My 1st Time

No, no not that!

What I mean is that for the 1st time since I've been able to vote, the candidate that I voted for won.

It's exciting. I traditionally live in a red state, and last night it went blue, for the first time since LBJ was elected. That was in 1963. 45 years of being red...

Mike and I watched the celebration in Grant Park, and the concession speech given by McCain.

CNN still hasn't called Indiana even though 99% of the precincts are reporting and the vote tally is

Obama: 1,352,356

McCain: 1,329,370

That's a difference of 22,986. That's not many people, but it's enough.

However, right now, we all need to stop thinking and celebrating/mourning about who won, and who lost, but what we can do together to make this presidency work, to strengthen the economy, to improve healthcare, to get ourselves back on our feet.

One man cannot do this by himself. We have to do it together, so I'm going to do my best not to gloat after this post of course, but for now:

The Speech

Speech

Yea. About 4-6 weeks ago, I was really worried about Ché's speech. Mike was not. Well, he was right.

I contacted Indiana's Early Intervention Program: First Steps. They come out to your home, do an evaluation, and provide services if necessary. You don't pay anything until services are provided, so the first meeting and the eval are free. I just didn't see a reason not to do it. #1 it was free, #2 if there was a problem, it would be caught early, and #3 if there wasn't a problem it would provide piece of mind.

I was really worried about Ché not saying parts of words. Particularly s's. He doesn't seem able to add an "s" to the end or middle of words. The speech pathologist kindly pointed out that this is not a common pattern in Spanish and so his ear and tongue aren't trained to do the sounds of "s" in different places. duh. I felt kinda dumb at that point.
So, the two very nice ladies arrived. The speech pathologist, and the physical therapist. (Ché's broken leg that was never set.)

Here's what came from the eval:

Ché got to play and impress some people with his fine motor skills. He got to run around pantsless, which in the toddler world is awesome. He babbled, he played. It was great having 2 extra play things in the house.
The speech pathologist, and the PT sat at our table to go over their observations. The whole time they sat there, Ché brought them toys, the church bulletin, anything he could find. He really liked them.

And then they said, "He's normal. Congratulations."

There was mention that he's bow-legged, and that at some point we may need to see an orthopedist. But it hasn't hindered his gross motor skills, and he's talking just fine.

Now, because he's my kid, and he likes to make me look bad, his speech has just exploded since the 1st Steps people came. He is now talking in 2-3 word sentences, repeating everything we say, and just generally holding conversations with you.

The other day on the way home from school (daycare) I asked him what he did. In the past I've had to ask him yes or no questions to figure out his day, but not Monday. He started talking:

Throw ball Hannah. Poop potty. Eat lunch.

Now, this took some time to come out, about 10 minutes, with the thinking, the scrambling of words, me asking more questions, etc. But he was able to tell me about his day, without simply saying yes (aye) or no.

It's simply amazing, how a few weeks can totally change everything.

Really Back to Normal and Language

Today, Mike had to go back to work! Ha!


That means it really is back to normal for us. Ché seemed fine with the idea and was quite excited to see Grandma walking up the driveway to the door.

I've been really amazed at the language development that we are seeing. Ché turned 2 on Nov. 18. He was talking before this, but just a words. He had a vocabulary of over 50 words, which has grown exponentially. I'm pretty sure it's over 150, and I probably should update the word list.

We keep a list on our refrigerator of the words he says and we add to it whenever we hear something new. Sometimes he only says things once and then we second guess ourselves on whether or not he actually said it. For example last Sunday we were putting together a light dinner with Ché grandparents, and his Aunt and Uncle and we were making salads. Aunt Emily reached and got an avocado. Ché had been pointing to them all evening and we had told him what it was and when Aunt Emily grabbed it he said "avocado."


I wouldn't have believed that he actually said it except that 4 other people heard it too. Of course, Ché wouldn't say it again, but we're pretty sure he really did spit that one out.

I've noticed among kids that there are different styles when it comes to speaking. There are kids that are Myna birds, repeating everything you say no matter if it comes out right or not, and there are kids that are mute and then all of a sudden come out with a whole sentence in correct pronunciation. Then there's Ché, who studies the way your mouth forms, practices it at night (when he thinks no one is listening), and comes out with words that are near to correct pronunciation.



I find it really interesting watching the development of language around or house. The now 2-3 word sentences when before everything was "dhis" (this).


Coincidentally this is still pronounced dhis.

How did your child start talking? Were they perfectionists? Blabberers? Late to the Game? Does your child whisper some words and shout others like Ché?


By the way, Ché does enjoy using this:

It was developed by special ed. teachers as a way for kids with speech impediments and hearing impairments to hear themselves talking. (I wouldn't recommend using this to listen to yourself sing, that can be SCARY!)
It lets you hear what you are really saying and the sounds that you are making instead of what you think you are saying.
Ché uses it like a telephone, and since he hears himself, things he's talking to someone. It's an amazingly simple piece of technology that started out as PVC pipes and has since been marketed. Check it out if you have little ones. They are great, and cheap. Ours was around $6 from a local teacher store.