Give me words to speak...

Words.

We start young...picking up a sounds. 

Then trying them out. 

And then we start to repeat what we hear. T

Then we put things together and the next thing you know--we can carry on conversations and make ourselves heard!

 We spend so much time trying to get our children to speak--and then once they do, we seem to spend the rest of our lives telling them to "be quiet!" 

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Isn't it funny how that works?

Everyone knows that children learn to speak at different ages. Some (like my oldest Little Britches) seem to have been born talking. And by their first birthday are able to nearly carry on a conversation using 2 word sentences. No joke! Seriously, that was pretty much the case with him. He was an above-above average speaker. He could carry on big conversations with grown men at the barbershop and they'd just be dumbfounded! Yep, Little Britches is a chatty one.

I admit it...he takes after his mama!

We were told time and time again how advanced he was--and how un-normal it was. But we really didn't realize how that was going to affect us the next time around with our second child. See Baby Britches---well, let's just say he is much more like his father.

Strong. Silent. Stubborn.

[whoops, did I add that last one in there? ;) ]

My husband is NOT a talker. He's content to just sit, watch and listen. He's one of the guys who doesn't say much, but when he does, everyone listens. And you know, he's an EXCELLENT reader of people. He can read people like no one I've seen before! He says it's because words don't get in his way...LOL!

His mother says he's always been a quiet one. Just like Baby Britches.

We've allowed for a lot of his silence by knowing that Little Britches was ahead of the game. So Baby Britches was more "normal". But here we are coming up on Baby Britches' third birthday--yes, it's just a little over 3 months away--and he's STILL silent. 

Oh, don't get me wrong. He speaks words. But not very many. And absolutely NO sentences. His words are still very rudimentary. It wasn't until the last month that he even was willing to repeat words back to you.

And that's the problem. See, I've been waiting for this said "vocabulary explosion" that is supposed to happen between the ages of two and three. Especially for boys. Especially for second born with a talkative older sibling. And so we waited.

...And waited....

...And waited...

But I kept feeling like it wasn't right. 

That something was off. 

I mean--I haven't ever heard him say "mommy" or "mama".

Ever. 

He says "dada"...and "papa" and "pahpaw"...but never mommy.

And so after talking with friends and my family--I decided it was time. 

Time to talk to my pediatrician about it. So last Monday I called and we were able to see him on Thursday.

So in we went and while he checked out Little Britches (sports physical for summer camp) he chatted with me about Baby Britches.

And by the end of our appointment, he agreed.

There should be more words...

He also tested Baby Britches ear with the OAE meter---the one that blows the puffs of air and measures vibrations...and Baby Britches passed the right ear with flying colors...

But not his left ear...

Our pediatrician decided it was time to get him checked out--and wrote up an order for Baby Britches to get a full hearing evaluation but also be evaluated and treated by a Speech Pathologist for 

"Expressive language delay".

Finally! A name for what is wrong!

And so we met with our speech therapist today.

She is a doll! I knew she'd have to be a certain kind of person to interact with Baby Britches because he's so stubborn. After a slow start, though she was able to start playing with him. And he was responding. By the end of the meeting she'd gotten him to say on demand two new words and boy was he proud of them!

At the end of his session (about an hour) she gave me the run-down. He is above average in his receptive language because he understands everything you say and can act on it. No problems there.

But...

He measures in "severe" for the expressive language.

Thankfully we already expected that...but it was a relief to FINALLY have it written down as official! It wasn't just in our heads! We finally have a starting place!

Miss Katie was great. She said that she will only need to see him once a week for his sessions...and will do them until she can bring him to where he needs to be age wise for his speech development. She was positive and said it could happen quickly--within a few weeks--or it could take months. It will depend on how Baby Britches responds.

She told us to continue doing what we are doing in regards to making him ask for what he wants--not to just give it to him. So the whole family is on board with that now. Even Little Britches!

So we've been working on it today...we've been working on it for over a week now actually--and it's been making a difference. He is remembering words so much better. And he's been so cute this afternoon saying the words she worked on with him. "Bubble" is his new favorite word. I bought him some this afternoon and now he comes to me and asks "Bubble?" And then he blows and says "Pop! Pop!" Letting me know what he wants to do...

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I truly think we are on the precipice of his speech...and that Miss Katie will give us the key to unlock Baby Britches vocabulary so I'm very excited.

Tomorrow we will go in for his hearing evaluation so we can know what's going on there...I am curious to see what they discover and to learn if that has played any part in this slow to speak development.

But most of all...I'm just so relieved! I have popped my OWN bubbles of anxiety now! I have someone to help us with this. That is such a great relief...anyone who has experienced something similar knows what I mean for sure.

And we were blessed to learn that Baby Britches insurance covers it 100%...and any of you who have battled for coverage know what a relief that is in itself!

I will let you know tomorrow what the hearing evaluation turns up...

Every night I've been praying "Lord, give him words to speak..." and I strongly believe my prayers are going to be answered...and answered soon!