "hey." When cousin Jane was born Sean asked to call Michael (Jane's dad) to ask if she had her first word yet. Jane was 1 day old--still in the hospital. Nevertheless, we called to ask. Recently, Sean was laying his head on my belly and jumped up and said "She kicked me! And she said 'Boo!' She had her first word! It was 'boo!'" I asked Sean the other day, "What's the first thing you are going to say to Sissy when you meet her in the hospital? Are you going to whisper 'I love you?'" Sean answered, "No, I'm going to teach her how to say 'Baby Jane and Baby Ruby.'"
Perhaps Sean is noticing first words so much lately because we've been pretty focused on Jamesie's speech. At 26 months his vocabulary is strikingly limited, and our pediatrician recommended we start speech therapy. I have tried to arrange the therapy a little early because I want it to be well underway by the time Sissy turns our homelife a little sideways and perhaps throws Jamesie for a loop. We have seen a few therapist-type people, an "early interventionist," which I am pretty sure is a euphemism for "social worker," who comes to see "how the family is progressing," and we start with this official therapy 2x per week, next week. So far, those who have seen him *think* he shows signs of childhood apraxia of speech, but the big question to be answered in the next few weeks is whether he is "apraxic" or just a late talker. He does tend to be shy, but the red flags for apraxia are also quite present. For one, everyone who has met him and evaluated him has been shocked by his signing skills and his language-reception skills. This essentially means he understands everything we say, and knows what he wants to say back, but for some reason, only signs back rather than speaking. With apraxia, this would be explained by saying he fully comprehends language, but there is a block between finding the words he wants to use in his head and getting his mouth to say them. It is a motor disorder which prevents the mouth from functioning how the brain wants it to. Sign language to the rescue--he can express his "words" without grasping for them with his mouth. "Speaking" of the motor-mouth dysfunction, apraxia may also explain his choking bouts over the last year. Then again, he could just be really unlucky while eating.
In the meantime, Jamesie will learn just about any sign the first time you teach it to him, and is only limited by his mother's 6th-grade knowledge of signing! When we have a babysitter or grandparents, Sean is his interpreter--whether of signs, or just intuitive brotherly knowledge, which happens a lot. And at this moment, the boys are both with GG and DaDa for a fun weekend in the mountains while Cody and I (a) recover from 3 straight weeks of trial (cody is currently asleep on the couch after working himself to the bone for the last month), and (b) actually focus on the baby who will be here in less than 3 weeks! I have woefully neglected baby preparations this time around, and we are in full nesting-mode this weekend while we have the time and the quiet to prepare. Its been really awesome, but I do miss those boys like crazy.
If anyone has had similar speech issues with their little ones, i'd love to hear about it.
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