As I mentioned before, Ada's been a bit slow to talk so far and at her 1.5 year checkup, the doctor encouraged me to pay attention to Ada's speech and work with her to improve her language skills.
To do so, I called a friend who is a speech pathologist and she gave me a bunch of pointers. (Play games where you name stuff, give Ada options - Apple or Orange?, use picture books and repeat names of everyday items, point to your mouth to show Ada how a sound is made and repeat it for several items - bunny, ball, broom, book, bag, bubbles, stop using sign language and doing everything for her, etc.) Rick, our nanny and I have been working with Ada a lot lately and trying out best to get her speaking. She's now going on 20 months and I'm starting to see improvements. Now she's saying Dadda and Momma when we are around respectively instead of just babbling. She says Ba for Ball -- doesn't quite have the L sound on the end. And we keep hearing words come out even if she doesn't ever repeat them again (making me wonder if I'm crazy and making it all up.) I think Ba Ba is baby. She has other sounds she makes too so that's good (according to my friend the speech pathologist). Her cognition is great (as they say) and she's understanding more and more as we work with her. I used to think that we could just sit in the same room with her and she'd absorb all the fun stuff happening in the world around her and magically she'd start talking. Maybe that's the case for some kids but this one seems to need a bit more hand-holding and guidance. I'm okay with that. Especially when I can now claim she said Momma first while I was around, then Dadda (which we're trying to make into Dad-dy still) and Ba for ball is a close third.
She's also able to identify a lot more things when we read: ball, baby, bunny, apple, orange, dog, cat. And she can meow so there is hope for her still.
Moral of the story: Pay attention to your child's development and if there seems to be an issue or they are slow to develop, don't freak out. Learn what you can do to improve the situation and figure out what the issue is before you freak. In our case, I still think it's just another case of Ada taking her time and doing things at her own pace. At least that's what I'm spending all of my energy on instead of freaking out.
Showing posts with label Baby Sign Language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby Sign Language. Show all posts
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
1.5 Year Check Up
Today was Ada's 1.5 year checkup. She got another shot (whoopity do). Then the doctoress pulled out the milestone checklist to see how Ada is doing compare to other kids. She's still off the charts for height and weight. Her gross motor skills are fine. But her communications skills are lacking. One theory is that she uses sign language pretty well and that's slowing down the need for her to use words. At this age, she should have five to twenty words or so. Ada says Mama, Dada, BaBa (not for bottle -- just because) and that's it.
The theory now is that we go back in three months to check on her progress and re-evaluate, just in case. If she's progressing nicely and just a bit behind the curve, that's fine. Otherwise, we can meet with a speech pathologist (or is it speech therapist?) and see if we need to focus on something specific. We're going to try to work with more picture books and focus on body parts, colors, numbers, common household objects, etc. I'm thinking a little less time spent with her all time favorite Finding Nemo DVD won't hurt (She only watches it once or twice a week so don't get all excited that TV is my babysitter since I don't even have TV access. We only get that snowy fuzz, and maybe channel 2 if it is sunny out.) Feel free to leave comments or email me with any tips if you've been in this spot before. I'm sure she's just taking her time and working us as much as she can and I'm not worried. There is a difference between being worried about something and keeping an eye on it. I'm keeping an eye on it...and her size since she's still off the charts -- but that runs in the family.
Speaking of height, at 34 inches -- if you double that -- since they say a kid's height at age 2 doubled is their likely adult height -- she's already going to be 5'8" and she's got six more months to grow. I really need to get Aunt Heather to commit to teaching her basketball and volleyball since she played Cornell. I can't pass up that opportunity for Ada --but I'm not going to be some pushy mom that makes her play sports if she really wants to go out for the ballet or theater or start her own dog walking business at age ten. I'm cool with all of that.
Back to her doctoress visit...
I then asked about potty training as I've started to do some research and the Doctoress recommended getting a potty and getting Ada used to it. Start explaining when we go to the bathroom and referencing the potty. Give her some time to acclimate to the potty and accept it as her own. That sort of thing. I've had a few mom's tell me their potty training stories and advice so again, if you have anything to add on that topic, please feel free to leave a comment below and I'd be happy to consider it. We're at ground zero for this stuff and I don't want to mess it up.
My next-to-final beef of the day is Ada's shoe size. Her feet keep getting bigger and bigger, it seems like every week it's a new size. She's already a size 7 and we have a collection of shoes in size 6 and 8 but only one pair of sevens and I bought them from Target, thought they were cute, they had rubber soles so that would be good, and they seemed to fit-- but now that she's worn them a few times, I notice that she slips all over tiled-floors in stores and our hardwood floors at home, so they really aren't that great. And the selection at Target was crap. Totally picked over by the time I got there. Disappointing. So I've sent Grandma Ba on a mission to see what she can find. That way, she gets to fill her need to buy cute things for Ada, Ada gets new shoes, and I don't have to fight the crowds and crappy selection at Target(not to knock target because I do like that store for the most part -- minus their current selection of sunglasses and that's only because I just broke mine camping... but I digress, again.)
And my final beef of the day... dun, dun, dun... the damn black berry tree in front of our neighbor's house! Don't get me wrong. I love the tree, its beautiful shade, its size (big for a city tree), and its ability to freshen the air I breath. Love all that. Hate the damn berries that fall all over the sidewalk, making it a purpley/black gooey mess for a month and a half each year. Rick's smart enough to walk across the street to avoid it but since I tend to park just beyond it on this side of the street, that doesn't always work. (We WILL NOT park under it as the car then turns into a giant mess of crap, covered in berries and pigeon poo and there is no hope for ever getting it clean for less than a $20 car wash.)
So today, on the way to Ada's Doctoress appointment, we had to walk through the berries to get to the car. As I buckle her into her car seat, I notice some of them embedded into the soles of her stupid pink sandals that don't fit the cute chubbiness of her feet, and I make a mental note to clean them at some point and hope they don't stain the car. Of course, what happens when I get to the Doctoress' office? Ada wants to stand on my lap. In her pink shoes. With berries on the bottom. And what happens? My jeans (albeit my "fat" jeans which offer the poorest fit of all jeans in my collection) get berry rubbed into the left front thigh. Nice. Thanks Ada. Just what I've always wanted.
But wait... it keeps going. She gets berries on the paper covering the baby scale when they weigh and her (32.2 lbs), on the paper covering the exam table when they check her ears, all over the tiled floor of the exam room, a few spots on the carpet outside of the exam room, just above my cleavage (if I had any--how did berries get there anyway?), and all over her inner calves. A mess. Luckily, we saw our friend Jen outside on the walk back home from the car and crossed the street to talk to her, and thereby avoiding the berries on the sidewalk. And, I remembered to take Ada's shoes off immediately upon entering the house so she didn't stain our new living room rug -- the one with a big cream colored circle on it that is just waiting for a big nasty purple berry stain.
Moral of the story: Days like this are the reason we have other mom friends we can call or chat with and vent to. It makes it all just that much easier to deal with.
The theory now is that we go back in three months to check on her progress and re-evaluate, just in case. If she's progressing nicely and just a bit behind the curve, that's fine. Otherwise, we can meet with a speech pathologist (or is it speech therapist?) and see if we need to focus on something specific. We're going to try to work with more picture books and focus on body parts, colors, numbers, common household objects, etc. I'm thinking a little less time spent with her all time favorite Finding Nemo DVD won't hurt (She only watches it once or twice a week so don't get all excited that TV is my babysitter since I don't even have TV access. We only get that snowy fuzz, and maybe channel 2 if it is sunny out.) Feel free to leave comments or email me with any tips if you've been in this spot before. I'm sure she's just taking her time and working us as much as she can and I'm not worried. There is a difference between being worried about something and keeping an eye on it. I'm keeping an eye on it...and her size since she's still off the charts -- but that runs in the family.
Speaking of height, at 34 inches -- if you double that -- since they say a kid's height at age 2 doubled is their likely adult height -- she's already going to be 5'8" and she's got six more months to grow. I really need to get Aunt Heather to commit to teaching her basketball and volleyball since she played Cornell. I can't pass up that opportunity for Ada --but I'm not going to be some pushy mom that makes her play sports if she really wants to go out for the ballet or theater or start her own dog walking business at age ten. I'm cool with all of that.
Back to her doctoress visit...
I then asked about potty training as I've started to do some research and the Doctoress recommended getting a potty and getting Ada used to it. Start explaining when we go to the bathroom and referencing the potty. Give her some time to acclimate to the potty and accept it as her own. That sort of thing. I've had a few mom's tell me their potty training stories and advice so again, if you have anything to add on that topic, please feel free to leave a comment below and I'd be happy to consider it. We're at ground zero for this stuff and I don't want to mess it up.
My next-to-final beef of the day is Ada's shoe size. Her feet keep getting bigger and bigger, it seems like every week it's a new size. She's already a size 7 and we have a collection of shoes in size 6 and 8 but only one pair of sevens and I bought them from Target, thought they were cute, they had rubber soles so that would be good, and they seemed to fit-- but now that she's worn them a few times, I notice that she slips all over tiled-floors in stores and our hardwood floors at home, so they really aren't that great. And the selection at Target was crap. Totally picked over by the time I got there. Disappointing. So I've sent Grandma Ba on a mission to see what she can find. That way, she gets to fill her need to buy cute things for Ada, Ada gets new shoes, and I don't have to fight the crowds and crappy selection at Target(not to knock target because I do like that store for the most part -- minus their current selection of sunglasses and that's only because I just broke mine camping... but I digress, again.)
And my final beef of the day... dun, dun, dun... the damn black berry tree in front of our neighbor's house! Don't get me wrong. I love the tree, its beautiful shade, its size (big for a city tree), and its ability to freshen the air I breath. Love all that. Hate the damn berries that fall all over the sidewalk, making it a purpley/black gooey mess for a month and a half each year. Rick's smart enough to walk across the street to avoid it but since I tend to park just beyond it on this side of the street, that doesn't always work. (We WILL NOT park under it as the car then turns into a giant mess of crap, covered in berries and pigeon poo and there is no hope for ever getting it clean for less than a $20 car wash.)
So today, on the way to Ada's Doctoress appointment, we had to walk through the berries to get to the car. As I buckle her into her car seat, I notice some of them embedded into the soles of her stupid pink sandals that don't fit the cute chubbiness of her feet, and I make a mental note to clean them at some point and hope they don't stain the car. Of course, what happens when I get to the Doctoress' office? Ada wants to stand on my lap. In her pink shoes. With berries on the bottom. And what happens? My jeans (albeit my "fat" jeans which offer the poorest fit of all jeans in my collection) get berry rubbed into the left front thigh. Nice. Thanks Ada. Just what I've always wanted.
But wait... it keeps going. She gets berries on the paper covering the baby scale when they weigh and her (32.2 lbs), on the paper covering the exam table when they check her ears, all over the tiled floor of the exam room, a few spots on the carpet outside of the exam room, just above my cleavage (if I had any--how did berries get there anyway?), and all over her inner calves. A mess. Luckily, we saw our friend Jen outside on the walk back home from the car and crossed the street to talk to her, and thereby avoiding the berries on the sidewalk. And, I remembered to take Ada's shoes off immediately upon entering the house so she didn't stain our new living room rug -- the one with a big cream colored circle on it that is just waiting for a big nasty purple berry stain.
Moral of the story: Days like this are the reason we have other mom friends we can call or chat with and vent to. It makes it all just that much easier to deal with.
Monday, June 15, 2009
TGF Sign Language
I'd like to thank whomever invented sign language and whomever thought it would be a good idea to teach it to babies and toddlers. THANK YOU!
And to any of you parents that don't think it works or aren't sure that it is worthwhile, you're just being silly. It's the BEST BEST BEST LIFESAVER in the Universe when you are the mother of a child who's vocabulary is non-existent.
At a year and a half, Ada can already sign:
More
All done
Food/Hungry
Milk
Up
Bath
Brush your teeth
Play
and maybe a few more I can't remember off the top of my head.
That might not seem like a lot, but when you are communicating with someone who can't say any words, it's awesome, enlightening and worth every minute I spent learning and repeating the signs.
Not having been around many children or watching them grow up since I'm the youngest sibling and within a year of my cousins, I really don't know when to expect her to start talking like a little person does. I guess I just figured it would be at 8 months or something and she'd be quoting Shakespeare at her first birthday party. Obviously not. So this is working for me as a temporary band-aid. I hear that babies with older siblings start talking/walking/etc sooner because they are more motivated. I get that. And maybe that will be the case when we have another one and I won't be so desperate to translate what he/she needs. Hopefully experience with the first one will help reduce that learning curve too.
Until then, I'm happy that she is signing. I'm also glad to see that she waves bye-bye when people leave, is slowly mastering blowing kisses, and gives occasional high-fives. That's all BIG in my world.
I'm grateful for the things she is starting to say and the potential they hold: A-duh, Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Bubba, AHHHH! EKKK! and that's about it (unless you count panting at dogs and barking). I think she's starting to get it and I hear that once she does, we won't get her to shut-up ever again. But I've heard that extreme with each milestone and my kid just seems to be on the "slow and steady wins the race" track. She took her time learning to crawl, same with walking, still hasn't really started running -- walking fast or with spurts of energy-- and is still taking her time.
For all of that, I am thankful.
Moral of the story: Save even a tiny portion of your sanity by teaching your toddler to sign -- even if it is only More, All done, Milk, and Food, you'll be so happy you did and save so many unnecessary tears from being shed.
And to any of you parents that don't think it works or aren't sure that it is worthwhile, you're just being silly. It's the BEST BEST BEST LIFESAVER in the Universe when you are the mother of a child who's vocabulary is non-existent.
At a year and a half, Ada can already sign:
More
All done
Food/Hungry
Milk
Up
Bath
Brush your teeth
Play
and maybe a few more I can't remember off the top of my head.
That might not seem like a lot, but when you are communicating with someone who can't say any words, it's awesome, enlightening and worth every minute I spent learning and repeating the signs.
Not having been around many children or watching them grow up since I'm the youngest sibling and within a year of my cousins, I really don't know when to expect her to start talking like a little person does. I guess I just figured it would be at 8 months or something and she'd be quoting Shakespeare at her first birthday party. Obviously not. So this is working for me as a temporary band-aid. I hear that babies with older siblings start talking/walking/etc sooner because they are more motivated. I get that. And maybe that will be the case when we have another one and I won't be so desperate to translate what he/she needs. Hopefully experience with the first one will help reduce that learning curve too.
Until then, I'm happy that she is signing. I'm also glad to see that she waves bye-bye when people leave, is slowly mastering blowing kisses, and gives occasional high-fives. That's all BIG in my world.
I'm grateful for the things she is starting to say and the potential they hold: A-duh, Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Bubba, AHHHH! EKKK! and that's about it (unless you count panting at dogs and barking). I think she's starting to get it and I hear that once she does, we won't get her to shut-up ever again. But I've heard that extreme with each milestone and my kid just seems to be on the "slow and steady wins the race" track. She took her time learning to crawl, same with walking, still hasn't really started running -- walking fast or with spurts of energy-- and is still taking her time.
For all of that, I am thankful.
Moral of the story: Save even a tiny portion of your sanity by teaching your toddler to sign -- even if it is only More, All done, Milk, and Food, you'll be so happy you did and save so many unnecessary tears from being shed.
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