I have composed this post...mentally...so many times. I don't want this stage in Benjamin's life to be totally undocumented just because he and his siblings are keeping me so busy. I mean, we have lots of pictures of him, but as far as writing things down about his day-to-day development...I'm weak in that area. It's been that way since his babyhood, and I consoled myself by noting that we were documenting less but enjoying more: more holding him, more playing with him, etc. And for the past six months, we have been documenting even less, but spending more time with his therapy appointments.
Anyway...in December, his teacher, physical therapist, and speech therapist all took inventory of how he was doing, and they independently agreed that he is at age level in everything he is doing except for a three-to-six-month delay in his speech. I'll meet with the woman who oversees his case soon, so maybe I'll hear more specific details from her, but basically he's doing fine and we are working hard on his expressive speech. His teacher and physical therapist each come only once a month to check on him now, and his speech therapist comes over twice a month.
Just last weekend, he switched from saying "Mama" and "Dada" to saying "Daddy" and "Mommy." He is saying new words every day now - words that seemed to be in there before but just hadn't come out yet. And the words he had before are becoming much more clear, and developing ending consonants. I do love the learning-to-talk stage when they are making progress! Today when he woke up he could suddenly say wah-da for water instead of just saying "wa." Since he is the third child, he is very proficient in his (loud) use of ME and MINE! Some recent words of his that are very clear are "move," "shoes," "Josh" (his doll) "juice," "cheese,""soup,""car,"...and he says "Dace" for Grace, which is really cute. He uses two-word sentences only rarely, and can't name his colors. All his therapists want him to be able to do those things. We're working on it, and it will come in time, I'm sure. He's still a good puzzle worker and shape sorter. And he has recently learned how to jump.
Things to continue to hop around here all the time...except during naptime and at night! Boy, we are thankful that our kids are good sleepers. But, I have to say that I am enjoying them more and more. Each time they interact with each other or play with each other without needing me as a go-between, I just love it. I'm doing a lot of training, especially with Benjamin and Grace, on how to treat each other with kindness instead of jumping right into conflict. Grace's first impulse is to yell at Benjamin if she thinks he's doing something to offend her. But, when she talks to him nicely, he really wants to make her happy and help her, so I am trying to teach her to do that. He looks up to both his siblings so much and usually wants to please them.
-----------------------------------------
Well, I still haven't finished editing this post, and yesterday Benjamin's "wah-dah" changed to "wah-der," so I think I'll just publish it now, in its rough form. His new words are encouraging to me!
No comments:
Post a Comment