Just about a month ago, Doodle was in for his two year well-check at the pediatrician. He is growing and gaining weight and has met or exceeded most of the two year old milestones. But for the first time ever with any of my children, the doctor (who I picked after extensive research before Honeybun was born) showed concern for one area: Doodle’s language development.
It’s not that’s he isn’t talking because he does have quite a few words. Or even that he isn’t talking as well as the girls were at two because I know kids can’t be compared and boys often talk later than girls. But what is worrying is that he still isn’t really putting words together. And he mostly speaks in elongated single syllables like “waaaa” for water, “caaaaaa” for car and “iiii” for ice. He also doubles words like “back back” and “mo mo.” And other than adding a few new “words,” his speech hasn’t changed much in many months.
The weird thing is, he said his first words months earlier than the girls did at only 9 months whereas both my girls were around 14 months! I wouldn’t consider him delayed (yet) because he is meeting all the other milestones for language development like understanding what I have to say, easily following one- and often even two-step directions and pointing to pictures in books when prompted. And he does often try to repeat words he hears, they just don’t become part of his regular vocabulary.
And even as the doctor discussed the possibility of needing to look into it more in a few months if things don’t progress, he gave me hope by (more than once) stating that oftentimes “Einstein type” children are slower on language development than their peers. And this is what I’ve been feeling too. He is achieving cognitive and motor skills that the girls didn’t do until much later. And he often sits, watching people and things taking it all in. It’s like his brain is just processing everything else in the world instead of trying to formulate speech.
I’m trying to stay optimistic about it because my gut tells me there really is nothing wrong that is going to cause long-term problems but our days are hard because of his lack of ability to communicate. He often ends up in screaming, crying fits of rage when he doesn’t get what he wants and no matter how calmly I talk to him, he can’t tell me what is wrong (thought I usually I know, and it’s usually about food). He also makes a lot of “mmm” sounds (with a raised inflection at the end, like a question) if you ask him what something is in a book or he is trying to show you something new.
I try to talk to him normally, as I do the girls. I point out lots of things during our day “Doodle, do you see the black bird?” and we’ve been reading a lot more. I try to decode what he is telling me which is not always easy with his single syllables that often sound the same!
But he is starting to try to put two words together usually saying one word, pausing then adding another with a nod to make sure I understand “Dada…bye bye?” And he does say some two-syllable words like his sister’s names and lizard (“li-ler”). He also participates in conversation pretty well. If we ask the girls who wants milk with dinner, he’ll throw his hands up and shout “Meeeee!” and he asserts himself by saying “no!” and “mine” and proclaiming “Dude!” when he wants to do something himself (we’re working more on referring to him by his name!)
So I’m not really worried, yet. But I am keeping a close eye and ear on his progress and hoping for small changes each day!
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My daughter was in the same boat. She wasn’t that interested in speaking although she understood everything. Our preschool teacher said it does take effort to talk, and she suggested pretending I didn’t understand to encourage her to talk, because as a SAHM I understood her most of the time without her having to say much. Then she hit the 2.5 year mark and her language just exploded. She is repeating everything now and she loves talking. She is pointing things out. She is still shy with strangers, but with us she talks a lot. Our daughter loves puzzles and games, and she knows most of the letters and can count to 10. Interestingly, she has always loved to be read to, even as a baby, and now she even knows how to read a few words! She’s not yet 3. Even though she doesn’t speak as thoroughly as some other kids, she’ll get there, I don’t have a doubt. Just wanted to share as I know it can be worrying when the doctor has concerns.
Thanks for the encouraging words and sharing your story, June! It is definitely frustrating for everyone when a child can’t communicate what they want and that is, unfortunately, where we are with Doodle right now. Because his “words” are usually single syllables/sounds it’s often a guessing game as to what he is trying to tell us and we all often get frustrated and overwhelmed! We’ve already started seeing a big change and new words just in the past week so I’m hoping we’re nearing that “explosion” phase.