Our pediatrician seems bound and determined to make me worry about the triplet's development. I do like Dr. Ana but in many instances she and I have different ideas of what healthy development in a child looks like. For instance, I am so very proud of the fact that my kids' know and regularly use about a half-dozen signs. Dr. Ana on the other hand frowns whenever I mention their use of sign-language, once muttering "Well, no wonder they can't speak."
At our last visit, Dr. Ana asked how many words the triplets said. Well, there's "papa" and umm, let's see....nope, "papa" about sums it up. Dr. Ana crinkled her brow and just then Swoosh (the baby formerly known on this blog as Zay) who was at her feet picked up the receiver of the toy phone and yelled "Ma-eee-A-ma!" Dr. Ana said excitedly, "He put two words together!" I asked, "Which two would that be?"
See, when she asked how many words the triplets were using I was actually trying to count words. Silly me. If she was asking about every monkey-like shriek and rabid dog-growl, well then my wee ones have a rich and diverse vocabulary. A few of their favorite words and phrases:
"bap-ooom" = thank you
"dop"= stop
"shoose" w/sign = juice
"shoose" w/o sign = shoes
"det-dow"= get me down
"miami" = mommy (Or "I need a vacation," not sure.)
"chee-chee" = say cheese
"taaah" = teddy bear
"ta-a?" = where's my teddy bear
"ta" = every object, animate or inanimate, that is not a teddy bear, shoe, juice, grandparent, mother, or aunt. (It helps when they point.)
The latest word they have added to their vocabulary is "ca-ca." Now this would be funny if they were referring to what we think of when we hear "ca-ca" but they aren't. Sometimes it is used as a replacement for "ta." Other times it is a signal of confusion or denial of culpability as when I ask "Where did you hide the remote?" And they tilt their head like a basset hound and answer, "ca-ca?" But most often it is a complaint used after being beamed on the head by a sibling, for example. "Caaaa-caaaaa (sniff) ca-caaaaaa!"
Meanwhile, as their vocabulary increases, mine is taking a nose-dive. The word most uttered by me now, of course, is "no."
No! We don't (hit, kick, bite, slap, pinch, scratch, lick) Mommy!
There is the constant use of the Lord's name, in vain, naturally.
Jeee-sus! What is (that smell, your name, your problem, my life coming to)?
And then there is the word "poo" which is making a run for the top spot.
Eww, who made a poo?
Unfortunately at least three or four times a day I find myself using all three in one sentence: Jeee-sus, noooo, don't touch your poo!
Dr. Ana ended our last visit by handing me a four page print-out of the milestones my 1.5 year olds should be reaching now. A hand-out I fully intend to ignore. But she made it a point to show me the section on toilet training and said that it's time to get a potty for them. I have only one thing to say to that:
Oh ca-ca, bap-ooom very much!
Your doctor is in a hurry. What the heck? A potty at 19 months? Now I'm going to have to call mine. Sigh. Never enough to worry about that there isn't something else.
ReplyDeleteI too had a hard time counting sort of words as 'words.' But there you are. They have some. We have none, then we have 5 then we have 10. We are currently at a plateau but I have faith. They have smart parents. Most of the time. And I can't possibly be dumbed down as fast as they can learn. I swear.
When I had my daughter I tried to follow the milestone list that the dr gave me too, but that lasted all of a month. Tooters (my daughter now 7.5) started rolling over very early and the dr said I was imagining it. I also started giving her rice cereal and banana baby food earlier than she wanted me to. But she was not the one up nursing every 45 minutes and not sleeping at all. So instead I started calling my grandmother and mom, I mean they raised a couple kids each and we all survived childhood. Go with your instincts and listen to the elders, don't stress about the dr. I mean listen and take advice but kids all develope differently and it sounds like yours are doing just great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my site and hope to see you more.
It's amazing to me the disparity between what some doctors think kids should be doing, and what others think they should be doing. And also what they consider a "word"!
ReplyDeleteSigning is a GOOD thing though, I had mine evaluated (just in case) for Early intervention, and they said signing does not inhibit their language development. I was concerned about one of my boys, who only said about 10 words at 20 months, but they said he was ok- just on his own schedule. In the period between 21-23 months, they have all made a ton of progress in their verbal skills so I'm not too worried anymore. I'm sure your kiddos are totally fine:)