Kaiden's Speech Therapy Progress.

There were a few moments last year where I was nervous about Kaiden's speech development. Part of the nervousness was due to the fact that it would delay our process of moving to Germany (that is obviously not a concern now) and the other reason was just because I kept comparing him to my friend's kids (not a good idea.) Ethan's mom had told me that Ethan was a delayed speaker and so I expected this would be the case with Kaiden, as he has developed a lot like how his dad did in the past. But out of everything, the lack of words concerned me the most when I had to fill out some paperwork at his doctor's office. I'm not sure what it's like at other pediatrics offices (and I'm actually curious if it is the same or different at others) but we have to fill out an assessment of Kaiden's progress everytime we go in. There are at least 50 questions asking questions like, "Can your child walk up the stairs with ease?" "Can your child feed himself with a spoon?" I could answer those with ease. Kaiden's physical skills are above and beyond average and his motor skills are more than sufficient. But it was the questions like >> "Can your child say at least 50 words?" "Does your child talk in 3-word sentences?" that really seemed to concern me. Kaiden was far from 50 words and definitely doesn't talk in sentences. We decided to put him into speech therapy this past October and I'm so glad we did. Although his sessions have been infrequent (because of our travels) they have still helped considerably. Just in these past three weeks alone, I have seen major improvement in him. He babbles intentionally (though his words are gibberish, he is actually trying to say something) and he seems to add a few new words to his vocab each week. I can just tell that he will soon be spitting out words left and right. I always knew these days would come. It's not like he would go the rest of his life without ever saying a word but still, there is such joy in my heart when I watch a new word roll of his tongue. He still hasn't reached 50 words yet but we are just taking it all one day at a time. He attends in-home sessions every Thursday and absolutely loves them!

Speech Therapy: Take 2

Since we will be stationed in California for another year, Ethan and I decided to give speech therapy another go. A friend of ours told us about the therapist that drives on base for in-home sessions and works with her son. At the moment there isn't availability for an in-home session, so we have to drive an hour each way until a slot opens up. Honestly though, it's so worth it. I actually talked to a lady in the waiting room whose daughter waited 2 months to get into this speech center! They were driving double the distance we are just to be seen by these people.Kaiden has had a total of three sessions so far. I can already see a difference in him. The first thing our therapist said was that her goal is to build a relationship with Kaiden. That statement alone meant the world to me as our last therapist we dealt with did not attempt this at all. The last "therapist" was a group of 4 speech pathologists that would all rotate turns with Kaiden in a 40 minute period! They never took the time to get to know him, so naturally, he never talked in front of any of them. This one, however, is so observant and told me she doesn't see any major concern about where Kaiden is. She knows that boys are delayed but believes there are things we can do to aid in the process. Every session has gotten better and better and I can tell that Kaiden really likes her. Today he even said "square" for the first time! I found myself teary eyed  because I was so shocked at the progress he is making. I just thought I'd share and update everyone! I'm so proud of my little buddy for all the new words he is learning and am so blessed for the wonderful medical care the military provides. :)