Talk, talk, talk
When Sabrina says they are going to hide, this is what she and Tessa do. Yep, Mensa has us on speed dial.
Tessa kindly passed her illness on to me hence my silence this week.
I will tell anyone who worries about a developmental delay in her child that every child is different and they all eventually catch up (except those that don’t…but that is another post). I’ve told people this professionally. I’ve told people this personally. I believe it. Except when it comes to my children.
I know in a few months, I will be kicking myself in the ass for complaining about this but I am concerned that Tessa isn’t talking. There were a half dozen bloggers who had babies within 6 weeks of me and they all write about their babies asking for things and saying I love you mama. Tessa has had the same words for over 6 months now. Cracker, momma, dadda, Nina. She also says “Ba” which can mean ball, bye, and when said twice her cup. She says lolo for lotion and looon for balloon as well as noool for noodle. Her only recent word is peas which means please. She does a few signs and screams for everything else.
The screaming is about to send me over the edge. She screams when she is happy. She screams when she is mad. She screams when she is frustrated or wants something or is bored or is playing with Sabrina. It is obnoxious and by the end of the day I often have a headache forming.
We try to work with her on words. She tries and makes lots of sounds…some of them appropriate and some of them not. Sabrina even tries to get her to say new words. Sometimes she’ll say them a couple of times but then she seems to forget how. Honestly, Sabrina rarely shuts up long enough to really let Tessa try to talk so Tessa just screams over her incessant chatter.
Mostly, I put this out there because I need to say it out loud. It worries me. But also I wonder when do I become concerned? She will be 2 in less than 2 months. At this age (I know, stop comparing), I worried Sabrina was behind but she was putting 2 word sentences together.
Steve reminds me that Tessa has done everything at her own pace and in her own way. She started walking and was running the next day. She started eating solids way late but she just decided to get on board with it one day. He says that one day I will ask her if she wants more milk and she’ll reply with a full sentence “Why yes mother, that would be delightful. Thank you.”
Is there a 0-3 type service in TN? We had E eval’d on 2 separate occasions when I was concerned. It was nice for a professional to say she was within normal ranges – gave me peace of mind. And, if there had been a problem I would have been glad to catch it.
With that said – “very child is different!”
I am having my own serious worries over here too. I think it’s just part of being a mom. Unfortunately it seems to be one of those wait and see things. She still seems to be in the range of “normal” from what you are describing. Have you tried teaching her some sign language so you can better communicate in the meantime?
This constant worrying comes with the territory 🙂
My now 4 year old was late doing most everything, including talking. And one day, at almost 2, the child who only said na-na, turned to me and said “Water please Mama”. Yep, I cried.
BUt, if you are worried I would get her evaluated by the state or county EI services. It will probably ease your mind some.
Happy weekend!
I’m the oldest and my brother is 3 1/2 years younger then me. I talked….a lot (and really – I still do – you usually can’t shut me up). My brother didn’t need to talk. I did all of the talking for him. I don’t think he really said his first words until he was about 2 – and wasn’t putting words together in a sentence until much later then that. My mom was a little worried – but I can tell you that my brother is a very intelligent man – has two degrees – and runs my parent’s business.
I can totally understand why you are worried – and as others have said – maybe get her evaluated to ease your mind.
I can’t wait for the post when you lament about how Tessa just won’t be quiet. 🙂
Che, our son, was a late talker. It was because he wanted to do it correctly, and honest to goodness one day he just spit out sentences. We did have him evaluated by our 0-3 year program, and they found no problems. It gave us peace of mind though!~
This totally sounds like at our house. My son is a couple of months younger than Tessa, but he does not talk. He makes lots of noise. He understands everything and then some (if my husband and I are talking about going somewhere, he will go and get everyon’e shoes). He has two older siblings (3 years and 9 years) who never stop talking so he doesn’t really have much time to talk, but the grunting and pointing drives me nuts. Our pediatrician has assured us that this is normal, he obviously understands everything, and that if not talking by 2, we will look into it more. We go over and over words with him, etc. and he just laughs at us. So to make a long story short, you are not alone. I’m sure soon we’ll all wish they would be quiet, haha.
Oleg was the same age as Tessa when we picked him up. Granted his life was much different, but he also didn’t talk. He was around other kids, he was around adults, but he didn’t even speak Russian. He just didn’t talk. It took us a good 6 months before he started really speaking and about a year before he could put together understandable sentences. Now he speaks like a 45 year old.
On the other hand I have a girlfriend who’s son has a serious speech delay (as marked by my SIL the Speech Therapist). They had him evaluated and were put on a waiting list at our local hospital. They didn’t know about the 0-3 program offered by the school district and waited unnecessarily for a long time. Patrick is getting the hand of talking with the assistance of weekly therapy.
The point is, your school district should offer free evaluations and therapy. Contact them if you are seriously concerned.
My son didn’t start talking untill he was about 3 and 6 months he did say a few words before then but not much. His doctor said that it is normal for some kids to just talk late and not to worry untill they are closer to 4.
I majority so far said don’t worry, so I would go with that . . . don’t worry.
My 1st & 2nd child are nothing alike. Polar opposites. The 1st doesn’t shut up & would have an all out discussion with a total stranger (scary). The 2nd, now four, still hides when Aunt’s & Uncle’s he sees almost monthly say “Hi” to him. 1st wears Husky clothes, 2nd wears slims (this sucks because they are both boys & I’m all into hand-me-downs). 1st is happy go lucky & smiles most of the time, 2nd is the moodiest person I know (worse than his mama PMSing). And they are full brothers. So again, every child, even related, very different.
I agree with your husband!! I worried the same thing because Olivia was slower to start talking, one day out of the blue she looked at us and said “Dada you come here so I give you kisses..” We were FLOORED! She went from one word to an entire sentence. Hang in there and someday as she talks non stop you will be able to look back laugh and wish you enjoyed the peace and quiet when you could.
Second children are almost always that way… they sit and listen to the first one so much (or the first one talks for them) that they have no need. My 2nd child screamed all the time too… I hated it, still talk about the fact that I almost jumped from a vehicle moving 80 down the road between here and Florida because I could not take the screaming… and was seriously thinking that it was my only viable option!!
I got to where I would say EVERY STINKIN TIME! “You can scream all you want, but until you use words I have no idea what you want.” It slowly started working. She screams because it gets her what she wants (or it did for my son…eventually when I figured out what it was he wanted) I would do a lot of “show me”… Eventually he stopped screaming so much (but still at 7 is quick to scream both with voice and when injured).
Eliza is another story. I have hung my hat on the fact that it is what it is and we walk through it day to day. She is a closed mouth talker and although I understand what she is trying to say, I almost never understand her words. She has no s… no r… no ending… It breaks my heart because we have worked for over a year on just her name and it came this week. But adults ask her her name all the time and she is too embarrassed to answer knowing they will not understand it. It makes me so sad to see kids younger than her sing songs, and ask her questions and her not reply where they can understand that they just walk away, confused. Her teachers (church, and mom’s day out) let her get away with being so stinkin cute and give her what she wants… which does not help. It tears me up… I just keep thinking IT WILL COME! We do have eval services here… up until the age of 3 (Eliza was denied though so I do not have extreme faith in the system… they said because she could gesture and communicate with nods her “communication” was normal). They will come out and eval. You can find it under Tennessee Early Intervention Services.
I think for peace of mind, go ahead and get her tested with whatever your state Early Intervention program is. Gabriella had 2 words at 18 months when she started speech therapy. She did therapy for a year. Honestly, it was just a matter of time and not the therapy that helped. But, at least I felt like I covered my bases.
Now?? Ferdy jokes almost nightly at the dinner table when she.won’t.stop.talking that I got what I asked for.
I agree with Alleen. What’s the downside of having EI check her out – even if just for your peace of mind? I’m all about peace of mind. 🙂
I think Kim is onto something. Sabrina probably does the talking for both of them. Screaming is probably the only way Tessa can get a word in edgewise. You’ll have her 2 year check up soon and while you can contact someone about getting her tested, but you could wait a few weeks and run your concerns by the pediatrician.
I agree with getting the assessment…and make sure you make it known when calling them that she has had previous feeding issues…. My little man didn’t combine words till after 2.5. Little sister was talking in full sentences at 18 mos (basically, the exact same time for both). He’s been getting speech services for 2 years now and we’ve had to fight for services (mostly, I believe, due to the fact that our county has limited speech resources).
Stop worrying yourself and call the 0-3 program! Josh qualified, and he does have a full blown speach impairment, but just knowing empowers you-one way or the other!
I have two things…One, I agree with whoever said she is a second child and therefore doesn’t need to talk because she gets what she wants without it. Cole was the same way. Two, you will indeed kick yourself in the ass one day. I do it daily!!!
Nick was tested for TEIS and did not qualify (by 2 points, grrrrr.) But I’m a “rather be safe than sorry” kind of person, so we did private speech therapy (I have a name/more info if you are interested.) After a year of speech therapy, he DID qualify for the EIP program (3-5 yr olds through Will county.) They have told me more than once that I did him a GREAT service by starting therapy at a young age. That’s the caveat – many will end up without any problems, but for the ones that actually do have issues, the earlier you start, the better. I’m happy to discuss our experience with you further. 🙂
Charlotte was a late talker, a word here or there but nothing at all like Lily at the same age. Now, the compete to see who can out talk/sing the other! But if you think something is off I would call to get an eval.
The pic is super cute btw! 🙂
It never hurts to check it out. For nothing else, to put you at peace of mind. Though, she does do things on her own time.
Reese finally started services Winter. He has a long way to go, but I wish I had insisted ealirer!!
BUT, I do think it sounds like Sabrina doesn’t give her the chance:>)
I am kicking myself for not enjoying the non-verbal stage, although I DO still remember the frustration of dealing with the grunting and screaming. Mine did learn some sign language and that helped. She was saying maybe 5 words at 22 months when she was declined services with Early Intervention here. She was using complete sentences just about a month after her 2nd birthday. And she has not stopped talking since!
Emily had speech delay so you can contact me any time. I have been through early intervention, speech therapy and a special pre-school (Lucas County (OH) Educational Services) that happened to have a speech therapist as a teacher. If she is not putting 2 words together by her 2nd birthday mention it to the Dr. Luckily, I had a great Dr. who gave me the number to early intervention. All services were free and they even helped me get her into the special pre-school. Once she started talking she really started talking but she was primarily a “few word” taker until about age 3 (even with the help). Contact me if you want to talk! Emily just turned 8 and won’t shut up!!!!