Chatterbox

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.

Being a Ute's fan has advantages

Teagan thinks the letter "U" is Utes. It cracks me up. But in all honesty, the kid learned every letter in the word UTAH because of the obscene amount of University of Utah apparel my family wears on a regular basis. I admit that on my days off, I generally wear a Utes shirt (I have several) and a pair of jeans. My dad does the same thing, so do most of my siblings. No wonder when I pointed to the letter "H" and asked Teagan what it was, he said "It's H from the Utes!" So when learning the alphabet, he easily recognized the letters he sees so often.

Sweet Talker

Teagan is such a talker lately. I can't even keep track of all the cute/funny things he says because there are so many. The other day he didn't want to go to bed so he came and sat on my lap and hugged me and said, "I love you SO much, mama." I told him I loved him too but that he needed to go to bed. Then he proceeded to sing to me in hopes that might win me over. That worked a little. At least until the end of the song. :)

My Dad travels a lot for his job and when he was finally home again this weekend, Teagan sat next to him and said, "Grandpa, I so glad you home." It made my dad's day. That same day he was convinced it was my dad's birthday so we had to make him a monkey cake. Teagan loved getting to help. He couldn't wait to show Grandpa the cake he made. This fake birthday celebration was complete with candles and singing. Guess which part Teagan liked best? The fire. "How 'bout more fire daddy? Please more fire?" Yep. He is his father's son. Then he licked the frosting off the candle and dipped it back in the cake for more. He doesn't quite know about double dipping manners yet.

My visiting teacher is near my Grandmother's age and she came to visit today and mentioned that she was a little sad that her youngest grandson was almost 12. Teagan chimes in, "Don't worry Grandma. Don't be sad." He couldn't have been sweeter. She was delighted by his response and concern for her and especially that he called her Grandma.

Last night we were visiting my parents and it had just gotten dark. We were getting ready to leave when Teagan opened the back door and yelled into the night, "Hello? Bad Guys? . . . I will fight you bad guys!" Then shut the door with a satisfied look on his face. He was ready to defend us all from any intruders that may have been lurking in my parent's back yard.

He amazes me all the time with the funny things he says. I need to write them down right as it happens because when I try to write it later, I forget most of what he says.

My sweet boy

Teagan loves to sing and it's the most adorable thing to me. He only sings when he is in the mood to sing and he is almost never in the mood if asked to sing. My favorite is when he sings Beyond the Sea. Darryl sang that song to him almost everyday since he was born. It's so cute to hear Teagan start to sing it. I am amazed at the number of songs he can sing by himself. He can sing I am a Child of God, Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam, and I also love when he sings me this song. Ya. When my little boy has both arms around my neck and sings that song to me, it's enough to make my heart burst. The best part is, that it only happens when it's his idea.

Teagan has been so affectionate lately. He tells me almost everyday, "Mama I love you SO much!" It's really cute. He is also concerned with having the whole family together as much as possible. He loves it when he gets to have Mom and Dad with him. He grabs our heads and pulls us in to kiss his cheeks. He loves it when we each kiss his cheeks at the same time. Then he wants a group hug. I really love that he enjoys having our little family together as much as possible. It doesn't happen very often since we have crazy work/school schedules, but I am glad Teagan makes the most of the time we do have together. I love my little family.

About Darryl

I mostly blog about Teagan since this blog's main purpose is a family journal. (And since I didn't do a baby book. Bad mom.) But I feel like I need to write a bit about what life is like for Darryl and me as well.

Darryl is currently in nursing school. It's a private school that graduates students at an accelerated rate so they really pack in as much as they can each semester. He is stressed to say the least. He is thriving and really loving the work. He gets more and more excited about being a nurse everyday. Darryl has had to overcome some challenges that most do not face. He has a learning disability. Darryl is dyslexic.

Despite common beliefs that dyslexia is just inverting numbers and letters or reading things backwards, it's not. There are a few different forms of dyslexia, and I am not claiming to know a whole lot on the subject, but I do know a lot more since I married Darryl. Dyslexia (at least the type Darryl has) is where a person does not associate a sound with a symbol. So when you teach children to read and tell them to "sound it out" this impossible for those with dyslexia. There is a disconnect between the sound the letter makes and the symbol itself. Dyslexia is not an intellectual disability and most people with dyslexia are actually quite intelligent, but faced with a learning/reading disability that makes traditional schooling quite difficult.

Darryl was 7 years old when he found out he had dyslexia. A specialist who did testing on Darryl told my mother-in-law that his dyslexia was among the worst she had ever seen. Not a day goes by that I don't think about and feel grateful for my In-Laws and their response to Darryl's learning disability. Darryl was put in a private school (and from what I understand, an expensive private school). This school specialized in teaching children with Dyslexia. He could have been held back by his disability, but his parents sacrificed so much to give their kids a bright future. Darryl's literacy and scholarly success is due to the education he received at this specialized school.

Darryl is 28 now and when he graduates from nursing school, he will have his 2ND associates degree and another year to go before finally getting his bachelor's. (At least during that year he will be able to work as a nurse!) He also went to the Fire and Rescue Academy at UVU and has a certificate (and only 2 classes away from a bachelor's in fire science). Darryl has finished quite a bit of schooling but has changed his mind about career fields a few times. That's perfectly OK, since I feel like he is the one who will have to go to work everyday, he might as well find something he loves. Sometimes Darryl or I will get a bit discouraged about how long it has taken to finally get into and stay with a career path, I remember how much he has accomplished. He is a college graduate and when he was a kid, it was questionable as to whether or not he would even be fully literate.

I am so proud of how hard he works. His dyslexia means he has to work SO much harder to learn the material. It takes a lot more time and a whole lot more effort. I am so proud of him for everything he has accomplished and I am so happy that he finally found a career path that he is excited about. He loves going to school. He loves it even more than he loves his job. (Too bad washing windows at the Church Office Building doesn't pay better, or he would want to do that for the rest of his life. He loves working for the Church and likes to have a physically active job that keeps him moving.) I am so proud of him working hard to provide for our future. On days where one or both of us is SO tired of being poor college students we just have to remember it's not forever and that he has accomplished quite a feat already.