The fall of 2011 was different. It started with sad news of my mom in law having a severe stroke. We were taken by surprise and just completely devastated. My honey spent time between here and San Francisco to be near his mom and help her. This turned out to be a life changing event in our lives, my biggest fan and support through all my ups n downs was now basically in another state and unable to communicate or walk. By the end November the family decided to bring her home. Its been just a year and I miss her long chats and the way she would just hold my lil ones and sing to them in Tongan and they would settle down. I often wonder how Jojo would be with her if the circumstances were different? I bet he would have a special way to communicate with her. The year he had with her before the stroke was just not enough.
My early signs that something was off really came to light during months 12-18. He had been walking for a few weeks and the started running, yup running!! It was so cute but also a tad weird to see this lil chubby baby running. He would run from one side of the house to the next. Back n forth and very fast. He was all over the place and had no fear (clue three) I could take him outside and he would run the yard and seriously not stop unless we stopped him. He would be sweaty and heart pounding so hard I could hear it. Then there were days when I would notice a cut on his toe or finger and he never cried or made a peep. I would tell my hubby this is not normal!!
That would be the first of many instances that I would have to physically restrain him from hurting or overexerting himself.
He seemed most happy sitting with a pile of books or toys and left to explore. He would get upset when we would interrupt him to play along with him. I also noticed he still wasn't trying to speak. (no real babbling, only the occasional coo) I was getting more concerned but also trying to deny it! I just wanted him to be happy, he spent the first yr dealing with reflux and feeding issues so now that we had that figured out I thought he would be not so distracted with pain and be able to learn more.
By march he was now 18 mo old I still hadn't heard any real words. He did a sound like may-mum, it lasted a few weeks. Then he did one that sounded like gogogo, that too lasted just a few weeks. (huge clue/indicator) I was always talking to him and repeating consonant sounds by he wouldn't even look at me. I was really worried but read online that some kids are just slower at picking up first words. I always seemed to be saying: Isn't he supposed to say Mama now???
This is the time that I really didn't want to see the good ole pediatrician so I decided to wait till he was 20 mo old. I thought it would give me sometime to help him catch up. Yes I really thought it must be something I was doing wrong! So I regrouped and bought every learning toy I could find, set time aside each day to work with him, and I googled "delays in toddlers."
That night I figured that something was wrong. I was like a mad woman, I fumbled through websites and then it really hit me...He was no where NEAR these guidelines of development. So I got out all my kiddos baby books (I am a super baby book keeper..self kudos). I noticed right off that ALL three of my older kids spoke well before their first bdays and by two they had two word phrases and pretty advanced vocabularies. So I told my hubby that something is not right, my sweet boy could not do ANY of the "guidelines" except the gross motor, he was a runner!!
Here's what most guides suggest:
16-18month old most toddlers can:
Turn pages of a book
Sing or hum a favorite tune
Say up to 10 words
Stack 3 blocks
Like to follow simple directions
Draw a scribble
Feed self with spoon
Sort toys
point to an object
*these are just a few*
My boy is now 24 mo and can sometimes do two of the above list.
I made his appointment for the dreaded well check. It was scheduled for end of April, right before 20 months.
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