Learning to Listen (and Talk)!

I love this picture! It really captures the personality of my sweet little boy!
One thing William absolutely does not like is road noise. When we are in the car for more than half an hour, off come the processors! The glasses aren't far behind. Then he usually gets bored and goes to sleep or pulls the hair of his sister next to him, trying to get her to play!


Speech went well this week. Here, he is very patiently waiting and listening for Krissa's cue before letting the bird go down the slide. He did a great job! He loved making the bird go down the slide. It's always very tempting, when we leave therapy, to run out and buy the things he loves most, but I want him to be interested in the toys at therapy and I'm afraid he won't be if he plays with them all the time at home.

Several people have been asking how William's speech is coming along, so I thought I would list his words here. His speech is actually not as far along as I would like, but he is doing well. Even though he might not be talking fluently, he is definitely hearing, listening, and understanding A LOT! That is exciting!

His newest thing is eyes. He loves pointing to his eyes or my eyes whenever I mention eyes. When I ask him if he wants his eyeglasses on, he always puts his finger right between his eyes. When I tell him it's time to take them off, he takes them off and hands them to me. Last night he actually said, "EYE," for the first time. He was pointing to my eye and I said, "eye," then he pointed to his eye and he said, "eye." First times for words are always fun!


He also says: Dada, Mama, Ra-ra (Sarah), I love you, Amen, bite, bye-bye, hi, up, uh-oh, and no. Aside from these definite words, he has many sounds that he is making for things (like ahhh - airplane, rrrr - rooster, mmmmm -cow, etc.)! He's says, "Woof, woof, woof," whenever we're around a dog. He really tries to make a gallup sound for a horse, but hasn't quite gotten it down yet. He still does sign language for eat, drink, all done, sleep, I love you, and please. He will also use two words together when he sees Michael. He'll say, "Hi, Dada."
What is almost even more exciting, to me anyway, is that he understands so much. He gives us the "thumbs up" sign when we tell him "good job." Whenever we ask for a kiss, he will put his lips together, pucker up, hum, and put his face out for a kiss. I can tell him to take something to one of the girls or Daddy, and he does it, without hand gestures. When I tell him to come get his diaper changed, he comes and lays down in front of me. He will give me his cup when I ask him to, put things down on command, and put his toys away in the drawer when he's told. He will point to his eyes, nose, ears, head, and feet when asked. He also will put his leg out to put his pants on when I ask him to. He can distinguish songs: he hums along when I sing his bedtime song, claps when we sing "Arise and Sing," does spider movements for "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and he does all the movements to "Wheels on the Bus." One of the newest things he's doing that is incredible is: when I tell him to come back to the carpet when he crosses over to the tile, he turns around looks at me, thinks about it, then turns around and comes back to the carpet! Very exciting! Not only is he listening and hearing, but he is also obeying (or at least it's a beginning)!

"Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God." Deuteronomy 12:28