If you have read this blog long enough, you know that for the last 8 months Brayden has been in speech therapy through Easter Seals. At first, it was a struggle. A huge struggle. He was communicating in grunts, pointing, and only saying momma and dadda. It was frustrating, and I felt like a failure, but his therapist assured me that it wasn’t anything we were doing completely wrong. I was skeptical of speech therapy at first, just because I stay home! He is with me all day! We play together, do things together, I thought it was my fault that he wasn’t talking yet. It turns out, it wasn’t me, it was just Brayden not being able to get the words out without some practice.

And practice we did. We bought some farm animals like the ones at therapy, and I really made sure to set aside some time that was strictly one on one with him to work on his speech. I made him attempt to ask for something rather than just getting it because I knew what he wanted. It wasn’t that we were doing anything wrong, it was just that our approach needed some modification.

We asked him to repeat things, but didn’t withhold things if he didn’t. In the beginning he got frustrated very quickly and would just completely shut down. I didn’t want that to happen. Over time, he was adding a few new words per week. He finally starting imitating animal sounds, and then all of the sudden, he was putting 2 or 3 words together!

A few weeks ago, he had another evaluation (they typically do one after 6 months) and Brayden was falling in the “normal” range, but still on the low end. We decided to keep at it per week until he met a few more of his goals. After he met a few more, we dropped it to every other week, with a plan to be done at the end of May (just in time for his therapist’s maternity leave!) When we went this past week? He finished up his goals, and we decided to be done! HOW awesome is that?! I am SO proud of him, and so thankful for his therapist and all of her hard work and encouragement. Brayden is unstoppable with his speech now, and I am SO so grateful.

Ever wonder why I post so much about Kenley? This should give you an idea. As soon as I get my camera out, this is what happens.

He’s hard to photograph these days! But, he has been a TON of fun lately. He is talking ALL THE TIME now and repeating pretty much everything. It is really fun to listen to him try new words: macaroni and cheese, truck, and thank you are my favorite. After I give him something I say “Thank you, mommy” and he repeats me. He has even started doing that on his own, which I like. I like a kid with manners, what can I say?

His speech is showing MAJOR improvements, and he had another evaluation done about 2 weeks ago. It’s showing him in the normal developmental range, but on the lower end of that range. His therapist and I are thrilled with his progress, and now we will be going bi-weekly until her maternity leave (end of May). At his 3 year well check, I will see what the pediatrician says, and if we have to have him re-evaluated later on, then we will do that. He has really hit a stride and it’s really awesome to listen to him talk.

What else? Well, he is showing ZERO interest in the potty but he has gone a few times. I make a big deal about it, and 10 minutes later I smell something…vicious cycle, I tell you. I think it might take a potty training weekend, I don’t know. I am so clueless about this and part of it is my own fault for not pushing him a little I think. *sigh* Hopefully before summer.

Ever since my mom told him his paci was under his pillow, he continues to by that song and dance, and now there are very few arguments regarding it. In fact, in the mornings, he usually puts it back under his pillow before coming out of his room. Very rarely does he ask for it while we are out and about- so it’s definitely working. I don’t know HOW much longer he will sleep with it, but I am hoping they disappear before too long.

His 2T pajamas are getting pretty short so I bought a couple new pairs the other day. He is mostly in 2T pants and 3T shirts and I have been boxing up things as he puts them on and I realize that he looks like fat guy in a little coat. He grows SO fast. It’s unreal. He recently got a haircut and now he looks like a 3rd grader. AH! Crazy how time flies. I say that a lot.

I knew this would happen eventually. Brayden’s speech is really starting to take off.

New words: nuts (loves peanuts- no allergies!), boom, light, hat, hand, hot, off, on, need that, shoe, foot, eyes, Bolt (for the movie), sleep, night night, bye bye, box, more, and yeow (for cat). I am sure there are a few more that I am forgetting right now, but you get the point.

It’s incredible! I don’t have to guess as much as to what he wants. He actually is TRYING to repeat words! I would always ask him to repeat something or at least TRY and he would get so frustrated. Now I don’t request it, he does it more often, and I praise him when he does it. He’s really getting good and it’s kind of nice to have him chatting all the time. I am sure the day will come when I wish he would just zip it for a few minutes!

We have always been mindful of the things we say in front of him but now the pressure is on. There is NO good way to tell when he would just repeat something!

Another HUGE development as of Monday was his involvement in his Kindermusik class. We have done Kindermusik for 3 semesters now, and I love it. Brayden is always shy the first class,and he has days where he would rather cling to me than play, but I never thought much of it. That is the beauty of the class- they are just so open to letting the kids do whatever while still doing structured things AROUND them.

Monday? Brayden participated. Like did everything all the other kids were doing when he was supposed to be doing it.

Mind. Blown.

He talked to the teacher. He talked to his friends. He followed directions. HE LEFT MY SIDE!! People, this is HUGE. We had so much fun- I hope he keeps this up!

Brayden is still doing speech therapy once a week at Easter Seals, and he really seems to enjoy it. But lately, the kid has been getting so incredibly frustrated, that I feel like we are hitting a brick wall. The “can you say?” approach does NOT work with him. He is very independent and doesn’t do ANYTHING he doesn’t want to. (*cough* he gets that from his dad *cough*) Exhibit A: trying to take Christmas card photos….

As hard as I try to be intentional with him, he shuts down. He won’t even TRY to repeat new words, let alone say words he already knows. So after talking things over with his therapist (who I love, by the way) we have decided to switch things up with our approach at home.

• Ignoring his requests unless he at least TRIES to say “more” or “please”.
• If he won’t do it, taking his hands to sign it for him, then praising him for using the sign.
• Praising him for trying when asked. He will then start to get that trying to use words is a good thing!
• Using words that are going to be functional for him ALL THE TIME without always trying to get him to say it. If he hears it enough, he will soon get it.

Brayden has been making some really great progress with his speech therapy. He LOVES going on Wednesdays (even if it is to only play with the train table in the lobby) and he’s getting very comfortable with his therapist, which is great. He has added some new words to his vocabulary: up, sit, this, no, and the noises for cars/trucks, airplanes, and tractors. Randomly two weeks ago, he said the word “duck” when he saw a picture in a book. He says “oof oof oof” for dog and says “yeow” for cat. It cracks me up.

Going into this, I was very down on myself. I stay home, Brayden was getting ALL of my attention, and I just felt like I wasn’t doing enough to encourage his speech. What I have learned so far is that Brayden is beyond stubborn just in need of some concentrated time every day to practice talking. And while I feel like I am constantly repeating myself every.single.second, that’s not enough for him.

I have learned to not just give in to him. I KNOW what it is he wants, but I have had to make a very conscious effort to give him a chance to ask/tell me what he wants/needs. Turns out, it’s pretty effective. Frustrating, but effective. He’s learning, growing, soaking it all in at his own pace. I am so proud of him! It’s very fun to see things just “click” in that little brain of his.

As far as what we do in therapy, Brayden is really into trains, tractors, trucks- anything that moves. These real life scenarios help him to start to imitate sounds, which then in turn will help him form words. He loves to do puzzles as well, and it’s really cute to watch him try to do them! I have been counting with him but he hasn’t repeated anything yet. He doesn’t really say sentences either, so I have been trying to get him to put two words that he knows together.

It’s teaching me patience, that is for sure! I look forward to more progress- I (generally) love the sound of his sweet little voice.