I realized it's been way too long since I have posted a snapshot of Mabel's doings. Guess I have been waxing philosophical and deep and emo as of late and have forgotten about the everyday joys and silliness of Mabel. Today I want to give a snapshot of Mabel's words.
When we went for Mabel's 18- month well- visit back in August, I had been concerned about Mabel's speech. I am inwardly rolling my eyes at the "uh- oh, my kid might not be perfect" knee-jerk reaction I had. She's a thinker, an observer, a keen listener. While she's sensitive, she also LOVES to laugh. And she was talking, but not as much as I was thinking she should be (ugh, that ugly word again). I mentioned my concerns to Dr. B. who gave me a few strategies to encourage speech, but told me, "I'm really not worried," and insinuated that I shouldn't be either. I felt guilty after that appointment for the time I spent on baby websites, reading comments and comparing Mabel to other babies and wondering if she was okay.
In early November, I wasn't sure if Mabel had made the progress Dr. B. said she should make by Halloween. Again, with Mabel in tow, I trotted on in to the pedi office for Dr. B to take a look and let us know what she thought. Mabel had started to babble a lot more by that point-- to the point of nearly constant vocalization-- and we were pretty sure we could detect attempts at various words, but we weren't certain. Dr. B. said, yes, she had made progress. And enlightened me to the easy observation that Mabel is a quieter, more hesitant kid. She's contemplative, not outgoingly chatty. It's who she is. While I had been making this whole thing about ability or disability, I hadn't stopped to think about personality. It was eye- opening, and I felt ashamed.
Since that appointment, Mabel has started saying lots of words. She tells us both, "Night night!" every evening as she heads up to bed, and last night, even after I tucked her in and closed her door, she lay there, calling out "Night night!" for another few minutes. I melted.
She tells us "no" a lot, sometimes in a forceful repetitive string--" No! No! No!" It's fun that she is developing opinions, but not so fun that her most common opinion appears to be the one in the negative. Mabel points out "dogs" often, and last week when we were at her uncles' in CT, where there are 5 dogs, she followed them around with kibble in her hand, demanding, 'Eat! Eat! Eat!' She tells us when she sees fishies by calling them "shees," and wants to go out each day to greet the mail truck, exclaiming, "Mail!" That's got to be her favorite time of day.
Mabel likes to build "tours" (or towers) with her blocks and rings. When she wants a play- companion, she takes out the stackers and looks up to me, asking, "Tour?" Of course I am happy to comply. When said "tour" falls, she yells out perhaps her more common word: "Uh- oh!" We hear "uh- oh" over everything, from a dropped Cheerio to a non- lit- up computer screen.
Mabel loves to brush her teeth, and simply asks by saying, "Teeth?" When she sees a baby, she declares, "day- dee," and the mix- up of the d for a b is just so precious. She always has "two" of something-- even if she really has one or four. "Two" is apparently a favorite number, or is just easy to say. She might try to tickle you and will plead, "Tick? Tick?" Little does she know, J or I will beat her to it and tickle her cute little thighs first.
Other words include bottle ("buh- buh"), cheese, and a variation on "downstairs." She calls out for her "daddy" or "da-da" a LOT, and lately has greeted me with "mama," which might be the best sound in the world. I struggled for months waiting for Mabel's use of the "m" sound, and sometimes heard an actual "mama," but rarely to me. The other morning, I came down the stairs, and there she was in her high chair, shrieking, right into my eyes, "MAMA!!" When she brought the mail in with J yesterday, she delivered me an LL Bean catalog, prancing along toward me screeching, "Mama!," as if she thought I really wanted that one catalog in my hands. I had had a busy and stressful day, and in that moment, all the ickiness went away.
Some 21- month- old kids speak in phrases, or say way more words than Mabel. And some say fewer, still only babbling or maybe mustering just a few words. Some kid are virtual verbal- masters, and some like to climb and play and contemplate, and will speak "when they feel like it," as Dr. B advised. I know Mabel has a lot more word- learning to go, but I sure am glad I've pulled back and just let her be. I know I won't be a pusher as a mom, because I see adverse effects of that daily in my school kids. But I was worried for her, so I did what any conscientious mother would do in bringing her to the doc. If only I had known that time would be the answer, and to stay off that frickin' Internet, I would have saved myself a lot of worry and toil this summer. We will see how the next months go.
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