Wednesday of this week Schaeffer has an appointment to see a speech pathologist to possibly find out why he isn't babbling with more sounds and why he hasn't said any words yet. Still no mama, dada, baba, or bye-bye. Our pediatrician, Dr. Feld, wanted to play it safe and get him evaluated. I'm glad he takes a more proactive, cautious approach instead of playing the "wait-and-see" game. Nothing is more stressful for a mom than to wait and see. My heart tells me that Schaeffer might just be a late talker since his sister keeps our house full of noise and constant chatter. He is right on target with other developmental milestones, and he is not showing any sensitivities to noise, lights, textures, movement, and so on like Lily did at this age.
As suggested by Dr. Feld, we've already begun sign language with a few words to help promote better communication. We use sign for the words more, finished/all done, Mommy, Daddy, eat, drink and bath. Schaeffer has seemed to pick up on the sign for more even though it looks like he is just clapping his hands. It's neat to see him picking up on sign language as a meaningful way of communicating. Lily used the sign for more all the time. In fact, she would use it for almost anything that she wanted. One day when she was a little over a year old, we were all in the car together. Suddenly she became very frustrated and started yelling out at us. We looked back at her in her car seat and she was frantically signing more. Unfortunately it was our duty to figure out what she wanted more of. But at least she could communicate her needs at such a young age without all the crying, grunting, and screaming that usually comes out the mouths of frustrated 1-year-olds.
Regardless of the outcome at Wednesday's appointment, Schaeffer is our sweet little boy. I could not love him any more or any less. I just want the best start in life for him and whatever that might mean for all of us.
