Friday Flotsam

By Bev Weidner on July 10, 2015 in Friday Flotsam

F R I D A YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAH!

You will NEVER believe what I saw yesterday on my own front porch here in Kansas City, North America, USofA. NEVER. A w.h.i.te.c.o.c.k.r.o.a.c.h. An albino cockroach! First, I obviously screamed in terror. Then, I looked a little closer at it because hello, it looks like a cockroach dipped in milk. Then I quickly swept it off my front porch in panic sweats because hello, it looks like a cockroach dipped in milk.

Did you know they’re like, super rare and being sought after by the Kansas Native Conservatory of Investigatory Journalists? It’s true! A photographer from our local paper told me so. (he was shooting our nursery for a home design profile thingy.)

So then I looked it up because I’m demented like that. Turns out they’re not really albino after all. They’re basically mythical creatures! This is what the Goog says:

“Albino Cockroaches. Insects believed to be albino cockroaches are actually newly molted cockroaches. When a roach outgrows its exterior casing, known as the cuticle, it splits the cuticle and sheds it. The soft skin beneath appears white.”

“Newly molted.” And now I’m ruined forever.

This is what summer on a budget looks like. Can we still be friends?

Remember this refreshing little treat?? Ten points to the first person who knows what it’s called!

Also, that’s not a dirty thumbnail. That’s . . . chocolate or something under there. Or soil or dirt. I can’t remember.

Oh by the way! I’ve got a new post on The Food Network. Hi, Mexican food. Give me all the tacos. The end.

So, a little bit of real talk for a second. The babies had their 18-month appointments the other day, and everything went mostly fine. Besides the fact that they screamed bloody murder for 45 minutes straight because now they know what happens in that little green and white room with paper on the table. (enter syringe-with-blood-shooting-out-of-it emoji)

We had to fill out little profiles for each tot, answering questions about their communication, speech and motor skills development, basically looking for autism in toddlers. Nat’s profile was off the chart. Sanguine to the MAX, juuuust like her mama. (bless us all)

But Will like, doesn’t talk. The ONLY thing I can get him to say is Yes. But it’s more like YESH. He just walks around all, “YESH. YESH. YESH.” He used to say Mama and Dadda on command, but it’s been months since I’ve heard him say either word. He’ll say ball once in a while, but it takes maaaajor teeth pulling. Apparently at this age they should be saying like FIFTY words. FIFTY WORDS? That’s insane. Of course after a little concern expressed from le doc, and Baby Center sending me “IS YOUR KID A STUPID IDIOT?” emails, I’m pretty much spiraling in worry. We work with him daily on easy words, but he just looks at me with a smirk like, “yyyyyyeah, guess again, woman.”

It’s a delicate balance, blocking out the voices, yet paying attention to possible milestones missed. Maybe he’s not talking because Natalie does ALL (and I mean all) of it. Maybe he’s just playing games with me and knows all the words but has more fun making me beg for it like a lunatic. Maybe he’s just not interested right now. Maybe later this month he’ll randomly spew out, “Give me some dang milk, Ma. And this time add chocolate.” I have no idea. I’m supposed to call her back in two months if he’s still not saying much.

Are there any videos or exercises that I should try out with him? Other than me all in his face, “SAY BALL, YA WEIRDO.”

Just kidding I don’t say that!

I say freak.

Anyway, I’m all ears if you have any suggestions.

Should we talk about albino cockroaches some more?!

Weekend plans? We’re maj chillin’ at home. Regular stuff like walks to the park, yard mowin’, laundry foldin’. Oh! I have a Bur-FREE-to coupon from Chipotle on the fridge that is screaming at me to use. So that’s obviously happening.

Remember that idea of the “What We’re Diggin'” series? Guuuuuuuesssss whaaaaaaaaat’s happennnnnniiiiing next weeeeeeeeek????!!!!

No really, guess.

friday flotsam, life, parenthood, real talk

DIY: Coconut Coffee Scrub

Asian Beef Burgers with a Shiitake Sauté

51 Responses to Friday Flotsam

Kelly July 10, 2015 at 7:17 am #

Hello! I just wanted to let you know I work in early intervention (birth to age three) for children, and my own son had a speech delay. I know it's hard not to worry. My son said barely anything at all and started getting speech therapy a little before he turned two. Then, all of a sudden when he was about 30 to 33 months old, he started speaking like a NASA scientist. Literally, over the course of a few months his speech exploded. Just wanted to give you some encouragement that sometimes kids (esp boys) just need a little "push". Keep in touch with your doc and get him some therapy if he needs it. Hang in there mama!
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Misty July 10, 2015 at 8:00 am #

Hi! My son followed the same basic speech pattern and didn't really get going until 2.5-3 years. He started part-time daycare at 2 and they did a lot of sign language with him which seemed to help. I know it's hard not to worry, especially when you have an immediate comparator. I think boys are more content to let others do the talking too :)
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Patti July 10, 2015 at 8:02 am #

Dilly bar.
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Sarah B July 10, 2015 at 8:06 am #

Whats the di di di dillio Whats the di di dill dill. Dilly Bar!
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bryn July 10, 2015 at 8:28 am #

My youngest had an appointment scheduled with a therapist to start looking at speech delays and an early interventionist to look at other possible issues...and then sentences. Literally. Maybe 5 words around 20 months and then full on conversations at 24 months. They all do it differently. In their own way. In their own time.
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Panna July 10, 2015 at 8:43 am #

he's totally fine. he's supposed to say fifty words at 18 months??? what?? that's crazy. boys tend to start speaking at a later age than girls anyway. he's fine. do you know how hard it is to say 'firetruck'? he just wants that to be his first word.
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judi July 10, 2015 at 8:44 am #

makes me chuckle - our second child rarely said a word - even up to about two years of age.....everyone kept asking "aren't your worried" - (like i needed another chattering little girl) - when Courtney finally started talking - it was non-stop!!!! I would just say "Court! - find the button and turn it off).......she is now 36 and payback arrived about 12 years ago when her second child - a girl - came along - and talked, and talks, and talks. Our pediatrician from way back then wasn't as concerned......the old joke says - "why didn't you talk until now? - up until now every thing was fin
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bryn July 10, 2015 at 8:47 am #

One more thing... I used Parents as Teachers as a resource. When we lived in Philadelphia it was more of an inner city resource and I did not know what a great program it was. Now we live in the suburbs of Saint Louis and have found that they are available for all types of families. Our mentor taught us games we could play and activities we could do to encourage speech. Also, she was so great at helping me identify issues and also show me how I was overreacting about others.
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Mo July 10, 2015 at 9:06 am #

Echoing what everyone else said. Trust your gut and your doctor and ignore the voices and the internet. My boys said nothing compared to their equivalently aged female cousins until they were over age 2. In fact, I'm reasonably certain that today, at 8 and 11, they would willingly let the females in their lives say and do everything on their behalf. "How was school?" "fine" "What did you do" "nothing".
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Shanna July 10, 2015 at 9:10 am #

My son did everything at a waaaaaayyyyyyy slower pace than my daughter. He had no interest in crawling, he literally rolled everywhere he wanted to go. I didn't really worry, I mostly laughed at his male-ness. (laziness is still an issue) He also had no interest in potty training, he was just over 3 when I threw up my hands and was prepared to invest in training pants, when BOOM! He got it. Many people tried to tell me he was showing signs of autism, and I just ignored them. Not that I was in denial, but I just know that he is going to be who he is going to be, and nobody is going to label him. Talking was what I would guess is "normal", (but that's probably because my daughter is the quiet one) and he has been NON-STOP for 9 years. My point: don't worry, enjoy his unique personality, whatever it may be.
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Michele July 10, 2015 at 9:21 am #

My son didn't say much until he turned two and then he suddenly started talking in complete paragraphs. Guess he was more of an observer at first.
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Desiree July 10, 2015 at 9:48 am #

He sounds just like my little boy. He would say words and then not say them again. He is almost 2.5 and is finally putting 2-3+ words together. He is also incredibly stubborn. We looked at a lot of picture books of trucks and animals (his favorites) alot and he finally started saying those words first. My daughter was having full on conversations by 2.
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Darcy July 10, 2015 at 10:02 am #

MMmmmmm....Dilly bars. Although I am a fan of the cherry dilly bar, my heart belongs to the Starkiss at DQ. :) And probably not related, but my brother and I are 13 months apart (I'm the oldest). He was talking non-stop WAAAYYYY before I was I guess, and my mom was super worried. She probably regrets that now because soon I was motor mouthing right on top of, over and above my brother and he became the quiet one. So yes - it's probably good to listen to the doctors (I mean, they have a degree and everything I guess) but sometimes kids just develop at their own pace. And from the length of this comment, you can tell my communication skills turned out just fine. :) Even if they didn't start until I was 3. Happy Friday!
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Shannon July 10, 2015 at 10:12 am #

MEET ME AT DQ!!! Sorry for yelling. My daughter (18 months in 4 days) only says (when asked to) mama, baby (which sounds more like bah-poo), and UH OH. Although she "talks" non stop all day, we can't really make out anything shes saying. She is excelling in so many other areas that I'm not concerned (and neither is her pedi). She can point to (when we name) pretty much every single body part, shes running around every where, wants us to read to her constantly, etc. I think her problem could be fluid in her ears, so we are taking her to an ENT soon.
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Jenny @ The Peachy Pair July 10, 2015 at 10:14 am #

My husband, who is an entomologist, just recently told me about those weird white cockroaches! He says they're fascinating and I say they're gross. He also has told me, coincidentally, that his parents thought there was something wrong with his development early on because he said NOTHING for the first few years of life. Turned out it was because his older brother never stopped talking. Now he talks ALL THE FREAKIN TIME, God love him. :)
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Glen @ The Peachy Pair July 10, 2015 at 10:23 am #

As the husband who talks all the time, I have to chime in. People will call me and tell me that they found an albino. I ask them to put it in a bag and I'll come get it. By the time I get there it has magically changed back into a normal colored one. It happens in about 2-4 hours typically. And now I will be quiet for a while.......
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- Jenny @ The Peachy Pair July 10, 2015 at 10:41 am #
  
  Love you!
  Reply
Katy Morgan July 10, 2015 at 10:25 am #

You're definitely doing the right thing by checking those milestones, but I certainly wouldn't get too worried about it at this point. Our oldest boy decided to start talking in complete paragraphs when he finally did decide to do that. He was very late for everything. Walking, talking, potty training...he's just the type to process all the info before he acts. This has not AT ALL impacted him socially or in his schooling. And I think you could be right that having a twin sister to talk for him has allowed him to stay quiet for this long. Hope this eases your mind a bit! Your babies are gorgeous, by the way!
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Nicole July 10, 2015 at 10:26 am #

My 7 year old didn't talk until he was 3 and when he decided it was time for him to talk to us he was talking to us as a full grown adult. Don't worry kids just need to hit milestones at there own pace. Just let him be and enjoy every moment because it's going to fly by.
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Erica July 10, 2015 at 10:26 am #

That paragraph about albino cockroaches gave me the chills! :) About a speech delay... It is so easy to say "don't worry," and yet SO hard to stop worrying, especially about the thing we care most about- our kiddos! But I wanted to ease your mind a little bit... I have two nephews who are a year and a half apart. The older one has had incredible verbal skills since he was about a year old- an amazing vocabulary, really clear articulation, talks all the time, etc. When the younger of the two got to the age where he should be talking, he said NOTHING. Like literally nothing. He would point and grunt, and that's about it. My sister was so worried forever, especially as he got to about three years old and STILL didn't speak much! But when he turned three, it was like a switch flipped, and all of the sudden he was talking constantly, and he hasn't stopped since. :) He's five now and has totally normal speech for his age. Kids just do different things at different ages. Speech is one of those things that varies so vastly from toddler to toddler. I think, in particular, if a child has a sibling that talks all the time, he may not really feel a need to talk much at all, since his sibling is doing all the talking for both of them! So try not to worry, and enjoy the silence! :) A time will come when Will is talking your ear off and you'll miss the quiet days. :)
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Jenny July 10, 2015 at 10:34 am #

It's very easy to get worried about boys and language. My oldest is a boy, and he barely said 5 words at 2 years. Our doc recommended speech therapy. A friend suggested we wait a couple months before going that route. He was talking a lot and well by 2.5 years. At only 18 months, there's still lots of time. Hang in there!
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nicole @ I am a Honey Bee July 10, 2015 at 10:35 am #

at least he says yes! My 19 month old says no to everything. EVERYTHING. "Can mama have a hug?" "No!" "Can mama have a kiss?" "No!" "Do you want a banana?" "No!" "Do you want a million dollars?" "No!" I wouldn't worry about how much will talks. I'm sure Natalie does enough talking for him. That is what it was like for my nephew and then my niece. Both didn't talk until after 2yo as the older sibling(s) would basically talk for them. Once they started talking they were non-stop and talking in short structured sentences.
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Meredith July 10, 2015 at 11:08 am #

If it makes you feel any better, my sister experienced the very same thing with twins. I think there really is something to be said about the special communication and bond between twins. Her kiddos were flip flopped, the boy being the more verbal one. But either way, her little girl had a constant verbal representative at all times. She wasn't speaking consistently until three, so hang in there :) And their growth milestones really have reflected their personalities on some level. Her boy is very outgoing and extroverted, while her girl is more thoughtful and introverted. Neither of them have any developmental problems and both are super happy children. Twins are on a totally different level- I applaud you for your super mom strength!
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TheOtherJennifer July 10, 2015 at 11:21 am #

First, I love the low budget blanket pull! Secondly, my daughter didn't speak til almost 2 and her father wanted her to go to speech therapy (bah). The doctor said that she would either be a motor skills rockstar or a braniac. Now she's a straight A student who loves to read and computer code. Everyone goes at their own pace and don't let anyone tell you different. I'm sure Nat is channeling all his thoughts and vocalizing them just fine.
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Dani July 10, 2015 at 11:44 am #

I didn't say anything until I was two - they thought there was a high likelihood that I was mute (whatever that meant in 1982), and then one day I opened the fridge and started naming all the things inside. I know how hard it is to not worry but I bet he's just fine - just going at his own pace. Sending good chatty vibes his way :)
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Bev Leachman July 10, 2015 at 1:30 pm #

I am a speech therapist in KC and have been following you on Instagram since before the babies were born. Guess your name hooked me and love your recipes and style. I love love love to help parents and young children who are slow to talk. It is amazing how little interactive changes can make the words come out. Being in the home environment is the best too. If interested contact me. I always remember our family doctor commenting on my career. He said, "you know speech therapy always works." I have to agree.
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Christy July 10, 2015 at 1:52 pm #

Dilly bar! I get them after the first day of school each year and put them in a bag with a cute free printable tag I found on Pinterest that says, "Starting 1st grade (or whatever grade) is a big dilly!"
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Laura July 10, 2015 at 1:52 pm #

Hi Bev! Keep working with Will and try not to worry too much. I have many recent stories of friends and family with little boys who developed more slowly than the girls, then took off. My favorite story is my cousin who was in early intervention speech/language therapy and suddenly one day went to the counter and ordered his own Frappuccino at Starbucks. True life.
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Heather July 10, 2015 at 2:40 pm #

Question: do you and your husband split the kids up and go for one-on-one dates? Wondering if doing that on a regular basis would give Will a chance to try out some words. Btw, I admire the guts you have for sharing this on the internet :) Keep up the good work super-mom!
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- Bev Weidner July 11, 2015 at 6:58 am #
  
  That is SUCH a great idea. We don't do that, but we'll start now! Thank you. :)
  Reply
Jamie July 10, 2015 at 4:32 pm #

I'm guessing Will keeps track of everything, lets Nat do the talking, then hashes it out with her when you aren't looking. And if he's anything like my almost 3-year-old, the more you push the less he'll do it. Try to make it a game? Or try singing more - I've heard there's a really powerful link between singing and speech. You're doing great - hang in there, momma!
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Shelley July 10, 2015 at 8:34 pm #

We are currently getting speech therapy for our 23 month old daughter. At our consultation she only had a dozen words. A few months later she has three times the amount of words and is putting two and even three words together. I am learning skills from the therapist to use during the week and the whole family is working together to help her. I pursued therapy because she was growing frustrated when we did not understand her. I love seeing her delight in using words and being understood. My therapist explained that this is the ideal window of time to work with children who have speech delays. it has been a wonderful experience for us and I am so glad that I sought help. Really enjoyed the comedic relief by the way, its good to keep things in perspective.
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Deja July 11, 2015 at 8:31 am #

I have 3 kids. The first two are 17 months apart and super smart, like #1 taught herself the alphabet at 18 months and to read by 3. All her, we did not ush, teach beyond the normal etc. My 3rd is 5 1/2 years yunger than #2. She did not speak AT ALL until she was two and then only to me in a whisper. Not her dad, her sister, brother. NO ONE. We were not at all worried because she seemed very happy and understood us, just didn't need to talk. She started 2 day a week pre school at 2 1/2 and by the middle of the school year chatted up a storm with everyone. If Will seems frustrated then maybe you want to pursue some type of therapy but really I would not worry at all yet. I do think that splitting up the kids and giving them each one on one time would be the best way to start though. All kids need one on one time with thier parents, no matter how short or seemingly mundane (errands). Send one kid outside to play with dad while you cook with the other or give seperate baths, anything small and simple.
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Alaina July 11, 2015 at 8:31 am #

cockroaches are gross, no matter the color, I'd scream in terror too. Secondly, i wouldn't stress about the talking! My oldest was having full blown conversations with us by 18months, so when I had my second, I kind of expected that, but no. He didn't say a word, and like you and the doc, I started getting freaked. He was two years old and still only saying like 6 words? So I got all the paperwork and was about to sign him up for speech therapy, but then life got In the way, aka I got preggo again, & it got put off. Well what do you know, at about 2 years & 4 months Old, the kid started busting out allll the words. Then within 1-2 months, sentences. It came out of nowhere, like he knew it all along, so I think some kids just March to the beat of their own drum, and they're stubborn and just not ready til their ready! Hope this helps ease your mind some, I remember my concern over the same thing!
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Gaye July 11, 2015 at 9:45 am #

DQ dilly bar, I ate the mint one all the time as a teen. Didn't know they still made them.
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Anonymous July 11, 2015 at 12:04 pm #

50 words at 18 months?! My doc said 5-10 so I felt super smug saying my daughter probably said 15.
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Erin July 11, 2015 at 2:31 pm #

My son didn't speak either (not even mama or dada). Ball was the one word he had for a while, then by 2-2.5 he had about 50 words. Turns out he had fluid in his ears & couldn't hear! Well, it was muffled like when you're in an airplane. He would turn toward us sometimes but not always. We thought he was just stubborn... Wrong! Well, right. But really, he couldn't hear. Anyway, we got tubes in his ears & now he's a totally different kid. Still has a long way to go but he's catching up fast. You can get a hearing test done (my son had a flat-line... not good!) just to rule out a hearing problem. AND see if your state has an Early Steps program. It's free & designed to help kids (like my son) who are behind (sounds worse than it is). He got to work with a speech therapist for FREE. Worth looking into.
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Melissa @ Treats With a Twist July 11, 2015 at 3:23 pm #

1. OMG I'd DIE about the "albino" roach 2. Totally a Dilly bar. But I love the mint edition. Not that I've had it since I was 6. But I think about them far too often.
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Angela July 11, 2015 at 8:43 pm #

Our son starting speaking late too. He just babbled for the longest time, maybe close to 2 years of age he finally used monosyllabic words and just a few. Now he will not stop talking. Ever. He is 8. He talks in his sleep too. :) I know it's hard not to stress. He will do it.
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Jor July 11, 2015 at 11:43 pm #

Mint dilly bars rock my world. I taught autistic children before going to medical school, so here's my two-cents. First, don't blame yourself or feel guilty. Anyone who spends .35 seconds on this blog can see you're an awesome momma! But, with that being said, early intervention is the best way to help speech delays and autism. I personally wouldn't wait two months. In a toddler's development, that's a long time to wait. A lot of people are saying that your son will talk in his own time, and he probably will. BUT, wouldn't you rather know you did everything you could do to possibly help him? In all likelihood, he will start talking, but the speech specialist can help. Anyway, I have no doubt that you'll make the decision that's right for your beautiful family! Good luck!
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Mimi July 12, 2015 at 8:07 am #

I'm a preschool teacher (ages 3-5) in a public school district. It is very common for boys to speak later than girls and have delays. The best thing you can do is be a "good speech role model". He'll be fine!!!!!!
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paige July 12, 2015 at 3:04 pm #

I'm jumping in here kind of late but wanted to share my experience with speech delay. My now four year old daughter has been in speech therapy since the age of two. At 18 months I think her only word was 'hot.' She seemed to enjoy pointing out things that were hot (the oven, my flat iron, a fire in a fireplace), but she didn't even really try to say much beyond that. To make a long story short, the problem is not so much that she has a delay, but rather an articulation problem. There are some sounds she just cannot say, and with her Type A personality, she does not want to say words incorrectly. Speech therapy has definitely helped with some sounds and as she's gotten better at sounding them out, she has become much more conversational. I had tons of articulation problems too as a kid so I guess it's not shocking. I think in your case Will may not feel as compelled to speak if Natalie is talking a lot. Also, as others have said, kids really do things on their own timeline. My daughter didn't walk until she was almost 16 months old either! It's scary when you hit that 18 month checkup and your kid's not talking. But I really think unless there are other signs, the speech delay can really be due to so many other reasons. I never would have guessed mine was because of articulation difficulties but it makes sense now because her receptive communication skills were always good, she never had hearing problems and she is definitely the kind of kid who wants to get things right (read anal-retentive). I was also told to stop being so quick to meet my child's needs and give her a reason to chime in....so instead of just plopping a sandwich down in front of her for lunch, her speech therapist told me to give her options...."do you want peanut butter & jelly OR yogurt?" I guess the idea is that if the kid really wants one over the other, they will want to tell you! Try to relax; your twins are beautiful and just have their own unique personalities. It really comes through in their photos!
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D July 12, 2015 at 11:10 pm #

My son is 20 months old and he only learned about ten or so words in the past two weeks. He seems perfectly normal to me, though.
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Kate Woods July 13, 2015 at 3:21 pm #

My nephew was extremely similar to Will. It ended up being a sensory issue but he qualified for early intervention where a speech therapist and an occupational therapist came to my sisters home three times a week and worked with him and after a year, he is almost right where he is supposed to be! It might be worth a shot to see if he qualifies!
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sara kind July 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm #

J'ai remarqué que vous souvent utilisez les phrases francaises; parlez-vous le francais?
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Daniela July 17, 2015 at 1:28 pm #

My 18 months old daughter loves the smethport language cards. I have categories and nouns (got them on Amazon), and use them daily with her... She started with other ones that Have animals (tarjetas parlanchin, from kiddy's house), the back is in Spanish, but you could use the pictures... I started showing her 4 (at seven months), then 12, then all of them as she grew older... She recognizes all of them and says all the animal and thing sounds and makes all the actions in the cards... I still show her them all daily, because she brings them to me (she loooooves them), now I'm working with the ones from Amazon, and she loves them as well. With this ones I'm teaching the name of the image in the card, not the sound, and she loves them, and speaks a lot for her age... You should give it a try, it's a game for them and will help you with will's vocabulary (she is less than one week younger than yours, I remember crying with the picture you posted on Instagram)
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Meghan July 18, 2015 at 12:43 am #

I am definitely not particularly qualified to comment on this as I am not a speech therapist, doctor, or mother, but I *do* have a similar experience to share... My first nephew is and always has been a bit particular - we always wrote him off as his mother's (my sister's) son. He was very slow to speak and have conversations, and my mum and I would often wonder to each other if he was perhaps not as communicative as he "should" have been at his age. We used to joke that he didn't really need to speak because he was always given any and all things he could possibly want or need. He's now 3 1/2 years old and takes it upon himself to correct me ("that's not steam, that's a contrail!"). Again, I'm probably not qualified to comment, but having several friends with both boys and girls pretty much the exact same ages as my nephews, I really notice a difference between the girls and the boys... the boys are definitely slower with a lot of developmental stages (crawling, walking, talking)... but they catch up pretty damn quick when they feel like it. You're very obviously a fantastic mama and you'll take the right course of action (if any) that is best for your beautiful family. We're just lucky you're willing to share all your experiences with us :) Oh, and Dilly Bar, hello!!
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Lauren July 20, 2015 at 11:36 am #

I would guess that your first idea - that Natalie is talking for both of them - was spot on! Little boys definitely (typically) take longer to talk than little girls, like everyone else is saying, but I think the twin thing is also a huge factor. If Natalie is talking for him, then he probably feels like there's no reason for him to be talking too!
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Lindsay July 28, 2015 at 11:08 am #

Hi Bev! I'm pregnant with twins and attended a local moms group meeting yesterday where they had a guest speaker who is a speech-language pathologist. I don't want to be too wordy considering you've gotten loads of responses on the topic already, but here are some key points she made in my favorite form (buuulletsss!) • Twins are more likely to demonstrate delays in speech & language skills. • The incidence in males is higher, showing a 6-8 month greater lag than females. • Twins often catch up in the speech & language development by 3-4 years of age. • Common delay patterns include; immature verbal skills, shorter utterance lengths, and less overall verbal attempts. • What parents can do with their child: listen & respond (duh); talk, read & play; talk about what you are doing and what your child is doing; use a lot of different words; have your child play with other children; Do not correct speech sounds, it is more important that they are talking-- just reply like.. "Yes, that's right, it's a truck!" if they actually pronounce the word "truck" wrong. She also mentioned that if your Dr. tells you it's not a problem and you are still concerned, have them evaluated anyway. You have a question you want answered; Do they need intervention or not - it does not mean they have a problem. I have tons more info, email me if I can help! Lindsay
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- Bev Weidner August 5, 2015 at 9:43 am #
  
  This is sooooo helpful. Thank you so much!
  Reply
MizzMo July 29, 2015 at 10:20 pm #

Our Muppet wasn't talking either. The pediatrician we had just kept saying "he will grow out of it." My gut said otherwise and we switched pediatricians and the new one put in a referral for speech therapy on our first visit. Muppet started a week before his 3rd birthday - and nine months later he tested out. Now, we can't get him to be quiet... like, at all. The boy tried to talk under water at swim lessons (he's 5 now).
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