Lauren had her 18 month well-baby check up yesterday, even though she's over 19 months old. I forgot to make an appt. for her. I forgot she had to be seen at 18 months. A lady at music class asked me how much she weighed at her 18 month appt. and I said, "Oh, her appt. isn't until next week, it's the soonest we could get in." when inside I was going, "Oh, shit. I totally forgot about that. Note to self: call and make an appt. when you get home." She's healthy and happy and huge and the appointment went like this:
Doctor: Does she pretend to talk on the phone?
Me: All the time.
D: Does she try and climb on the furniture?
M: All the time, and she's so big she's climbing on all the beds now, too.
D: Can she throw a ball?
M: Oh, yes! It's her favorite activity other than swinging.
D: Does she eat with utensils?
M: Yes, and has for a while. She's also out of her highchair and off of the bottle.
D: Does she try and jump if you try and jump?
M: Yes! It's so fun to see her mimic us physically.
D: Does she have at least 10 words in her vocabulary?
M: Ye - what? 10? For reals? Holy crap. No. She has two.f
D: Ummmm....
Soooo, I explained that Drew was the same way and she's now 5 and is fine. Thankfully Lauren doesn't exhibit any signs of any other affliction so we can be confident it's just a speech thing, just like with Drew. However, there is protocol in a situation like this (by situation I mean a 19 month old with 2 words) and that is a hearing test and seeing a speech therapist. We did it with Drew at this exact age and it was such a waste of time. I don't want to seem resistant, though, so we're going to jump through these hoops, like good parents. We have an appt. with the audiologist on Monday. So even though Lauren hears an airplane and darts out into the backyard to look up to the sky before I know what the hell is going on, we're going to have her hearing tested. Prediciton - her hearing is fine. BUT, I don't want to seem resistant so I'll take her. We have an appt. with the speech therapist in a couple weeks. Prediciton - her receptive language is 100%, she just isn't talking. 'Cause she doesn't want to or have to. BUT, I don't want to seem resistant so I'll take her.
Drew was well over two when she spoke her first sentence. There was a balloon at the top of the stairs when she went down for her nap but by then end of her nap it had deflated. She looked up at the ceiling and when it wasn't there she said, "Where did the 'loon go?" I almost cried. A subject! A predicate! Whoo hoooo! She hadn't spoken much at that point and all of a sudden busted out with a complete sentence. I am hopeful for the same outcome with Lauren and am so not worried about this. It's frustrating but I have to admit I'm pretty good at deciphering grunts. Have you seen that little girl's smile? She's not wanting for much...
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PLUS she has a big brother and sister to speak for her.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, this is true although Drew had no one to speak for her and honestly, D and W don't speak for Lauren much at all, I don't allow it. It could contribute some, I suppose. It's so familiar though, so similar to what Drew did.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds just like Ryan. Reception language fine, no expressive language. He had 0 words at 22 months and my MIL was a speech therapist. My biggest issue was "can he understand us?" I got a resounding YES. We went through Valley Mountain Regional so he had several tests, all had him at or above age level EXCEPT expressive lang. 5 months of therapy and he was above age level. Even his therapist said she didn't think it was her, it was him being ready. Still glad we did it because his lack of language was causing major frustration in the house. We didn't know what he wanted. And here we are today...i should say they labeled him at 12-15 months. i was shocked.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have Drew to compare to also. You know she'll be just fine. You've been here before. While Carson does speaks over 10 words, it's nothing compared to the 50+ Garrett spoke at 18 months. No joke! He was more like William, engaging in full conversations with adults. I try not to worry that Carson isn't speaking as much.
ReplyDeleteTrev, just like William. Ty started preschool at 2yrs., 9mos (cuz that was the earliest you could start). I told the teacher, "good luck, he doesn't speak". 2 weeks later I couldn't shut him up. I knew his grunts too, why would he bother to talk!
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