We are the Stow Family and this is our story. Our lives are blessed by Love, Joy and Hope. Follow our sometimes interesting stories on loving our two boys, exploring parenthood, and celebrating a little extra - two parents, two boys and an extra chromosome!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Ah! Da!

...am I a bad mother, or just not taking enough notice?

I have noticed for some time that Malakai wants to communicate verbally and he 'talks' all the time... just not in a language that I understand... He's using signs more often and is learning them at a rate of knots too... But speech? Well, I thought we were still months away from our first word.

Not according to our speech therapist (who we see every two weeks). In this morning's session, the ST was convinced Malakai is actually saying his first words (or approximations at words). And, when she pointed them out to me, I could actually hear them (sort of...)!

What I find amazing is the way that Malakai communicates around his ST. Where most kids don't perform in therapy or evaluation settings, Malakai was the opposite this morning. It was as if I was seeing him through the ST's eyes and his communication that much stronger and more direct.

He was telling us 'more' when he wanted something and 'finished' when he no longer wanted to play a certain game. He was signing 'more' and saying 'o', he was saying 'a' (like 'uh') for 'hello' and waving.

Come to think of it, this morning he said 'ah da' and waved at Darryl - as if to say 'hello dada' (which I always say when Darryl gets home from work in the afternoons).

How could I be so blind? He's been communicating all along and I just didn't see it. In between bath time, dinner time, bottle time, play time and everything else I try to fit into our evenings, I am not noticing that my son is actually making a go at verbal speech!

I'm feeling quite sheepish right now...

So - here I am to say Well Done Malakai! I am very proud of my little monkey boy - he's so amazing and so funny! I love him to bits!

3 comments:

Cathy said...

Our ST points out thing Lily is trying to say or do all the time. I think that we are with our kiddos so much that we don't always notice these things. A fresh pair of eyes (or ears, as the case may be) often can pick up on these things more easily. Don't beat yourself up!! You are an amaking mommmy!

Now, can Malakai please give Lily some lessons on "talking" when the therapist is around. She's a blabber-mouth when it's just us and clams up when the ST is around.

Monica Crumley said...

Great post! I'm right there with you. Our ST and OT have pointed out words they think our little guy says and then I start listening harder for the word. Lately he's been trying to say lots of words, so I'm learning to memorize his different word-approximations which increases his communication with me.

Unknown said...

Congrats big man!!!!! I'm sure your mamma and dadda are very proud of u! Can't wait to get my own hello or goodbye when we see u again!!! Big hugs to the boys!!!!! God bless!