Well. It turns out Karina is having to have a speech evaluation because she doesn't talk. At all. Several months ago, she would say Mama, Dada, and Duddy for doggie, but now she says pretty much nothing. So she's going to be set up with an evaluation to determine if it's just her personality or if there is something wrong. Coincidentally, BabyCenter.com's bulletin email today was about just that--speech delays. There was a warning signs list with it, and the only thing on it that Karina has is not saying 15 words. So I'm hoping it's just that she's busy learning so many other things (wait til you hear what she did today), but I'm wondering now if it's not a problem. Either way, I guess we'll find out soon.
So today, we had finished up our dinner and I was cleaning up in the kitchen. Oh, a little background information. First, our dining room floor is about 1/2 inch lower than our hallway and kitchen floors, which were installed by the previous homeowners and are tile. The dining room is laminate floor and there's a little threshold between to two rooms. Also, Karina has a ride-on toy that is like a car, and that's what I call it, her car. So what happened was, as I was cleaning in the kitchen, she got on her car and started coming through the dining room towards the kitchen. She got to the threshold and couldn't get over it. So I said, "Karina, what you need to do is get off your car, push it over the bump, and then get back on it." And she did. My child followed multi-step directions--some of my third graders couldn't do that! I was shocked. I never really expected her to do that, when I said it.
So she clearly has no hearing issues, no comprehension issues, she can point out all kinds of body parts and animals and objects in books when asked, she follows directions, she does make some noises, but she won't say any words. Oh, and she also will sign for things, too. Anyway, I guess I need to stop worrying about it, but I can't. It's so silly to worry about it. The other non-fantastic news is that her picky eating has affected her weight, and she hasn't gained any. So she's dropped to the 40th percentile for that, which is also worrisome, mainly because I can't force-feed her. Sigh. Working on that, too.
Well. This is a nice bummer of a post. Hopefully I'll have good news soon, or at least a date for the speech evaluation. I'm waiting to be called about that. I'll post when I know something.
2 comments:
Based on what you say here, she's probably just fine. She obviously is comprehending without a problem and they say that's the most important thing. I'll bet when she does start talking, it'll be BAM! and in sentences!
What is her percentile for height? If it's not too far off then don't let the drs or the numbers worry you. She might just be a petite girl.
Go with your gut on the speech issue. I told everyone (drs included) that I thought that Thing One had a speech problem (we couldn't understand him even at 3 and 4). Everyone said that once he got around other kids he'd be fine. (He was an only child with only a few playdates.)
Well, he got to school at almost four, and we still couldn't understand him. He was around the other kids for a few months, and we STILL couldn't understand him. Finally they took him to the speech therapist at school, and he's been in speech classes for three years now, and will be going into his 4th year this fall.
I KNEW that something was wrong, and no one would listen to me; not doctors, not teachers, not speech therapists I'd meet in stores, but I knew.
I really believe that you really have to go with your gut instinct with a lot of things. You know your child better than anyone. Don't let anyone "scare" you with numbers or the like!
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