I have to confess that I grow weary of pretending like I don't care that Levi's not talking yet. "15 words by 18 months," the books and magazines tell me (not that I look on purpose), and I vacillate between truly not being concerned, feeling indignant that such expectations even exist, and wanting to cry "because he's behind."
Our pediatrician says he isn't concerned "yet." He also blames baby sign language for Levi's verbal delays, suggesting that teaching signs forces a toddler to learn two languages at once. And yet baby signs are touted so highly in so many places! Who am I to believe? As every good mother does, of course, I sometimes blame myself: if I had talked to him more in infancy, surely he would be talking himself. Right?
Some sources claim that animal sounds count. Levi does an elephant and a monkey, neither of which offers any building blocks to actual words. [I was both tickled and terrified yesterday, when he pointed to a picture of a (not terribly attractive) woman in the newspaper and made the monkey sound. We might be working on being polite in the future!] He will also imitate a giraffe (sticking his tongue out) and a rabbit (sniffing through his nose). Again, neither is going to lead to the formation of words. He can tell me what several of the letters "say," too, but unless he's going to spell before he speaks, I'm not sure that's relevant at the moment.
The fact is, I think my son is brilliant (as every good mother does), and that he's merely choosing not to talk because he communicates so well in other ways. I resent any implication that he should be doing something he's not, developmentally. I even suspect that once he does start talking I'll wish he hadn't -- endless "why" questions in my future, I'm sure! I maintain such conviction right up until the moment I catch other kids his age babbling coherently.
But really? What I really want? To be called "mama" by the person who gave me the title. Right now, I'd trade the rest of the dictionary for just that.
Our pediatrician says he isn't concerned "yet." He also blames baby sign language for Levi's verbal delays, suggesting that teaching signs forces a toddler to learn two languages at once. And yet baby signs are touted so highly in so many places! Who am I to believe? As every good mother does, of course, I sometimes blame myself: if I had talked to him more in infancy, surely he would be talking himself. Right?
Some sources claim that animal sounds count. Levi does an elephant and a monkey, neither of which offers any building blocks to actual words. [I was both tickled and terrified yesterday, when he pointed to a picture of a (not terribly attractive) woman in the newspaper and made the monkey sound. We might be working on being polite in the future!] He will also imitate a giraffe (sticking his tongue out) and a rabbit (sniffing through his nose). Again, neither is going to lead to the formation of words. He can tell me what several of the letters "say," too, but unless he's going to spell before he speaks, I'm not sure that's relevant at the moment.
The fact is, I think my son is brilliant (as every good mother does), and that he's merely choosing not to talk because he communicates so well in other ways. I resent any implication that he should be doing something he's not, developmentally. I even suspect that once he does start talking I'll wish he hadn't -- endless "why" questions in my future, I'm sure! I maintain such conviction right up until the moment I catch other kids his age babbling coherently.
But really? What I really want? To be called "mama" by the person who gave me the title. Right now, I'd trade the rest of the dictionary for just that.
Didn't Einstein wait until 5 to start talking? ; ) While I'm sure that the developmental milestones were created to help us intervene when necessary, I think they also do us mothers a terrible disservice. I notice that when my kids are on the high end of the developmental spectrum, I feel at ease, but if they are even on the lower end of "normal," I start to feel a little panicky. My son was my latest talker and he too did a lot of signs...hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteAdia waited for a long time, too - I'm told that I did as well. First-born thing?
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