Six Months Later... (Part 2)

Language:
Language development is coming along nicely. We noticed Josephine’s language skills really take off somewhere around late May. She’ll just babble on and on, telling us quite seriously all about her day, about a picture or book we’re looking at, etc. We’d catch a few words here and there. She continues to do this, and we’re able to pick up more and more words – although still not the most clear speaking. We noticed Elijah starting to talk more a few weeks after Josephine – although he’s still fairly quiet. He doesn’t go on and on about things like Josephine does, but we figure that’s fairly typical of a boy. He’s also not very clear – he doesn’t open or move his mouth very much, so we’re working with him on that a little bit. When he says something (that we know what he’s saying), we sometimes have him slow down and try to enunciate. He’s doing better, but still a ways to go. I’m beginning to wonder about maybe needing speech therapy, but we’ll see. Ending consonants are a big issue for both Elijah & Josephine, but we’re working on those too. All consonants are an issue for Elijah – for example, he calls Josephine, “O-a-peen.” The “F” and “H” sounds are difficult for both of them – although Josephine is starting to get the “H.” Elijah will say a “P” sound in place of an “H” or “F” sound sometimes. He’ll say, “Pah” for hot, but when we try to get him to say it right, he’ll say “H-pah-tch.”

Both Elijah and Josephine understand most everything we say to them. But Elijah can be tricky with the language, because he is also stubborn. Sometimes will give a blank stare as if he doesn’t understand – especially if he doesn’t like what you’ve said. I think he’s fooled some of the teachers at daycare and some friends/family that don’t know him well, by doing this. I do think there are a few things he just doesn’t get though. For example, yesterday he threw a toy across the room – it just missed Josephine and hit a window. I had a talk with him about not throwing toys after his time-out. I had told him, “We do not throw toys.” Then I asked him, “Do we throw toys?” His response was to nod his head as if to say, “Yes,” (and he does know the difference between a “yes” nod and a “no” nod. I said, “No,” and had him say, “no, ” and nod his head the other way. Then I repeated to see if he understood, and he again nods, “yes.” This went on and on, so I’m not sure he gets questions sometimes – that or just sometimes he nods “yes” because that he understands that he shouldn’t throw toys – like he thinks he’s supposed to be agreeing with me. It’s frustrating, but I at least know the message got through because he didn’t throw things again for a while after that. Hmmmm…

Heard often at our house:

Topping the list by far, from all THREE children (grrrr!): “Mine!” or “My ______!” (fill in the blank with just about anything or anyone!)

Both E&J: “Potty, Mommy!”

Both: “I gungy” (I’m hungry), “I on eee” (I want (to) eat), or “I on Mowa” (I want more!)

Both: “Pease” (sometimes prompted and sometimes on their own, which I love!)

Both: “Don-koo” (Thank you)

Elijah: “Eye-Pie” (high five)

Both: “I wub ooo” (melts my heart - every time!)

Josephine: “my too, a-coo me” (I toot, excuse me)

Both: “Pay?” (play), “Ale machin?” (Creole for go in the car), “Eee?” (eat), “baa?” (bath), “Bush-a-tee? (brush your teeth) ...usually when trying to figure out what we’re going to do next.

Both: “I on ow-sigh” (I want (to go) outside)

Josephine: “shimm-een” (swimming) – less frequently but cute!