He talks!

...sings in any case.

Entire ABC song. Finishes "Here's the mail, it never fails..." with an ear-splitting "Muh---ailllllllll!" Brilliant at Twinkle, twinkle.

Oh. And he says Mom! (sigh) all.the.time.

J's Latest Word

In addition to randomly saying words, in the last few weeks J has picked up a couple words he says somewhat consistently (like "ball" and "go")...but his "best" word???? Get this... is.... BACKPACK.
He says it clearly.. pointing to his back... whenever he sees his older brother's backpack or when he watches Dora the Explorer. Hmm. Someone please explain to me how my child's mind works????

He still doesn't call me Mom or Mama... though he does call his dad Daddy... when he feels like it.
This kid......
...he's unique..that's for sure...

He's the best helper around the house though...so it's a good trade-off. He puts away toys, swiffers, vaccuums with the swivel sweeper... puts papers and bottles in recycling... and throws away everything (okay.. that last is actually occasionally a problem.. though he's finally stopped throwing away all of our bowls and silverware)

Have to go put the angel down for his nap now....
...maybe I'll give an update on kid#1 next time. (His updates usually require photos though...)

I didn't realize it was THAT bad...

J has been referred to a speech therapist.

At his 15-month well-child visit on December 3, J's doctor was concerned that J still wasn't using any words consistently. I mentioned that he had JUST started signing the previous two weeks, so I figured he was getting close. His doc insisted that it was best to have him checked out just in case.

After returning from the appt, I decided to do some research online about speech delays. I learned on one site (can't remember which):
"At 16 months most girls use around 50 words, while boys use closer to 30." (This was obviously meant to comfort parents of boys -- only J regularly uses exactly, um, ZERO words just two weeks shy of the 16-month mark.)

Then I felt better when I read this:

Famous late talkers (after age 2)
Gary Becker, Nobel Prize-winning economist
Albert Einstein
Julia Robinson, the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society
Arthur Rubinstein, piano virtuoso
Edward Teller, physicist and nuclear power pioneer

That's it! J is destined to be a genius!!!! (Okay, I may be overcompensating a little) :)

Seriously, I'm not overly concerned. He just started signing "more" "eat" "drink" and "book," and I'm fairly certain he'll start using words more consistently soon.

In the meantime I'm more concerned about the 105 degree fever he has ran the last two nights. (Side effect of the DTaP.) More about that later.

A Child Only a Mother Could Love... at 2 a.m.

My son J is 15-months-old today. Does he sleep throught the night? I wish. Does he say Mama or Daddy? Um. No. Does he say anything? Only if you count "buh."
It was a long time ago that N was this age (seven years to be exact), so I have forgotten a lot of the specifics about when a kid should be doing this or that. However I do know that N was definitely talking and sleeping well by now.
J is so lucky that he is adorable. The last time I slept for eight-hours-straight was...exactly fifteen-months and two days ago. Only a mother...