Words, words, words

I finally got the report from Z's developmental evaluation. I praise God that I have had enough time and distance from the experience, and enough reassuring progress with Z, that I did not have a meltdown. It was what I expected as far as showing Z behind in most areas. I have enough perspective now to see where the report is incorrect, in that Z can do the activity but was just not willing to do it there in the room. And, the good thing is, that the goals for therapy and improvement are all good. Not all of them are necessary, but I think we'll see that right away and move on to the things he really can't do.

The next step is for him to be evaluated by a speech therapist. And then he'll start going to a group play time where we'll work on the skills he needs help developing. The report said they wanted him in two hours of therapy (one speech, one occupational) three times a week. Holy cow. Not sure how we're going to work that out with a new baby on the way, but I'm taking this one step at a time. John will be taking time off of work when the baby comes, so maybe that will be a fun activity they can do together. That might work out perfectly, actually. God's timing is perfect. We'll just wait and see.

As for Z's words, he is really improving. A sweet friend (THANK YOU, Mrs. V!), who is a speech therapist, came over and did her usual activities with a toddler so that I could learn from what she does. It was extremely helpful. She showed me how you use times of control (when you have something the child wants) to encourage them to speak. It is just a way to motivate them. But, the best part was she gave me the guideline that she would try to get them to say a word three times (while with-holding the object) and if they didn't do it, she gave it to them and moved on to another item/game. She had to do that with the first activity with Z, but not after that. I really think if she had held out on that first time, he would have shut down and become too frustrated to even try after that. Also, watching her interact with Z, I got a feel for how therapy should be. He was definitely challenged and pushed a little, but overall, he had fun and the experience was very pleasant. This has set the bar for how his future sessions will be judged, which makes me feel more empowered about future decisions we might need to make.

Since we started focusing on it more he has started to use about 50% more words than what he was at 24 months. I am so encouraged by his progress. And, I'm really enjoying that these new words are useful, not just entertaining. For example, now he is saying: yesh, nope, mop (milk), cheese, fayou (thank you). Before, it was more sounds like ayaya, uh oh, ow (ouch). It is so great to hear his voice. His "nope" is so cute, I'm not even annoyed with it yet. Smile. Oh, and I should mention that he picked up "mine" from a well-meaning Sesame Street about "mine-itis," which in the end emphasized sharing. Hee hee.

So, we are on our way! Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words and friendship.