Braley news

I have some news about Braley and his speech issues, but first - how are we surviving in this heat?

Thank goodness for school!  Miss thing in her "Dora pony."  Don't even ask.  Dora has a short, black bob.  But Paige asks for a Dora pony, and by that, she means a long, blonde, side pony.  She also likes Dora braids, which means a pony with a braid.  Or Dora piggies.  Which means piggies tied in small buns.  Who knows how a 3 year old's brain works!

We can tolerate being in the water table only if it is in the shade, and for about 20 minutes at a time.

Now, on to Braley.  Today, I was asking him where body parts were (he has mastered nose, eyes, ears, hands, knees, toes, belly, fingers) then I asked him where his elbow was, and he pointed to his elbow (a new one! yay!) and said "elbow" clear as day.  I looked at David and his mouth was just dropped open.    So I asked again, and he again, said, "elbow."  This is HUGE for Braley.  He has never been one to repeat.  As a baby, I would say, bababa or any other consonant babbling noise, and Jack would repeat it back, but Braley rarely, if ever did.  It was always on my mind that he didn't do that.

So I tested him some more.  I said, Braley, can you say, mama?  He got a huge grin on his face, pointed to me, and said, "mama."  Cue, mommy and daddy tears.  Could it be that things are finally starting to click with him?

Make no mistake, he still isn't talking unprompted.  Like, when Jack finishes his meal, he holds up his plate, looks at me and says, "all done! Down!"  He isn't there.  Not even close.  He is no where near where he needs to be at 19 months.  I understand that.

Thankfully, we have a friend who is a speech/language expert and has many many years experience in the field.  She has graciously offered to come over and observe him in his own house for a bit next week and offer us her insight.  

But I really do feel in my heart that he is on the right track.  He does things in his own time, always has.