She said NO!!!

Most parents do not like to hear their child tell them no. This is especially true when the "no" comes as an answer to bedtime. However, that was not the case last night. We were THRILLED to hear C tell us no! We even did a happy dance around the room!

You see until last night, C only had 3 "words" that she would say. This would be okay if she was about to turn one. However, she is 2 1/2 years old, so she should be speaking in short sentences, not the baby babble we usually hear from her. She says "Da Da". (However she uses this just to mean any adult). She says "baby". (This is used just as a generic word. She calls pretty much anything a baby.) She will occasionally also say "bye bye", but she usually just waves. It is for that reason we were thrilled to hear her say, "no". She has not said it again, but she did say it 2 or 3 times. That gives us hope that we will hear it again!

After having three children I feel there are a fewthings I have learned for sure. One is that it is amazing what perspective you get once you become a parent. It is a learning process for sure! Some people like to refer to parents of several children, like myself, as experienced parents. I am not sure I agree with that. Each child is different. Each child is a new experience altogether. I do not think there is any such thing as an "experienced" or "expert" parent. There are just parents. We all have different experiences with children and we can even help each other out when one of us comes to an unknown area (thing number 2, even as a kid I was a "do it myslef" type. Since becoming a parent I have learned that sometimes you have to ask for help)..for instance, I have a friend whose daughter is a little older than C, and has similar problems. She has given me advice and passed on knowledge she has obtained while trying to help her little girl. I have another friend whose child has similar problems to IE. She has also talked to me and helped me.

For those who are interested, here is C's story to date:

She was a very quiet baby. I never worried too much about that, after all J is quiet even as an adult. S talks all the time as well, so I probably never noticed exactly how quiet she was. However, when she turned 2 and had yet to say any words other than Baby and DaDa, I began to worry. I mentioned it to her doctor and he said just told hold off a couple more months and we would see. I waited and she said Bye Bye a few times and that was it. I called TEIS and they did an evaluation. It was determined that she had no receptive speech delay, but that she did have a significant expressive speech delay. She also has some gross motor and adaptive behavior delays. She is now on a waiting list for speech therapy, occupational therapy, and in home educational assistance.

Hopefully she will begin talking to us soon. I look forward to the day she purposefully says, "MaMa". I will treasure every new word with her...even if the little smarty pants is saying "no" to bedtime! (For the record, new word or not..she went to bed :) )