From babble to communication

It's hard to believe that when Ian was about eighteen months old we were worried he'd have a speech delay or long-term issue with expressing himself verbally. He reverted to grunting, pointing and 'acting out' what he wanted to communicate. He was tested by various professionals and the conclusion from everyone was his words would come but it'd happen in his time. It didn't take long. Shortly after his second birthday his words just "came" and he hasn't slowed down since. His vocabulary amazes us almost daily now. At almost 3-1/2 years old his most recent favorite phrases include words like...incredible, delicious, extremely, amazing...and so on. He's very descriptive, highly animated and quite intelligent. And he's big into making up words or an entire "language" - especially when doing pretend play. Mark and I will often look at each other and ask, "Where did he learn that word/phrase?" He is like a little sponge now - listening, learning...and eventually, repeating.

Anna is most certainly going to be our chatter-box. Her communication started with blinking, touching faces and smiling. She would press both eyes closed tightly and open them wide while flashing a big smile at whomever she wanted to greet. If she wanted to get to know a person, she'd reach out and want to touch their face. And then she began a fake cough that she mostly did just for her daddy. The two of them would have a conversation by blinking, smiling and coughing back and forth.

Within the past two weeks her verbal sounds and "words" have started to dominate. She was always our loud baby but now she's starting to use her sounds to express herself. She says 'da-da' and 'ma-ma' but not to specifically identify us just yet. She loves to wave hello/good-bye but she does it backwards so the palm of her hand is facing her. It's pretty cute. When she tries to show you her Monkey lovie blanket or a toy, she will hold it up and say 'pfff' as she presses her lips together and attempts to make a 'p' sound. Her one true word is 'dat' and she uses that to identify Coal. And she points a lot now but she uses both her index finger and her thumb together - almost like a gun.

It really is amazing to watch these babies grow into little people with their own personalities, ways of doing things, and sense of self and those around them. God has truly blessed us!