Pictureless Update (on IV of course!)

Sooo, my son is speech-delayed and we're in the process of getting speech therapists to come over twice a month and help the little guy out.  The whole experience has been really interesting.  We've made an IFSP for him (similar to an IEP for school-aged children) it's an Individualized Family Service Plan and they really do seem to focus on the family, which I am thrilled about.  The therapists want me to be included in what they teach him so I can try and use what they've taught when they are gone.

The therapists were all quite impressed with IV.  He knows all his letters and he's not even two yet.  (You can ask him to point to the letter, but he doesn't know how to say them all yet)  They also commented that even though he doesn't say any words he can communicate with us quite effectively.

This morning we dropped my husband off super early in the morning and as we were driving home IV kept saying "MOOOO!" very emphatically, and I couldn't think of what he was trying to say.  Then finally it dawned on me, he was pointing to the moon!  I was soo excited!  That's the first word he's said on his own without us prodding him to say it!

He LOVES letters.  For Christmas he received a magna-doodle and many, MANY different foam alphabets. He will come up to me all day long and wants to know what letter he is holding.  One of the alphabet sets is lowercase and so the "b", "d", "p", and "q" are all interchangeable and this thrills him to no end.  He will bring me the "d" (and I will tell him it's a "d") and then he flip it to be one of the other letters.  He also does this with the "M" and the "W".  Smarty pants.  I remember learning in school that some of these spacial things are hard for small children to recognize, and specifically the example we were shown was that a watch is still a watch no matter which way it is turned, but the "d" can be other letters when turned around.  This can be quite tricky for children to grasp and so I was shocked that he understands when it's a "d" versus a "p".

With the magna-doodle he will have me write a word and then go through letter by letter saying what it is.  And then he'll erase it and we will start over again.  all.day.long.

With the alphabet he can say a,b,d,e,g,i,j,l,o and t.  He just makes the sound for the f,h,k,m,n,r,s,u.

In nursery they have some magnetic letters that they get out just for Stephen.  Oh, and he's started hating nursery.  He used to do just fine but now he doesn't like us leaving.  Last Sunday I left and heard him cry but didn't get him until the end.  The nursery leaders told me he cried the entire time, but not the loud cry.  They would think he was fine and just see tears streaming down his face.  Brakes my heart!