Slightly awkward introductions

"What you name is?" Shea pointedly asks a lady or a child, anyone that interests him.

With a big strong voice, he says "My... name...is Shea. This is...my... mommy." He points up at me, keeping me within "hide behind the leg" reach.

Slightly embarrassed, I smile and make some comment about my name being "mom" and try to nonchalantly move on.

These aren't long conversations for Shea but they are frequent. At a typical day at Granny's Thrift Store, he may introduce himself 5-6 times.

On one hand, I am thrilled that he has the words and the sequencing to be able to introduce himself. Most people are enchanted if not a little flummoxed by such a formal introduction from a small child. If the chemistry is right, he flirts and chats it up with them about...who knows...this and that. Sometimes they can't quite understand what he is saying and they look to me to translate.

Sometimes I can see it in there eyes that they are wondering what is amiss. And, I have to admit, it is hard to see.

So, I paste on a seasoned grin, keep an ear open and spin off in the direction of the...let me see; Don't I need some shorts?

He is old enough to engage and have chats with people.

Wow. We have come a long way.

Happy "F"day!

No, I am not being profane! I might mean happy Friday as well, all of us I am sure, have had a hell of a long week.

But, what I really mean is "F" day. You know, like the letter.

It looks like Shea may have finally mastered the "F" sound today with Bubble. "F" is one of the classic tough letter sounds that take a lot of lip and mouth control. Shea would just skip the whole sound and put something easier in it's place.

Like:

Sunny for Funny
Serry boat for Ferry boat
Sog for Frog

You get the idea.

Interestingly, he didn't seem to have a problem with putting the "F" sound on the end of a word.

Off, Cough, Yaff (laugh), you already know about that pesky "L".

But, today Shea was full of F's: funny, found, ferry boat. They seemed to come easily, without him stuggling. In fact, he didn't even seem to think twice about it.

Our work this week is to keep them coming. Don't let him slip back to old easier pre-F days.

When it was time to go, Shea said, "I no want to go." When pressed he said, "Stay with Bubble. I miss Bubble."

Bubble said, "Shea, you will always, always be my very special friend." He then went over and gave her a big long hug that melted good old Bubble to blurry tears.

She said, "Shea you have made my day."

Thanks Bubble, you have made our day too. A very Fine Friday to us all.

Where are the "L's"?

One of the hardest, last to really try letters for Shea is L. He will place the letter "Y" or some other letter in its place in a word.

"Yeyo" for yellow
"Mowee" for Molly
"I yuv you" for I love you

You get the idea.

Bubble says that L is a difficult articulation for kids, all kids in fact. But especially for Shea.

Say it to yourself. L, L, L, L. Feel your tongue tip rest gently on your upper teeth? That is the sort of sophisticated and nuanced tongue movements that Shea really stumbles on.

The good news is that he approximates the "L" sound with another letter sound now. He used to not even try. That was the apex of fright and frustration for me. When your kid won't even try.

It may be a while before we will ever get it.

This morning, I called up the stairs, "Shea?"

"Yeah?" he yelled back.

"Honey, come on down for some cocoa."

"Ok, I coming."

I stopped, surprised and pleased and said to Jake and Molly. "That sounds like a kid who can talk."

He will get there...eventually.

Scissor, Missor, Wizzor

Gently nudged by Bubble lady, Shea and I play this game. She says that rhyming words can help with vocabulary development, articulation because he says the same ending sound over and over. But also cognitive planning because he has to think of another starting sound and add it to the ending sound. Apparently, this is a game that packs a punch.

White, kite, bite; usually our words are one syllable words.

Cow, wow, pow; mostly easy, familiar words.

Poop, loop, coop; occasionally funny, goofy words.

We trade off, back and forth until we have gone through almost every letter in the alphabet then he will pick a new word to rhyme. It doesn't need to be a real word, in fact the made up words are even more fun.

"Rhyme with scissor, mom." Shea starts the game as we are snuggied in bed this morning. Good one! Two syllable word but nothing really rhymes with scissor. Doesn't matter, we are off!

This is a game perfect for the car, airplane, waiting on the ferry; all the little boring lulls of life.

When Bubble has suggested something like this in the past, I have to admit I only half listened. If I didn't immediately see the power or importance, I would just file it in my already very full and barely organized mental file and then eventually forget about it. But, as we move toward our 2nd year anniversary with Bubble, I have gotten better at just going with her suggestions. Realizing it doesn't necessarily have to make that much sense to me. It's worth a try for Shea's sake.

Or, simply, making a little investment in a leap of faith. Sometimes it pans, sometimes not but maybe the leap in itself is the point.

Sentences are coming

"Walking man go to the Z-O-O- Zoo! See lots of animals." Animals came out more like, "amanals" but close. Shea was very talkative at dinner and seems to have a verbalization boost in the evenings.

Articulation is still challenging and I find that I still do a lot of translating for him. But, at least he is trying. I wonder if I should just shut up and let people figure it out.

Bubble lady (our speech pathologist) makes a concerted effort to really push him. He will say, "hard one" or "hard word" and not want to even try. She spends a bit of time telling him that it may be hard at first but then it does get easier. She used the "Little Engine that could" story as inspiration. Sometimes he will give it a try, sometimes not.

I celebrate the successes he does have no matter what and try not to dwell on his frustration. I wonder if I am protecting myself as much as him. I focus on how wonderful it is that he can say his alphabet and count to 30 (or so). I was dazzled when he started singing the "Happy Birthday song" the other day. When did he pick that up?

Not being able to talk as well as your friends has got to be a very frustrating, humiliating daily occurrence. I bleed for him and naturally try to protect him. But, for his own good, I need to broaden his relationships. Our OT is suggesting one-on-one play dates, which will give him needed practice. I shouldn't be but I am nervous to reach outside of our protective little universe; of rejection for him and me, setting him up for ridicule, inviting someone into his life that won't be as understanding as his family. But, I have delayed long enough.

This morning I made a necessary step. I called the mom of one of Shea's little buddies at the developmental preschool who is a "typical peer" meaning he is not "special" or doesn't have an IEP. His mother was lovely and said "yes, let's get those boys together." Even though the weather has been cold, I will suggest a meet up at Ober park to play before afternoon preschool. I will spend a little bit of time telling her about Shea's challenges just so that she can ask any questions or clarify the reality for herself and her son. Then, I hope to jettison that part of the conversation and just let them be.

Visions of regular weekly play dates flit through my brain. Summer activities and Shea having a "best friend". Hold up, mommy. Gotta walk before you can run, speak before you can sing.

So, here is to finding your feet and your voice, little man.

Just adorable

Yesterday, as Molly and Shea had lunch, she commented how adorable Shea was when he made a certain face. I agreed, of course.

Shea made a darn good approximation of "adorable" with Molly prompting.

"Shea, do you even know what adorable means?" she asked.

He thought a bit and said, "cute". Indeed.

Molly was surprised that he knew what it meant. So was I and, again, I was happy and relieved that he seems to be cognitively age appropriate. Whatever that means...

We take it all as it comes. Or try to.

Speech update: blending sounds

What does "splash", "climb" and "spin" have in common? They are all blended sound words that are hard to conquer for some.

Bubble lady told me that blended sounds would be the next big push that we would be working on with Shea. She said that will go along way to help with articulation and to help other people understand what he is saying. Sounds good.

It's weird how our family can all understand what he is saying. Even though it is quite rough. We just know. I often need to translate for him even with his specialists. If I am having a hard time understanding what he is saying he will get frustrated, sometimes really frustrated. But, he will usually try again, sometimes clearer or with another clue to help me figure it out.

I am glad he now makes the extra effort and I always make a big deal with praise and pats on the back of these attempts. But I am reminded how much I am missing of what he thinks and feels because he can't speak easily. I just hope one day down the road he will be able to tell me how he is feeling in full throated description and detail. I can't imagine it but I still hope.

Saturday night at the movies: 1,2, 3 count with me

We have come up with something new. On Saturday nights we will showcase "Saturday night at the movies" featuring the infamous peanut gallery; Molly & Shea.

Enjoy!