"Say Mmmmoooooooore"...

If it was only that easy! A little over a year ago, our pediatrician recommended that Grant be given an evaluation for a developmental delay - specifically his speech. Up to that point he didn't say much other than "uh-oh". Every now and then we'd get a "mama" or "dada", but it was pretty rare. Being our first child, we didn't have any comparison and felt like he was able to communicate what he needed to us, followed directions, etc., so we weren't really that worried. Or, maybe it was a little bit of denial...I mean, who wants anything to be wrong with their child??


Well, we gave in to the pediatrician and called First Steps. It's a program designed for infants and toddlers who have developmental delays and disabilities in central Indiana. After Grant's initial evaluation, which was SO comprehensive, they diagnosed him with delayed speech. Phew...we were relieved knowing that children experience much more severe delays and a speech delay was manageable. Grant has now been in speech therapy for six months with a therapist, Lynne, visiting our home once a week. He seems to really love the time he spends with her and especially enjoys Lynne's huge bag of toys, puzzles, and books.


Grant now uses sign language for several things - his favorites: more, please, thirsty, eat, banana (which is so cute!), open, potty, and apple. He's started to imitate animal noises and has made progress with more consanant sounds, too. Of course, we'd love to have him tell us what he needs rather than scream, but we've come to the conclusion that he is simply going to talk when he wants to. As his parents, we are here to provide opportunities to learn more and more, encourage him, and praise him like crazy. The silver lining in the stressing out we've done over all of this: gratefulness. It's all about perspective. We are unbelievable grateful that our precious son is healthy, happy, and has loads of personality. We really can't ask for mmmoooooooooooooore!

Grant's version of coming home and putting your feet up after a long day of work