Little Talker

Picture cards

In 6 days our baby girl will turn 2 years old. It's hard to believe it's been that long since we brought Liberty home. She's been such a joyful addition to our family. The kids adore her and her excitement over the simple things in life keep us smiling. She is definitely her own person with her own opinions and is not hesitant to tell you what she wants, likes and doesn't like. That brings up the topic of speech. When she was still little I warned the man that we're 3 for 3 with kids needing some type of therapy. Jacob had physical, Joshua had speech and Leanna had physical and speech. So it's been no surprise to me that Liberty has difficulty communicating. It started before her first birthday with screaming our of frustration at meal time. I had been signing with her since about 6 months old, but it wasn't until she got really frustrated that she started responding and signing back. She quickly learned milk/drink, please and more. She continued to babble and talk up a storm along with signing. Fast forward to now at almost two and I can probably count on two hands how many words she has that are ineligible to anyone other than immediate family. Unlike any of our other kids, she doesn't just pronounce words incorrectly, but also has made up her own words. For example, she calls bananas oyoyo and shu can mean shoe or fish. If she puts two words together, it's pretty rare. But she knows what she's saying and will go to great lengths to get her point across. It's not a matter of her not talking, it's that she isn't forming the sounds properly. So with her second birthday comes a call to Early Intervention for an evaluation.

Here's a video of her practicing her new picture cards. Enjoy!