He Speaks... Unfortunately, So Does She

Benjamin had his communication assessment today, with one of the school district's speech therapists. We did not anticipate any "problems," and she didn't find any. The only thing I was anxious about is Ben is typically VERY quiet around people other than our immediate family. He prefers to just sit and silently watch whatever is going on. My brother often comments, "Sure, he talks."

But, while the evaluator was here, she counted 16 words he says on his own... and even felt certain he was asking "Wha dat?" when pointing to various objects. He also did some mimicking, copying words after she said them. (I've recently noticed him doing a lot more of this, too.) She marveled at how he likes books, and how serious he is about studying the pictures. So, Benjamin is right on track in the communication department. Nothing to worry about, unless he stops making progress.

Meantime, Elisabeth. Need I say more? I've repeated this story to some already, but I really need to make it part of her permanent record. Two nights ago, she did not want to go to sleep. She laid in bed, repeatedly screaming, "MOMMY!" When I did not respond, she changed her tactics to a sing-songy, "Mommy, I need you to come in here..." After a half-dozen of those, I started down the hallway (mostly to tell her to be quiet so her sister could sleep.) As I got closer, she continued sweetly calling to me, "Mommy, I need you to come in here... I want to tell you I hate you."

The next morning, she and Amanda were up early "doing art." Elisabeth brought me a picture, silently laid it next to me, and turned and walked away. It was a four-year-old drawing of a face with a circle around it and a diagonal line through it (the "no" symbol.) Underneath the drawing was written in preschool handwriting, "No Mom." I can't make this stuff up.