Teagan is talking like crazy! He is quite the talker and man, is he funny! I think he got the excessive talking from me and the wit from his father. It's so fun to listen to the things he says. Thankfully he kicked the swearing habit, but from time to time he will remind me that he doesn't say naughty words like ____ or ____. (Insert words from his first musical composition) I am glad he knows that.
Whenever we go anywhere in the car, we usually pass a Temple. There are quite a few in the Valley now so it's not hard to spot them going just about anywhere. Teagan begs me to sing "the Temple song." (I love to see the Temple) And then after I sing that about 6 times (he never gets sick of it and always begs for more) I change it up and sing something else, usually a primary song. One day I was singing If the Savior Stood Beside Me. While I was singing, it occurred to me that Teagan might not know that the Savior is Jesus Christ. So after singing, I told him that the Savior was Jesus. He said, "I love Jesus. I want to go with him." It just touched my heart. He knows that we are supposed to follow Christ and that when you follow someone it means you go with them. I thought it was adorable.
Teagan has a large vocabulary and is constantly surprising us with the things he says. However, there are several sounds he has a hard time with and has trouble saying lots of words correctly. My mom was concerned with his pronunciation so I brought it up to our pediatrician during his most recent well check visit. He asked Teagan so say a few things and he thought it would be worth it to have him screened for early intervention services that help with speech and other developmental delays.
We scheduled the meeting and a woman named Beth came to our apartment and talked to Teagan and did a developmental assessment on him. About 5 minutes into the meeting she told me that she didn't think he would qualify for services and that he was the best 2 year old talker she has seen. I felt a bit sheepish for wasting her time, and I told her so, but she insisted that my concerns were certainly valid. For as many words as he is saying, it's natural to have some concern about his pronunciation. In order to qualify for services he would need to score below 7% in one or more developmental assessment. I was a bit taken back when she showed me his scores and what is considered normal (between 16 and 80%) and that Teagan scored in the 90's for most things. His expressive communication score was 98%! Now that he gets from his mother. :)
Other areas like dressing himself, and other independent behavior he scored 38%. While that is still well within the normal range, it did open my eyes to the fact that I am doing too much for him. I just dress him. I don't usually have him help at all. When he is thirsty, I get him a drink instead of having him get himself one. He also scored around 40% with peer social skills. This is an area where I feel Teagan could use some improvement. He has a really hard time sharing. As in, if he has to share, he throws a complete tantrum until it's his turn again. Then he is fine until he has to give someone else a turn, then another screaming fit. He is starting to improve, but I think more peer interaction would help it improve faster. Even though he didn't need early intervention, I am really thankful I got the evaluation. It opened my eyes to ways I could help his development instead of hinder it. I just never thought to have him help dress himself. (I know that sounds dumb, but it really didn't occur to me.) I just always did it for him. I think it's good for me to recognize opportunities for Teagan to try things himself.
Beth, the lady who did his evaluation, told me that Teagan would be a great candidate for the Early Intervention Toddler Preschool as a non-delayed peer. What that means is that the Preschool for kids with developmental delays integrates non-delayed kids into the class. It's once a week and a perfect opportunity for Teagan to have more peer social interaction. Beth is a speech therapist and thought Teagan would be excellent in that class because he talks so well. I guess normal 2 year olds use 2-3 word sentences and Teagan regularly uses 5+ word sentances. (I didn't realize that until she told me. I don't really know what is normal for most 2 year olds. I just know what is normal for him.) I was excited for Teagan to have a structured social opportunity so I jumped at the chance, and since it's a state run program, you can't beat the price! He will start "preschool" at the end of the month.
My mom has been trying to get him to pronounce words correctly and when he asks for a "reent" or "weent" she tries to get him to say drink. She says, "Teagan, look at my mouth, drink." (Heavy emphasis on the d and k sounds) Well, he is hit and miss with his s sound as well so sometimes she tells him "say ssss like a snake." This morning, Teagan was wanting a drink and asked me for a "reent" and I said, "You want a drink?" and he said, "Look at my mouth, sss like a snake, DUH-reent!" I had to laugh. He was throwing in everything just to make sure he wasn't asked to say it again. We are trying to not correct him, but just model correct behavior since that's what the speech therapist suggested. I am sure he will come around to k sounds soon. (According to the speech therapist, k sounds aren't common until 4 years old, so he has a while.)
I am trying to think of all the funny things he has said so I will be able to read them later, but I can't remember. I guess I will just have to start getting back into the groove with my blog. It's been so neglected lately.
