I'm a Boy!

Yesterday, while eating breakfast in his high chair, Keenan announced to us, "I'm a Boy!" It wasn't the sentiment that was so startling but rather the clarity with which he said it and the fact that he had strung a few words together in a sentence, unprompted.

Perhaps a little background is in order. A few months ago, we became concerned because Keenan wasn't saying much and what he did say, we usually couldn't understand. His Early On case worker tested him and said his speech was three months delayed. We were not unduly alarmed, but jumped at the chance to have him evaluated by a speech therapist. They couldn't fit him in until the middle of March. By then, the little fellow had caught right up. The therapist was actually quite impressed by his pronunciation of "blueberry" and I think a bit stunned when she heard him say (unprompted) "please" and "thank you" at the appropriate times.

Sophia has an amazing vocabulary, comprehension and sentence structure but she often speaks very softly and mumbles which can make her very difficult to understand. I'm sure she didn't pick it up around our household :) OK, I might be a little guilty of talking softly and not enunciating every word, but I'm working on it now that I have little ones emulating me! The speech therapist's recommendation was to let Sophia know that we needed her help to teach Keenan to speak properly. That she needed to speak loudly and clearly so he could understand what she was saying. Incredibly, it has worked like a charm and she is SO much easier to understand. Keenan loves learning words from her. He eagerly repeats what she says and his vocabulary is rapidly growing.

Oh, by the way, he is certainly a boy, and he is ALL BOY! Rough and tumble, loud, and fearless. Not that girls can't be those things too :)