Well, it’s been a good week here. But let me give you a little back story so you can really understand why.
Back in January Amelia’s teachers told me that her speech was nowhere near where it should have been. I talked to the Principal who put me onto a company that offers free speech therapy if she qualified. Around the same time Amelia’s ears started to play her up. At one lucky point when Amelia wasn’t ill (and we all know it was a rarity) we were evaluated and passed. It took until May to actually get someone to come out to us because of the ears, the strep, the pneumonia etc. We then got another therapist two times a week at the end of June making her visits three times a week. The progress was super slow to begin with as Amelia adjusted to a different kind of play and different people to play with. At the time that we started three times a week we were at about 6-7 words. All random and not often repeated. My mum came out at the beginning of July for 7 weeks and over that time she picked up more and more words with all the extra attention she was getting. Most of the new words she was saying were for a few days or a week and then she wouldn’t say them again and would move on to new ones. You can imagine how frustrating it has been. Most people, my family and my friends have been rocks, sending me encouraging notes and telling me their experiences. A few have judged. It’s been an uphill struggle for us here and of course, I have felt the judgement and blame at every stop. But tell me that you wouldn’t if you were in the same position.
So, back to this week. Amelia started school this week and whilst it was a massive luxury to have 9 whole hours to call my own, my sights were more set on Amelia’s progress. And progress she did! She came home her first day babbling away and using some older words that she had been stockpiling. Yay. Tuesday was speech day which went well and then off to Sara’s to play with Archer’s toys and have a squeeze of Geneva. While we were there she was having two cows talk to each other saying moo moo moo. This was a new thing and I was so glad that Sara was there to witness it. (It always feels more real when someone else is there). Wednesday, another school day and she was all abuzz, she crashed out for her nap. Yesterday, well she just blew me away. I was so excited by 9am I actually did a little jig! Amelia said, in response to me, all the animal sounds I asked her to, she said Rio and danced (Archer style, I might add) and that was BEFORE the speech therapist got here. Of course I expected her to clam up once Hannah (our speech therapist) showed up but she was in an imitating mood and just carried on as she had with me. Another reinforcement that I wasn’t imagining things! After her nap we went to Auntie Lallah’s and she was as good as gold, living up to her Magpie nickname by going after the shiny silver birds. She sat there chatting away and then trying her luck by trying to steal their German Shepherd’s toy time and again. She has guts. Anyway, as she was playing Lallah passed her a toy and without prompting said ‘thank you’!! Yes. I feel like it’s coming together. To cement my feelings on this, when I greeted Amelia this morning she turned and waved and said ‘Hi’!!! This has been a massive learning week for us all.
I despise norm’s and scales mainly because Amelia’s weight was such an issue for the first 9 months of her life and I was endlessly being told she was in this or that percentile. But as with anyone in my position, you want to know where you stand. In two and a half months Amelia has jumped from 6 words to 33 words and rising. I have met another friend through the school whose child also went through a similar thing and it’s so nice to be able to know I am not alone and that my worries are things she also worried about.
Thank you to all of you who have supported us and sent me little notes and called or even those who have read up so they can be more involved. There are great victories to be had and there are also days of black doom too. I am excited for Amelia and to see that she is understanding and communicating with us.
Today’s picture, although a snap, says a lot.
The beautiful frame of course is from the wonderful Bloomies of the Organic Bloom - a pink hydrangea Jessie!
Kristi James says: That is too cute!! I love it! on 09.28.11 @ 8:21 pm
Betty says: Glad you have not grown out of this yet - we had so much fun doing this in the summer didn't we Amelia? on 09.29.11 @ 6:41 am
Auntie Lallah says: You are a girl after my own heart too!! on 09.29.11 @ 8:34 am