Happy New Year!

That's my resolution!  To not make any anymore!  As good as your intentions are, they usually fall off the bandwagon by the end of January at the very latest!  As much as I want to say I vow to be a more consistent blogger, it won't happen!  My life is too full of other things to be that dedicated!  So here's my pledge to you...good blogging as often as I can and to share my favorite recipes, tips, projects, etc.

So, on to the good stuff!  It's birthday season around here as my boys have a short 2 weeks between their special days.  We typically combine their parties into one big family party the weekend in between.  My youngest will turn 3 next week while my oldest will turn 6 on the 1st.  I'm having a hard time with this year...my baby will no longer be a baby...he's a true toddler and my oldest is not a little kid anymore...he's a big kid.  When did this happen????

Since my little man has trouble verbalizing his needs and wants, my oldest has always chosen the party theme for the family shindig.  From the moment last year's party ended, Matthew decided he wanted Ninja Turtles.  He has never wavered.  Ben, on the other hand, hasn't been able to say anything about that.  That is, until 2 weeks ago!  We were discussing party options and he stood up and said, "mom!  choo choo!!!!!" and pointed to himself.  After a little deductive reasoning, I said, "you want trains on your cake?"  "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  This did not make my older one happy.  But, it did make me happy that he finally was able to tell us what he wanted!

More on the party later.  I haven't blogged much about the topic of speech delays in little ones because I truly hoped he would grow out of it.  Ben the second kiddo so his brother always translated for him and I tried not to compare them since my older one could speak in sentences very early on, despite being a boy.  So, we waited.   Some will criticize that we waited too long and maybe he would have been speaking better by now.  Some will say we didn't need to get help at all and he will just grow out of it.  The point is, Ben is cognitively intact.  He just speaks in a uniquely Ben way!  He can imitate any animal, machine, etc sound or motion.  He is amazing with charades.  He just has a really hard time saying the actual words for items.  The impact of this was becoming more and more apparent as he got closer to the lovely age of tantrums (which, I find is more along the transition to age 3 than the terrible two's!).  He inability to get his basic needs met lead to horrible tantrums.  Not only that, but he was genuinely upset by his lack of verbal skills.  He would just sob when we could figure out what he needed.  It made bedtimes traumatic for both of us when he didn't have the one special item he needed and couldn't tell us.  He'd be in tears and I'd walk out, close the door and break down.  It's not fun.  Frustrations trickled down to interactions with his brother.  His peers at day care couldn't understand him.  Our family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) couldn't understand him.  It made having a babysitter darn near impossible because they couldn't understand him.

So, we had a speech evaluation by the wonderful Early Intervention folks.  Who knew that kids age out of that program at age 3!  I assumed it lasted through school age.  Once they hit 3 years old, they become part of the school system.  We managed to get one speech therapy session in before his birthday next week.  This week we have a meeting with the school to develop his IEP.  I had a hard time with them coding him as "special education" since he only has a language delay.  But, if it allows him to receive services, we'll go with it.  This is a completely foreign world to us so if you have suggestions on how to navigate it, please comment below!

I'm excited that Ben is quickly adding new words and is more willing to try to say things now.  He does exhibit some of that lovely learned helplessness.  He reverts to growling when he means "no" or isn't a fan of something instead of saying the actual words.  It's taking a lot of patience and cuing for him to practice these skills, but I'm hoping with his new willingness to try and the addition of therapy, he is ready to fly!    

Ok, off my therapy soap box.  Stay tuned for speech updates though!

So, this is really what I'm working on lately.  Though, I have made some train pieces for Ben's part!  The party is in 2 weeks and I promise to post more progress pics next week!  Trains and turtles...a weird combo, but I think it will be fun!