Mandatory Bragging Post

My little peanut of a baby grew THREE whole inches in 6 months. Apparently, that's a lot!

At his 2 year well baby appointment the doctor was most impressed with how active and smart he is. Well, I don't mean to brag, but...duh! Just kidding (kind of--he's my kid, I can't help but be impressed and agree with any compliments he receives.)

In all seriousness, we've been concerned about his lack of language. He babbles a lot but the words just aren't translating to English. He's got about 35-40 words, which is slightly under average, and is not even attempting to put them together in two word sentences. We made the decision a few months ago to have him evaluated if he still was not talking when he turned two. He's learning words, veeery slowly, so we brought in the Early Intervention people. We were mildly terrified that we'd end up getting some horrible diagnosis.

Turns out? He's perfectly normal. Yes, he's mildly delayed with conjoining words to make a sentence, but it's probably because he's been focusing on his gross motor skills. Of which he scored above average. This is normal for boys. Honestly, it was just a relief to know that there aren't any learning disabilities. The ladies tasked with evaluating our little snowflake were impressed with how well he followed directions, how eager he was to please and complete tasks, how smart he was, and how well his gross motor skills are forming. He matched shapes and colors and stacked toys above their testing standards. The only thing he couldn't do was thread beads onto a shoelace and they weren't overly concerned with that because all the other fine and gross motor skills were so strong. It was also his first time EVER being exposed to that task and they were impressed that he made such a strong attempt to complete it. Overall, we just had our egos inflated with praise that our kid rocks. Of course, we already knew this!

They said nothing about his sippy cup usage (unlike the terrifying physical therapist that I met about a month ago) but they did recommend we cut back on daytime binky usage. We're working on this already, granted not as hard as we should, but we know that now that he's two we should be cutting way back. They also recommended he get a hearing test, just to ensure that there aren't any middle ear issues that could be causing his lack of word explosion. Our family doctor agreed and Jack is having his hearing checked next week.

People kept telling me "but he's only two" and "he's so little" and yes, I know how old my child is, but it's okay if I'm concerned that a) he's developed at a normal pace for everything else and b) he's not hitting verbal milestones that every one of his peers is hitting or has passed. I get that people are trying to ease my mind, but it just wasn't working. I appreciate the support, I really do, but Todd and I were concerned and really, that's all that matters in the end. Honestly, I'm just glad to have the peace of mind knowing that Jack is developing normally for a boy (because as much as we want to focus on equality, boys and girls are wired differently and develop and learn in different ways.) I was comforted with the idea that even though he's not using English words, he is definitely trying to communicate and understands two step directions.

So, for now we start with the hearing test. We focus on enunciation. When he babbles nonsense at us, we focus on what we think he wants and use English words combined with signs. Gonna have to teach Todd signs. Oh fun!