Toby Talking

Toby is always pulling this blanket out of his bed, putting it over a toy, and saying, "Night, night!" Tonight was super cute because he crawled on the couch with Kaden (who was happily watching Wipe Out with Daddy) with his blanket and starting calling out, "Night, night!" and then snuggled into Kaden's side. 

Cute. But... he's been saying "night night" for a long time now. Here's what's new: these days he's labeling everything and will usually attempt at least one repeat of anything you ask him.  He's also mimicking more phrases. The cadence will be there. The pronunciation? Notsomuch.  The other day he held up a Buzz Lightyear toy and in his mind, I know he said, "To infinity and beyond!" But it came out Blahblahblahblah yond!" 

Another recent cute talking moment happened last night. I sang, "The B-I-B-L-E" and he shouted out "Bible!" at the end as he always does, and I said "Yay!" And then he threw his arms up in the air and said, "Did it!" 

When he finishes a cup of milk he shakes it and says, "empty."  Our first sign of adjectives!

He's been working on answering yes/no questions in speech.  If you ask him a yes/no question and he wants it he will just repeat the word or possibly do a chest rub (his version of the "please" sign) and say, "pea" and if the answer is "no" he'll probably just ignore you.  So, no, he hasn't come close to gaining this skill. BUT, last night I was reading with Kaden (Kenny and the Dragon - so far, cute book) and it mentioned an astronaut and I stopped and asked Kaden, "Do you want to be an astronaut?" And Toby must have heard that familiar, "Do you..." And he just looked at me and said, "No." I asked again and he said it again. So there you have it.  The boy CAN answer "no," and he is emphatic about NOT wanting to be an astronaut. 

As for speech therapy on his most recent test, his therapist said he scored 1 year 11 months.  (He's two years two months.) I'll be interested to see how this compares with what they saw in Chapel Hill (don't have that info yet.)

I have read about numerous FX kids who aren't verbal at all, and I know that as Toby ages the gap between where he's scoring and his age will likely widen. BUT... right NOW he's doing so well. So if you've ever heard Toby say, "Yay!!!!" (As he does a lot.) That's what you should be hearing in your mind right now.

Comments

[Marissa]

He was thinking duh, mom. Space program is done, why would I be an astronaut ; )

[Susie]

Yay Toby!