Just Like That - More Grey Hairs!

Did you know that Einstein didn't speak until he was 2?  My mom says they joked that it was because he had nothing good to say until then.

James has his words.  He also works on his Jedi skills by signaling to things he wants as if he can will them into the palm of his outstretched hands.  It reminds me of Kevin Smith in Mallrats.

You get bonus points if that reference was instantly a picture in your mind that made you laugh.

So, we went to the Cleft Lip and Palate clinic to follow up with them.  It's been 7 months since surgery, and I was excited to show them how well he was doing.

But they are saying he doesn't have enough of a vocabulary.  That he should be saying more words.

He is 18 months old.  He says our names, a few key phrases that we recognize since we are with him, and can identify Boba Fett in his Star Wars ABC board book.

They asked if we wanted to do early intervention and have someone come work with him.  Which stressed me out and had me worried we were doing something wrong for about a whole minute.  Then I thought about him and us and realized something.

How do you work with a kid who doesn't talk in front of strange people?

Since yesterday, he has started saying "roun, roun, roun" as he spins in a circle.

Which means he can say it but just doesn't want to all the time.

If he hadn't been born with the cleft lip and palate, and these clinics weren't there, no one would question his talking.  Or not talking to be correct.

Why does he have to grow up so quickly for people?

He'll talk soon enough, and we probable won't ever be able to make him stop.

For now we turned down the offer.  We go back in March, and I'll probably turn it down then.  I want him to get to it when he's ready.  Not because the system says he's supposed to have a vocabulary of 15 words by this age.

As long as he can communicate with us for now I think that's okay.  I'll make sure he can make his acceptance speech as president of the Galactic Federation when the time comes, don't worry.

Meanwhile I need to look for a bottle of hair dye to mask the bunch of white hairs that this and the family stuff from yesterday caused.  I am SO looking forward to a quiet weekend!