What a Difference a Year Makes!

I have had mixed feelings since Logan was dismissed from Early On services yesterday. In fact, I couldn't even finish writing this yesterday because it was too fresh, and I needed time to process everything that has happened recently. On December 15, his speech pathologist, Ms. Pam evaluated him. I was absolutely floored by the results which showed that he had the receptive language of a 3 year, 9 month old child and the expressive language of a 2 year, 5 month child. He was 2 years, 3 and 1/2 months at the time. I know this is a fantastic thing, that in the course of one year, he went from having NO language to being ahead for his age! But still I felt sad. I should have seen the dismissal coming, and it somehow caught me off guard. Ms. Pam was amazed by his progress, but she said we would continue to work his articulation and his low muscle tone, so I thought that he would continue with Early On.

However, his teacher, Ms. Michelle came yesterday and gave him an overall evaluation to see if he had any delays since his speech was no longer a qualifying area. She was so impressed by his skills, she decided to give him the 30-36 month portion of the evaluation even though it's slightly ahead of his chronological age. He aced it. He followed directions to build a three cube structure and was able to lace beads (and continue to pull the cord all the way through, which she said usually stumps the kids she evaluates.) The longer I sat and watched him, the sillier I felt for being concerned that he would no longer get services. He doesn't need them anymore.

I went to bed feeling kind of guilty for wanting him to still have the help, considering that I always knew it was short term and that eventually he would catch up in speech. I had just assumed he was going to age out of the program when he turned 3. We are so blessed that he has made incredible gains which led to the early dismissal. Meanwhile, there are lots of other parents whose kids are going through Early On, and while they will make some progress, many of them are living with disabilities that can't be outgrown.

This morning, I began to wonder if my sadness was caused by a sense of loss for myself. I would no longer have people coming to the house who help me be a better parent, and I would no longer get to take Logan to weekly playgroups where we all get to interact with others. I realized that I feel lonely being a stay-at-home mom, and this was a good outlet for me, not just for Logan. As the day has progressed, I've tried to really focus on the positives, the amazing progress that Logan has made.

When I contacted Early On just over a year ago I did so because I was a concerned parent. I was thrilled when he qualified for services and I made sure he participated in as many Early On activities as we were able to over the past year. I knew I was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom because it gave me the flexibility to make our schedule to fit our needs. This was my gift to my son, and as it turns out, it was also my gift to myself. This experience has made me a better mommy. Now, I am able to recognize his awesome achievement, and that I played a part in it. Now I realize that I can't waste time mourning over a perceived loss. It's not about me; it's about Logan. And there is no real loss, only his great gains in speech development. Thank you, Lord, for providing me with some fresh perspective, and the desire to celebrate his success.

Michelle reminded me that his goal was to begin to use language to express his wants and needs. Obviously, he achieved that and more. He makes his wants and needs very clear, ("You help me.") and he even does so with humor and personality. His favorite catch phrases of the moment are "more again," "no like it," and "oh man!" the last of which cracks everyone up. She wanted him to have the "p," "b," and "m" sounds, and he knows those for sure. Not only does he recognize that adding "s" to a word means there is more than one, and he knows how to add "ing" to verbs, but he is having conversations with us all of a sudden. He's engaged in the world and interacts more with people instead of just watching. In the beginning he would just get frustrated when we didn't know what he wanted but he didn't seem to want to tell us. Michelle said, "Remember how hard we had to work to get him to say 'cup'?" It was great having him at playgroup to serve as a model to others, Michelle told me, but she questioned what he was getting out of it. He was playing in an interactive way she noticed, not in parallel play, which is typical at his age. She added that he takes pride in his accomplishments, takes turns, and is cooperative. I am so proud of my little man.

Logan can say his own name now, and fairly clearly. He has "Mia" down perfectly, and I remember when he first started trying to say her name, he pronounced it "Mya." He even says "Daddy" correctly, which had been Brett's ongoing frustration (in a joking way) of first being called nothing at all, and then "Mama" and then "Gaggy1 to 10. Then words were garbled so I wouldn't have recognized them out of context, but he definitely can count. This afternoon when we were getting ready to go outside to play in the fresh snow Logan told me "Boots on first." I suggested, "No. You have to get dressed first. That's not going to work very well." He insisted, "Yes. Work good." Of course, he eventually agreed that snow pants had to go on before boots, but the fact that we had this exchange was monumental to me. When he was ready to come inside he said his reason was "snow on us." And before his nap he informed me, "Hitting not nice... Bad Mia!" He was ratting her out for an earlier infraction, which means we had all better be on our toes since we now have a little chatterbox in the family. It's really amazing what a difference a year makes.

Houston, We Have a Sentence!

I realized that I needed to consolidate my many notes notes written on the wall calendar over the past couple of weeks. I considered compiling all of Logan's new words, approximations, and phrases in alphabetical order or by grouping them into related categories, but decided to just stick with chronological order since it seemed simpler. (That's how it's on the calendar, right?) I really would love to analyze this further, especially since I have lost track of how many words he knows and there are times when Mia announces, "Logan just said _____________. Has he said that one before?" and I am not even sure. Silly, I know, but it is a great problem to have. Logan is saying so much more every day, and having us successfully understand what he is saying motivates him to keep saying more. It's pretty amazing. I have always known that he was watching picking up new things since he is such a visual and a hands-on learner, but now I really see how much more he knows about the world by what he says.

October 31:
"treat" (I forgot to add this one to my last post. I think the reason he learned this is fairly obvious. He couldn't manage the entire phrase "trick or treat" so he picked out the most important word.)

November 2:
"hand" (approx.)
"got it" (approx.)

November 3:
"paper" (approx.)
"nurse" (approx.)
"lunch" (approx.)
"hot"
"milk" (approx.)
"pick" (approx.)
"lid" (approx.)
"head"
"dirty me"
"Gaggy (Daddy) eat"
"naughty"
"more"
"bath now"
"fire truck"
"hair brush"

November 4:
"goodbye"
"nice"

November 5: 
"happy"
"crouton"
"salad"
"money"
"hiding"
"ramp"
"hug"
"not"

November 6: First Sentence! = "Me eat apple."
"I spy (approx.) .... beep beep."
"pocket"
"one"
"dark"
"book"
"read"
"clothes" (approx.)
"happy 'ween" (happy Halloween)

November 7:
"eyes"
"nine"
"you"
"treat bag"
"hammer"
"nose"
"yellow pepper" (He recognizes this color.)
"yellow ducky" (Ducky is new.)

November 8:
"mat"
"apple juice"
"horsies run"
"Logan" (approx.)
"worm"
"house"
"hole"
"another one"

November 9:
"bread" (approx.)
"butter" (approx.)
"popcorn" (approx.)
"open" (approx.)
"hungry"
"lunch" (approx.)
"vacuum"

November 10:
"water bottle"
"rolls"
"corn" (approx.)
"carrots" (approx.)
"off" (approx.)
"bobble head"

November 11:
"paper towel" (approx.)
"clean"
"help"
"heart" (He recognized the shape.)
"monster truck" (approx.)

November 12: 
"cousin" (approx.)
"'prise" (surprise)
"tummy"
"popsicle"

November 13:
"nut"
"squirrel" (approx.)
"More, Gaggy (Daddy)" (a request)

November 14:
"rabbit" (approx.)
"more apple juice" (He strung those words together.)
"Uh oh. Dog woofing." (He has been making more and more observational statements like this.)

November 15:
"broccoli" (approx.)
"stuck"
"walk"
"baseball"
"buckle"

November 16:
"dark"

November 18:
"peanut" (approx.)
"Race car go."

November 19:
"pink" (approx.) (He recognizes this color.)
"orange" (approx.) (He recognizes this color.)
"more books" (a request)
"tunnel"
"wrapper"
"No eat it." (This was a directive given to the dog.)
"rubber ducky" (Rubber is new.)
"marker"
"leg" (I don't remember if he has said this before or not.)
"heavy"
"outside"
"mouse"
"fire station"
"Mia's room" (approx.) (Both were new words.)

November 20:
"lollipop" (He said this after seeing the card in Candy Land.)




 

I Can't Keep Up!

During Logan's home visit with his speech teacher, Ms. Pam on Monday, she noted, "It's like a switch went on for him all of a sudden." I agreed, adding, "He's just so much more engaged in everything." It is so awesome to hear how he has progressed. She showed him several photos of children doing various activities and asked him to identify verbs by asking things like is she "brushing her teeth" or "eating" and he answered every one correctly, not just saying several words I had never heard him say before, but also adding "ing" to each one! That really amazed me! Verbs that Logan said included "drinking," "catching" (totally new), "eating," "running" (new), "crying," (new), "brushing," (new), "sleeping," (new), "riding," "climbing," (new), and "crawling," (new). I also gave Ms. Pam a long list of words and approximations that he had said since the last time she visited the house on October 13:

1. "hi"
2. "football" (approximation)
3. "owl"
4. "ready"
5. "pebble"
6. "yellow"
7. "tractor"
8. "banana" (approximation = "nana")
9. "please" (approximation)
10. "red"
11. "bowl"
12. "tickle tickle tickle" (approximation = "ga ga ga")
13. "on"
14. "in"
15. "wet"
16. "pod" (his approximation for "iPod")
17. "hat"
18. "down"
19. "hop"
20. "show"
21. "coat"
22. "airplane" (approximation)
23. "under"
24. "work"
25. "home"
26. "blankies" (approximation)
27. "clean"
28. "ride"
29. "mine" (Admittedly, this is my least favorite thing he has learned to say. In true 2 year old fashion, however, he has it down pat.)
30. "good"
31. "candy"
32. "arm"
33. "hard"
34. "me"
35. "leg" (approximation)
36. "hoop"

Now, prepare to be really impressed. Logan also started putting together two-word phrases! On Friday, October 28, he looked out the window and informed me "Gaggy work." (Remember, "gaggy" is his version of "Daddy." That is the first time I heard him say "work.") He had been sad all week that Brett wasn't there and I kept telling him that "Daddy is at work," but I didn't think he necessarily understood that since it is fairly abstract. Maybe he doesn't get what it means, but he definitely can say the words now! Later in the day, he said, "Bye, llama!" to the llama at the farm behind our house. We visit frequently, and I always tell him to say goodbye to the animals when we are ready to leave. Then, while reading, he pointed to a picture and said, "Bobby Elmo." ("Bobby" is his approximation for "baby." "Elmo" is a new word.) Since then, he said, "mummy dog" when he was excited about our pre-Halloween dinner. ("Mummy" is a new word.) He also said, "Bye doggie!" when leaving a house after trick-or-treating. Yesterday, I went to a doctor's appointment and when I returned home, Brett reported that he said, "Mama home!" Last night before bed, he asked for a stuffed "animal" to be put into his crib with him.

Honestly, I am not sure how many words Logan knows at this point. I will try to tally them up, but it may be reaching the point when I don't need to keep track as religiously. The important thing is that he is communicating, and the really exciting thing is that he is starting to string words together!

"Nummy!"

Something clicked for Logan recently and his speech has really taken off! The list of new words and approximations that I have been making since his home teacher's last visit got so long that I was scribbling around the sides of the note paper and it was getting hard to keep track of his progress. I was incredibly excited to share this with Ms. Michelle today, especially since Ms. Pam, the speech pathologist came along on this visit. Last Tuesday, while he was at his LESA playgroup, he said three new approximations: "bell," (while playing with play dough and seeing a bell shaped cookie cutter) "eat," and "drink" (During snack time of course, and he now consistently makes the "k" sound for "drink," usually while signing "drink") and then when we got home he added "moon" (He saw the moon.) and "nummy" (for "yummy") to his repertoire.

And his vocabulary has just exploded since then! Last Thursday, he started saying "bobby" for "baby" and I have heard him continue to say this when he sees a doll or picture of a baby. He also started saying "bye bye" although now he has shortened it to "bye" while he pretends to talk on the phone or when we are leaving. Last Friday, he saw a toy dog and called it "doggie" and later in the day he started saying "heh-woh" for "hello" while pretending to talk on the phone. I can't tell you how long I have been waiting for him to start saying versions "hello" and "goodbye." This was bugging me a bit because it seemed like every other kid (and usually much younger than Logan) was able to say them, so this is a big milestone for both of us.

On September 30, Logan peed in the potty for the first time. (Stick with me. I promise this is connected to his language development.) This was totally his idea, and I was pretty shocked that we was successful since he was just 25 months old. Then, when he went again a few minutes later, I called Brett and asked him to bring home some M&M's because it looked like we were potty training, whether we were ready for it or not. This has been a huge motivator for Logan and it has also increased his vocabulary because he really wants to earn those M&M's, or "nummies" as he calls them. He has gone potty at least once every day since then, and usually more like three or four times. Plus, he started asking to go "potty" and telling me when he needs to go "pee pee" (or has already gone in his diaper). Several times a day, he looks longingly at the pantry and declares "nummy!" so I tell him he can earn a "nummy" by going potty. It's definitely working.

In the past few days, Logan has continued to add more new words and approximations to his vocabulary. This Tuesday at playgroup, he said something that sounded like "puff" and something else that sounded very much like "please" during snack time. On the way home, he saw a school bus and announced "bus" or at least something that sounded a lot like "bus." Yesterday, while playing outside, he was concerned about the "bug" on the slide and kept pointing it out and saying "bug" until I did got rid of it. He also asked me to fill his watering can by saying an approximation for "water."

Logan was eating yogurt for breakfast this morning with a frog spoon and Brett reports that he pointed to the eye and said "eye" and then he said "froggy." During his home visit later in the morning, he said several new words while he helped Ms. Pam read Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? by choosing the correct animal magnet and putting it on the magnet board each time a new animal was introduced. He called out "bear," "bird," "blue,"and "duck." 

During our session, Ms. Pam had me circle words/approximations that Logan has said from a list of common words that kids first learn and when she totaled up the list she said he knew 31 words. And we can now add "hockey" to the word list, too. He kept throwing a puck around this afternoon while yelling "hockey!" He is definitely all boy. We don't play or watch a lot of hockey, so why he would even have that as one of his first words is beyond me. Ms. Pam said our "homework" is to get him to start adding verbs to his vocabulary and then connecting them with the nouns he knows. I am hoping that this will be easy for my very active little guy.

Brought to You by the Letters P, G, and W

Logan has had another big language explosion in the past couple of weeks since he turned two. It's funny to me because I am realizing that before I know it, I will be trying to keep track of his funny sayings and not just new approximations, sounds, and words. For right now, though, I am excited to see him building off of some sounds that he has learned, "p," "g," and "w."

New exclamations include "wow!" (said when he saw his birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa-- a tricycle) and "woohoo!"

Some new sounds that Logan makes are a "whistle" to call the dog, a "siren" when he is playing with his firetrucks or police cars, a pretend "snore," and he copies Mia whenever she "coughs." (This drives her nuts, but new language is new language!)

He has several new words, too! While we were Up North, he wanted black pepper on something we were eating at dinner and twice asked for "pepper" very clearly. Then, one day last week he looked very sad and when I asked what was wrong, he replied, "poop." Sure enough, when I checked his diaper, it was poopy. I haven't heard him say it since, but I am hopeful that he will keep using this word because it is one of the first really functional words he has learned to say. During his most recent visit from his home teacher, last Thursday, he identified and labeled "keys" in a book. Yesterday, he called me "Mommy" for the first time. I think he still prefers Mama, but we will see how this plays out.

His teacher, Ms. Michelle, also got him to start making a sound when asked what Mia's name was. He doesn't get the "m" sound but he is saying something and it sounds like it has the "ia" in it. He had never said anything before when I asked him to say her name so this was exciting. Now, he will make his sound every time we ask. Later that day, he started saying his own version of Daddy, too, "Gaggy." This is great improvement because he was still avoiding saying anything, not even dada, when we wanted him to identify his daddy. Later that same day, Logan held out his messy hands after eating and informed me that they were "gucky." He has continued to use this to let me know his hands are yucky and need to be cleaned. Other recent approximations that Logan has begun using are "geen" for green and "puh puh" for purple. (He says purple pretty often now which has helped him get a sucker and Pedialyte when he wanted them.) And just today I repeatedly heard him say something that sounded "Click" while watching Diego, and it was always at the appropriate times when the characters asked the viewers to say the camera's name.

"Bup," "Bup," and Away!

Logan's Early On teacher, Michelle, swears that summertime is one of the best opportunities for growth in kids' speech, and if his session today is any indication, she is really on to something! When Michelle asked Logan to identify the farm animal toys, he almost always produced an approximation for the animals' names or sounds that they make. When she showed him different pictures of animals in a book, he was able to select the corresponding animal toy. He also correctly matched up "girl" and "boy" with the pictures. I was pretty excited by this, and told her how he has become much more actively engaged in reading recently. He points to objects, makes noises, and will answer simple questions when we read together. She agreed, noting that he understands everything we say, and his ability to understand and follow directions is actually advanced for his age.

While playing with the animals, he started laying them down and Michelle asked him if they were going to sleep. When he responded "uh huh" she said, "Tell Mia, 'shh.' They're sleeping," and placed a finger over her mouth for "shh." Logan immediately mimicked the motion and made a "shh" sound! Both of those were new for him.

When he became hungry, it was time to wrap up the session, and Michelle asked him if he wanted to eat. Logan responded with an approximation for "eat," which I had never heard until then! He also wanted me to help him open his water bottle so he signed "drink." He has done this before but not without prompting. I told her that he had been signing "open" since she introduced it during his previous session. Logan repeatedly strung together signs for her by signing things like "open please" and "more please" to ask her to take out more animals. He was also saying "p" "p" "p" while signing "please," since Michelle had tried to get him to say please, "p" "p" "p" during the last playgroup we attended in July. She noted that Logan will mimic words when asked in context if an object is present. This is great because instead of just parroting words back to us, he uses them in a meaningful way.

Michelle also observed that Logan is starting to use spontaneous language. I told her that his newest word is his approximation for "up," but his version has a "b" at the beginning so it sounds like "bup." This one makes me smile because he says it so enthusiastically. Looking back at the progress he has made since starting Early On in January, when he wasn't even saying "mama" or "dada," it seems that his speech development is headed directly "bup!"

com·mu·ni·ca·tion

It's summer and things have been a bit hectic so I haven't been as good about catching Logan's new approximations and recording them on the calendar. (And honestly, I just haven't been a good about working with him in the first place.) I don't know if it is partially because we haven't been to  playgroup in awhile or what, but I do think that being around the Early On people more frequently seemed to keep me more accountable. Anyway, during last week's session with Logan's home teacher, Michelle, she picked up on Logan using approximations for "there" and "that." Now that she pointed it out, I hear him saying these pretty much on a daily basis. They definitely do not sound like the actual words, though, which is why I think I have had such difficulty understanding him.

Lately, he has been tugging on the pantry door to let us know that he is hungry so his home teacher suggested we work on the sign for "open." He now has his own version of that sign. Again, most people probably wouldn't know what he was saying (even if they happened to know sign language), but it is working for us.

Yesterday, I think Logan may have gone up to the fireplace, waved hello to his reflection, and said, "hi!" I am not sure, though. He has never waved or said "hi" before (although he is more consistently waving "bye bye"). He did continue to wave "hi" throughout the day, so I am certain about that part.

One newer development in Logan's language is that he says "beep beep" not just when driving his cars and trucks, but now he also says it regularly when he wants someone to move out of his way! I think I may have taught him that without meaning to, but it is pretty cute. The funny thing is that he really believes that if he says "beep beep" people and objects will get out of his way. It doesn't always work that way, obviously.

Other changes are that he now says "unh ugh" in place of "na na" and "mmm hmm" instead of "ya ya." On the one hand, he still has versions of "yes" and "no" which have been so helpful in communication. On the other hand, these new versions are actually harder to decipher than the previous versions, which has increased our frustration at times when it had been becoming easier to understand what Logan wanted.

For awhile now, we have had the "elephant says" game going at bedtime every night and Logan was always so cute telling me that lion says "roar." But recently, he has switched to saying the correct sound, and it's just not the same (even with the cute little arm motion to show the trunk). However, has added a new dimension to the game. I put him down on his cow pillow and say, "Cow says ________" and he provides the "moo." That's followed by my covering him with the elephant blanket and the saying "Elephant says _________" and he supplies the correct sound (complete with arm motion). Lastly, I tell him, "Mommy says _________ " and he smacks his lips in a noisy kiss which means "I love you."

Sometimes it's good to be reminded that you don't really need words to communicate.

Elephant Says What?

Logan continues to make gains in his speech, although, on a daily basis I still feel pretty frustrated when trying to communicate with him. This is why I really need to document all of the little things that are huge successes if I stop to think about them. This is cute. On Saturday, May 21, he asked for me to read Perfect Piggies at bedtime by saying "wee wee wee." This is unrelated to speech progress, but on that day, Logan also figured out how to jump down the stairs. EEP! He loves doing this quite often now.

Monday, May 23 was an important day for new words and sounds. Logan said "dada" with "d" sounds! This is a BIG deal!! Then he said "boo boo" while I was putting a band-aid on Mia's skinned knee. He wanted one, too. Wow! This is one of the few times he has really tried to communicate without our initiating it.
Later on he said "bee bee" while pointing to a picture of bees in a book and I also heard him say "car" with the end consonant sound! (new to hear that "r" sound!)

On Tuesday, May 24, Logan decided to sit on the toilet. I know this has nothing to do with his speech progress, but it is interesting to me. And he continues to try at least once a day to use the potty, although he hasn't succeeded yet.

Last Wednesday, May 25, he said "beep beep" while playing with cars and trucks at play group! Then on Monday, May 30, Logan said "boo" several times while peeking out from behind the curtains. Later that day, he asked to watch Blue's Clues by saying "goo goo." (We had offered the choice of that or Backyardigans.) Another unrelated example of how Logan is becoming independent is that yesterday morning he walked upstairs, went into his bedroom, opened his dresser drawers and got out a onesie and a pair of shorts! (And possibly the most amazing thing about that is that the clothes were weather appropriate, which is darn near impossible to pull off given this crazy spring we are having when it's 50 degrees one day and 80 the next!)

I'll end with this thought on my silly boy: Logan now has an ongoing joke he plays when I put him to bed. I tuck him into his elephant blanket and tell him, "Elephant says {insert elephant sound} to which he responds, "rawr." I laugh and say, "No, elephant says {insert elephant sound}." He roars again and we go back and forth a couple more times before I say good night. I know that he knows that's not right and he is starting to display a sense of humor, which I love.

"NO, Mama!"

Today Logan had his final session with his speech teacher for this school year. He loves when Ms. Pam comes to our house, and he does such good work in a short period of time. Today he said "ball," which he has attempted to say before, but this time he definitely used the end consonant sound, which is new. Logan would supply the words "go go" when Ms. Pam said "ready... set..." to signal that he wanted to do something again. He has said "go" before, but not in such a reciprocal way. He also identified a picture of a bus by saying "bus." Up until then he was calling every vehicle a "ca" so this is a big deal.

The biggest deal of all, though, is when he got hold of a colored pencil. I tried to take it away from him because I was afraid he would poke himself with it. He clung tightly to it and cried, "NO, Mama!" This is his first two word phrase!! There will come a day when I will be totally annoyed to hear him talk back to me, but for now I am ecstatic.

Gaga, Baa Baa, & Tada!

Logan is continuing to make nice progress since starting Early On for his speech delay. I am excited by all of the new exclamations, animal sounds, and word approximations that he has learned since the last time I posted! While these words may not sound like much, I am hopeful that this will lead to increased communication and his actually being able to tell us what he wants.

On April 25th I realized that he had started saying "Gaga" as his version of Dada/Daddy. I think it's pretty funny, but Brett is less amused. He doesn't like having a nickname that sounds so much like a certain popular singer's name. However, I think he will have to agree that it's better than being called "Mama," which is what Logan used to call him before that.

On April 26th, he made two new animals sounds, which are self-explanatory: "baa baa" and "quack quack."

May 9th was a busy day for Logan. In the morning he was possibly saying "truck" while riding in the car. I am pretty sure he said "cookie" after seeing the cookies we had baked while he was napping (which is interesting because he does not like cookies). I haven't heard him say this since he qualified for Early On! Later, while we were playing outside he squealed, "Whee!" when he was on the swing. Then, he made an approximation for "dig" while digging in sandbox. Later on in the evening, he said an approximation for "tada!" after building a tower out of Duplos.

And finally, he said "num num" while pretending to eat hyacinths he picked from my weed flower bed yesterday.

Row, Row, Row... Ah!

Logan had another great session with Ms. Pam, his speech teacher, today! When I told him that she was coming this morning he clapped his hands and said, "Yay!" (which was a first!) While she was here, he really enjoyed playing with her iPad, especially the app that showed pictures of animals and included animal sounds and music. (She said that most kids weren't as interested in the music as he was, which is interesting. I told her we don't listen to that much music without words so I was a bit surprised at how well he liked the classical music.)

I excitedly told her that he has really taken off since his last session and mentioned all of the new animal sounds he has picked up, including "rawr" for lion, "ah ah ah" for monkey, and "tweet tweet" for bird. He also says "cheep cheep" for chick.

On the 10th, I heard him say "choo choo" for train and he waved "hi" for the first time on the 14th. (He has been waving bye-bye for a little while now.) One of the teachers at Logan's LESA playgroup told me that he said "down" yesterday, which I have not heard before and today during his session with Pam he said "cat" and "go."

When we started attending playgroup, I learned this version of the song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and we started singing it to Logan every time we brush his teeth:

Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream.
If you see an alligator,
don't forget to scream! Ah! (scream)

Now, Logan rocks himself from side to side and sings along with his own version: "Row, Row, Row... Ah!" (scream), which is cute and pretty funny to hear. He clearly knows the beginning and the end of the song, including the best part, the scream. Who needs all those extra words, anyway?

Look Who's Talking!

There is a veritable language explosion taking place in our house this week! Everyone kept saying that Logan would talk when he was ready to, and apparently turning 19 months old on Monday marked a perfect time for him to expand his vocabulary. On Sunday, he said "Dada," which is huge! He had been calling Brett "Mama" or nothing at all up until then. Monday was a huge day, too. He said something garbled that had the intonation of "thank you, " and based on the context (I had just given him food) and the fact that he signed "thank you" while saying it, I'm pretty sure that is what he was saying. He also said "uh oh," and signed "milk," which is funny because until the past couple of days he didn't even like milk. Now he loves it and asks for it. Later that evening, I blew bubbles for him while he was in the bathtub and he asked for more by saying "ba ba" ("bubble") and "pa" ("pop")! This was the first time I have heard Logan make a "p" sound. Yesterday he started repeating me when I told him "no no." His version sounds more like "na na," but he wagged his finger at me like I had done, so I think this is what he was saying. Today at playgroup during snack time, he said something that sounded a bit like "cracker." I could not be more thrilled with his progress!

My Little Monster

Tonight at dinner Logan was sitting in the chair next to mine. (He refuses to sit in a booster now, so he wasn't confined at all.) All of a sudden, he leaned over, let out a "rawr" sound and swiped the bun off of the top of my cheeseburger! After eating the bun, he then climbed into my lap, grabbed my fork and started eating french fries and corn from my plate (and yes, he ate the french fries with a fork). Once that food was gone, he leaned farther over toward Mia and attempted to steal her food! He was not successful. I guess she guards her food a bit more closely than I guard mine. That's part of being the mom. You sacrifice your food and any thing else that seems necessary for the benefit of your children.

This boy sure likes to eat, and I am glad. He had his 18 month "well" check today and we learned that he is only in the 3rd percentile for weight. He officially weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces. I'm not concerned though, since I know that the charts they use at the doctor's office are based off of formula fed babies and he's never had a drop of formula in his life. Anyway, it's obvious that he has my metabolism! (Although, we do need to go back in three months for a weight check, just to make sure he is still gaining.) Seriously, if the doctor saw how much he eats she wouldn't be the least bit concerned. And it's great that he had a good appetite tonight since we also learned that he has a double ear infection. Poor little guy! It stinks that he can't tell us he didn't feel well. We just thought his fussiness was from the four teeth that are coming in.

And that "rawr" sound... I've never heard it before. It may just need to go down on the list of words that he is saying now. (Growling counts, right?) The nurse asked me, "Is he saying at least six words?" "Well, he can say 'mama' and he is saying what sounds like 'woof woof' lately, and he has a few approximations for other words," is what I told her. It didn't sound like much, but I know he has made great improvement in the couple of months that we've been working with Early On. At any rate, he's a cute little monster, whether "rawr" counts as a word or not.

Logan's Speech Progress

Logan qualified for Early On services with a speech delay on January 5th when he was 16 months old. He wasn't saying any actual words up until that point. That day, he shocked me by saying "cookie," but he hasn't said it since. Things have gotten better for our communication, though. He has picked some sign language. He has his own versions of "more," "please," and recently I think he is trying to sign "eat." He is also using a few approximations for common words. For example, he says "ba" for ball, "ca" for car (or any vehicle), and "ga" for dog (or any animal). Lately, we think he might even be saying "yeah."

There have been a few other words that I thought he might have been saying like "color," "carrot" (he loves carrots!), "cow," and "cup." I really haven't heard any of those lately, so I am not sure if he was really trying to say them or not. I don't know if I should be worried about the possibility that he is losing speech... He did used to say "mama" and "dada" occasionally, but he stopped that awhile back, and when he said them they were just sounds, not words that he associated with us.

He has continued to point, and shake his head (or really more of his whole body) "yes" and "no" and he will choose between things if you offer him two choices. The cutest thing is that he now folds his hands when we sit down at the table to remind us that it's time to pray. He is super observant and will let us know if something is out of place like if the baby gate isn't up or the DVD player was left on. I know he understands a lot, and I am excited that he became interested in books in the past week or two. This is huge! I am trying not to be frustrated, but I feel like he should be saying a bit more now that he is 17 1/2 months. On the other hand, he has found lots of non-verbal ways to get his needs met, so I guess it's not as important to him as it is to me.

I am really thankful that he is getting help with his speech development! I'm getting lots of support, too, and in ways I didn't even realize I needed. Yesterday, at his weekly playgroup at LESA I learned about what a big deal "W" sitting is and why I need to get him to stop doing this. I knew a small bit about this because the pediatrician had noticed Mia doing it and told me it was bad for her hips, but now I know that it can affect the child's core strength. And more importantly in Logan's case, it can further hinder his speech development. They gave me some exercises to work on with him, but honestly, I haven't done them yet. (I am still doing my own PT exercises twice a day for my bursitis, so that takes up a fair bit of my time.) I am hoping that things will pick up and communication with Logan will be smoother for us. For now, I have decided I need to focus on the progress he has already made!