The Farm and The Speech Assessment

We went back to the farm today. Everyone had a great time even if we did get rained on a bit. Max enjoyed really enjoyed it the first time we went a few weeks ago with a local single mom's group, but if possible...he enjoyed it 500% better the second time and with his cousin and nanna.

I'm so glad we ended up doing his speech and language assessment yesterday instead of today as he was wiped out and I would have had to wake him. The speech assessment went great and as I expected, she will not be recommending services for him. She said things like...he's speaking in 4 - 5 words sentences; I won't even ask or try to count how many words he knows...it's a lot; saying and understanding things like scared, hot, cold are more common around 3; he's on target or ahead in this area; he has no sensory issues or texture issues. She did wonder, and I think she may be absolutely correct, that the reason Max isn't talking in school is because many of the attendees speak Spanish as their primarily language and he's 1) listening and taking it all in 2) not able to communicate to make himself understood in Spanish at this point so says nothing. We also discussed a few parenting type techniques that show I'm right on track with my style. And, she recommended that I start making my choices directing him towards ?? forget the right word at the moment ?? but, basically getting him to start picking up after himself like taking his plate to the table when he's finished instead of just getting up to leave and putting away one toy before getting out another, that type of thing. She also said I may want to shorten my sentences and make sure I make eye contact when I'm giving him direction or requests. I actually purposely speak to Max often in longer sentences, but will pay more attention to the eye contact thing. It's not a problem, but she said it will help set the stage for a few years when he's interacting with friends and in school. She got me teary eyed when she said, you can tell that you just love being a mom and that the two of you have a lot of fun together.

Anyway, it's been a busy, but fun few days. Max picked out his farm book and one of his tractor books to read before bed tonight. And, he took the farm one to bed with him. He really had a great time. We all really had a great time.

And, I got my first "Mommy", pause and wait for eye contact, "I wove you". Oh, my boy, I love you too.