I was going through my past posts and realized it has been almost a WHOLE year since I gave an update on Big Sister's Speech Therapy progress! I feel so horrible, I had wanted to document it on the blog, but have failed miserably. I guess I will give you the "quick" version. If you want to know where we left off, you can read the last post, here. Or you can read the complete series by going here.

We continued home visits with the Speech Therapist until Big Sister turned 3 years old, which was in June 2012. The program she was in only went until 3 years old and then they transferred her to the school system. I was thoroughly impressed with Big Sister's progress and her therapist was just AMAZING. I couldn't have ask for more from them and Big Sister learned more than I could even have imagined.

Big Sister's first day of "School"

There was a break from the end of her home Therapy sessions until the beginning of her sessions at our local Elementary School in September. The new Therapy is 30 minutes once a week instead of one hour once a week. The School would provide transportation, but I decided to opt out because I just don't think she is old enough to be riding on a bus. So, every week, once a week, I drive her to school and then take Little Sister to a store in town, while we wait for Big Sister's session to end. Her therapy is one on one with the Speech Therapist and not in a classroom full of kids, which I like.

One morning when we were pulling into the parking lot at the school, Big Sister blurted out "My friends! I get to play with my friends." My heart sank, she was looking out her window at all the children playing on the playground. It made me so sad to have to tell her "No, we are going to go see your teacher." It was at that point when I realized she knew what friends are and that she wanted to have friends. So, that night I searched the internet trying to find local places to take her where there would be kids her age. I found that our local library had a Toddler Story Time and that it has just started the previous week. I went in and asked about the Toddler Story Time and they allowed us to join in the next week. Big Sister, Little Sister, and I both thoroughly enjoy our time at the library and it has even given me an excuse to make time to read for me again. I would encourage all Moms to look into the programs at your local library, you never know what amazing FREE programs are available in your area!

Playing with the block table at the library.

 Between School and Toddler Story Time, Big Sister has made GREAT progress. She is now saying 5-7 word sentences that I can actually understand. She still has issues at times where she will drop the end of a word when she rushes, but her teacher is working on that. I am always amazed at what comes out of her mouth as well as relieved that I can understand her and communicate with her better. Her speech improvements have even helped Little Sister's speech as well. I am always amazed at how many words she picks up from her Big Sister. Little Sister will actually say 3-4 word sentences already.

Kids are just amazing! Which skill did you love to watch your little one achieve the most?

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Big Sister had another Speech Therapy session this week. I can not put into words how happy I am for Big Sister on her achievements thus far. I am so proud of her each time I hear a new word. This week she has just exploded with new words and phrases and even told Little Sister to "Take your bottle."

Each visit she seems to latch onto new words as well. My favorite word(s) during this weeks session was Beetle Bug! Now, I will admit she still does quiet a bit of gibber gabber, however in the midst of the gabber I can now make out her new words.

Big Sister tellin' me 'bout it! (And YES she LOVES cars!)

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Last week we had to cancel Big Sister's Speech Therapy session because she wasn't feeling well. A flu bug went through the whole house. At first I thought that Little Sister and I wouldn't catch it, but the inevitable happened and I fell victim to the bug followed by Little Sister, who is now finally at the end of the "nose crustys." Although Big Sister was sick the previous week, she still threw some new words at me almost every day. It seems like finally she is making a connection with communicating and getting what she wants or getting attention. She has learned the word sandwich and the sign for sandwich, which she loves to use. I love watching her do it. I've tried to teach her Banana but she does a funny rolling hand gesture for Banana. The therapist says that its okay, if that is the sign she wants to use, then let her!

Big Sister had another visit from the speech therapist this week. She works really well with Big Sister and gets her to say new things so much easier than I do. Big Sister stayed on task the whole time and was just intrigued by everything the teacher was doing with her. She was repeating almost everything clearly and even said a new word I had never heard her say before, "turtle." I could easily understand it and she said it several times. She has even said it more times throughout the week when asked to say it on command. I am amazed!

Yesterday, Big Sister got angry with me because I made her sit at the table to finish her dinner, she wanted to take it to the coffee table to finish. She was crying as I put her back in her booster seat. I walked to the other side of the room to do something or other, with her still crying at the table. She looked dead at me and said "I want Daddy." WOW, a sentence! The she said it again, and again. I was so excited, but at the same time I didn't want to praise her for yelling at me because she was upset. 

Big Sister is quickly making progress and I am just SO happy for her. She is starting to communicate better and it has lifted some frustration she was having with me because I just can't understand her gibber gabber sometimes. I'm looking forwards to next weeks visit to see how she progresses further!

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

I had introduced Big Sister's New Chapter a month or so ago. I had had concerns about her speech. I was referred to an agency that worked with children under three and a schedule was set up for them to come once a week to work with Big Sister.

Well, Big Sister finally had her first speech therapy session today. She did very well and stayed on task the whole time. I talked to her teacher about my concerns as well as Big Sister's strengths and things she likes. I loved watching her work with Big Sister, it really helped me understand what kind of activities to do to help build her vocabulary. She didn't do anything but play with her and all the while she taught her so many things in just the first session, I was impressed. They looked at books and picture cards, she introduced her to some sign language, played with puzzles, and Mr. Potato Head. She put two words together "more cats" while they were doing a puzzle, which was very cool and her teacher was very excited.

There was one thing that has really stuck with me. The teacher asked me about when Big Sister started walking. It wasn't until 13 months old that she even tried to start walking, before then she was just content hanging out where she was set down or did her tripod scoot to get around. The teacher said that that may be a contributing factor to why her speech has been delayed. Evidently, around one is when the verbal skill start to want to kick in but because Big Sister was trying to walk, her motor skills put her verbal skills on the back burner. So, instead of focusing on talking, she was focused on walking. This made TOTAL sense and such a relief to me!

I'm very encouraged about the speech therapy and can't wait until next week's session! I'll keep you all posted as her therapy continues!

Have a wonderful day dear followers!
Kelsey

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I've had some concern about Big Sister's speech for a while now. She is about 2 1/2 years old and I couldn't help but notice that kids her age and even ones considerably younger, talk much better than she does. She only has a handful of words that sound like actual words, the rest are partial words that only we know what she means because we're around her all the time. I know that normally you shouldn't compare kids with other kids because each one develops differently, but Big Sister's speech just kept bothering me and bothering me.

I was referred to a program that evaluates kids for a variety of developmental skills and then recommends certain therapies to help them. Today Big Sister had her evaluation and although I was concerned about her speech, the lady did a full evaluation of all her skills. I was very impressed with the whole evaluation. The lady brought several toys and activities to gauge her development as well as asked me several questions and asked Big Sister to do a variety of activities. At the end of her evaluation, the lady said that Big Sister had excellent Problem Solving Skills and that she was slow in her Social and Speech Skills. In the next couple of weeks I will be talking to a Speech Therapist and setting up a program for Big Sister. The Speech Therapist will be seeing Big Sister once a week, but for how long I am not yet sure. I am relieved to know where she stands in her development and I am excited to start the process of getting her help. I can't wait to see her progress and to be able to communicate with her even better!

A mother's intuition is almost always right, and I would like to encourage other Moms to seek help from doctor's and professionals if you have any concerns about your child's development.

Thanks for reading Dear Followers and I hope you stick around for future updates on Big Sister's progress!
Kelsey

CLICK HERE to read more about Big Sister's Progress with her Speech!