Yes, you read it right. Now that Evan is talking a bit, I thought I'd include him in the speech update. I am amazed at the sounds that he has, because at this age...and for a long time, Meghan didn't have sounds and babbles. Sounds seem easy for him...and it amazes me. This is a lengthy post, but I hope you'll read to the end.
Meghan is in preschool four mornings a week in a speech and language classroom. She leaves the classroom three times each week for speech therapy. She has two group therapies and one individual therapy. She is overcoming her
verbal apraxia day by day. We miss not knowing exactly what is happening during therapy, but oh well. We are thankful for the specialized classroom.
Meghan's vocabulary is expanding and improving. Just the other day she asked for "water!" She didn't say "wawa", so at first I didn't quite understand. (Though all the proper sounds were there, it was still a bit awkward.) Meghan says Daddy and Mommy clearly now. Keep in mind that until February 2009, at age 27 months, she did not have ANY sound or word for us.
She often says the phrase, "Best I ever had." It's so cute. Once in a while she expands it to include other words. Another frequent phrase if we remind her of something is "I know."
A phrase I hear multiple times a day is, "Sure, Mom." It's so grown-up and cute. She loves to identify new things, like the volcano in one of our Bibles and Christmas decorations. The other day she told me, "Snow deep." She learned about the word deep from the song Deep and Wide. I was impressed that she understood it well enough to apply it to the snow. Meghan has learned a few new songs recently. She can (mostly) sing the first verse of Away in a Manger, including hand motions! She also sings Geegle Bells, her version of Jingle Bells. Very cute. The funny thing is I didn't teach her the song. But when she started singing it, I knew immediately what she was singing. She can also sing Jesus Loves Me and Deep and Wide.
Meghan is also now using more adjectives and prepositions. It is just another way that she demonstrates that she is catching up with other three year olds. (My guess is that she is still 9-12 months behind in most speech, and definitely articulation.) This morning (to get my attention since she knows it is not allowed), she said, "Look Mom, foot on table." Then she said the same thing but inserted the word "toe."
Meghan has never really been able to yell words (screaming/crying is a different story). Recently she has begun to yell her alphabet. She loves to yell it loudly and clearly. One of these days I am going to take a video and figure out how to post it. (If you are a blogger and can walk me through it, please do!)
Just the other night (after Evan needed to be stripped to his diaper after a blow-out dirty diaper) she had a
7 word sentence! We don't remember exactly what it was, but it was something to the effect of "Evie try take off his diaper, Daddy!" (He had quickly figured out where the velcro tabs were.)
As proud as I am at all that Meghan has accomplished and learned to speak in the past 11 months, I am equally impressed with the sounds and words that Evan has. Evan has plenty of sounds, but he usually tends to be upset to say a word. He says uh-oh, yes, and up on a regular basis. If he is upset (and typically in his crib wanting out) he will say Ma and maybe Mom. Though he has the da sound, he doesn't seem to use it on a regular basis to name Daddy. Evan will use sign language for "more", but instead of putting his fingers together, he claps. The other day he signed, "all done," as well. I know many children who are 14 months have more words than this, but I am thrilled that he has regular speech development. (At this age, Meghan would only say mmm when she was eating. She still does it.)
Evan also likes to fake sneeze, "A-boo!" So cute! He likes to try to blow up the whoopee cushion, too. He gives kisses...big, wet, open-mouthed kisses. All of these are such fun to see! We, as a family, tend to poke at each other and say "bop." Evan has repeated it back to me! Evan talks regularly on the "phone" any toy phone, real phone, or remote control. He is very vocal and generally a content little boy. (Just don't ask me how this past week went when he cried nonstop more times than I would like to remember.)
Meghan's IEP is finally changed to be a better challenge to her. The draft was drawn up before Thanksgiving; however, we just got a copy. The new IEP will better address her speech needs since the first one was drawn up after just a short evaluation.
Please continue to pray for our little ones.
