These days Victor is talking up a storm -- from the time when we were counting on our hands the words he knows (and uses) to now -- when he knows things like candidate, drizzle and tornado. It's been an amazing transformation. In October, the county speech professionals came and started services -- a few months ago he graduated from those and has become a chatter box.
That taught me a couple things -- go with my instinct -- even if people think my instinct would be not not worry about it (it wasn't). I know that getting a little help here and there does us all some good -- and it certainly didn't hurt Victor. Having Ms. Carla come was as much about training us as it was helping Victor get words out of us mouth. It helped us better notice the subtle changes he had from week to week -- that in the blur of life, I might have just not noticed.
It also taught me the benefit of having more than one person worry about your kiddo. There is so much to worry about - so many plates to keep in the air -- that if you have a worry about your little person (or any person really) get someone else on board to watch and worry with you. Having the speech therapist helped me know that someone else was watching out for that piece that I wasn't 100% sure about -- so I could worry about other things, like how to catch him or where to find a train to watch or which roads at the airport give us the best views of landing and taking off.
Of course many of you are wondering why is she writing about speech when there are so many other things on your plate that we want to know about.....well, as I was putting little man to bed, as he reached over and stroked my arm and said "I love you Momma" -- I was so thankful that he's talking, expressing himself and sharing his heart with us. It's a gift and we're thankful for it.
(A picture from the birthday archives of Victor towing a couple buddies in the wagon around the park - we were all surprised he could pull them both!)Touch down -- Victor & Yuri made it to California -- phew. Victor thought he would rattle our cage a little by starting to throw up at 4 in the morning, which made things stressful -- wondering if we should cancel, or reschedule, etc. But in the end, it was a one time deal, so they went and it went smoothly! Ahhhh..
It's even better that they went because we found out (in typical fashion in my family) that my grandpa -- known as Papa, was in the hospital for 3 days (he was discharged Friday) being treated for a sudden drop in blood pressure, related to a imbalance of minerals. But I don't know if they are sugar-coating the situation for us or not -- but I'm glad that Victor & Yuri are there to spend time together and perhaps keep up to date on what's happening. Papa has been a father figure to me and is an important part of our family -- so facing his mortality isn't a walk in the park. Both Yuri and I lost our dad's early in life, so Papa is Victor's only grandfather.
It sounds like so far in the visit, Papa is really spending time with Victor, going for walks.
Here's a couple highlights from the trip so far --
Victor got a credit card out of Yuri's wallet & runs around the house shouting "MONEY..MONEY!" I wonder how he figured that out.
In the Dallas, with all the lights and people moving around, Victor managed to catch a view of the moon -- and started shouting -- MOON! MOON! Pretty cool.
I was putting Victor to bed tonight (normally a Daddy and V event) but gave Daddy a night off -- so after reading some stories, talking about the day (train, big truck, Emma, tooot tooot, train) and some snuggles -- there was some wait while he settles into sleep time. Curled next to me, he was cozy but figety until sleep took over. I got to just lay in the dark, awake but relaxed and think. You forget how nice that is to do every now and again.
I love how during that time thoughts can string together -- from one thing to an other -- Britney....Iran....homework.....need to find something to wear.....did I mail that off....what will I read next.... So wonderfully random.
We've been waiting for Victor to talk - and we had hints here and there that he does have something to say -- so I wanted to stop and document the words he has now (some more clear than others of course)
- Train
- Toot toot
- Bus
- Emma
- Bye (which he also uses when he would like us to stop something - like giving him medicine that doesn't taste good -- he turns his head and says Bye -- bless his little heart)
- Annie (Felecia & Kevin's dog who visited for a couple days)
- ANNIEWHEREAREYOU?
- Momma
- Da-da
- Big truck
- See ya
- See you guys
- All right
- Shoes -- saying like my grandma does -- more like cheews
- Help
- Moon
- Pervez Musharraf (are you paying attention?) :)
- Juice -- which sounds a lot like shoes
- Motorcycle
- Helicopter
This has been a huge area of growth for him who just 8 weeks ago figured out Momma. YEAH VICTOR!
Want to see a cute picture? Check out what Sarah posted!
Edited to add:
- Bye Girl or Bye Girls
- Baba (for his paci)
Mama
Mama
Mama
Mama
Mama
Mama
How sweet it is!!!!
If I ask where's Mommy -- he comes up and squeezes my leg. Sweet boy.
Say a prayer for his little buddy Jonah (our neighbor) who was taken away in an ambulance after having a seizure today at lunch time. I checked with his mom to see if there was anything she needed (not knowing the ambulence was for Jonah) and she was simply beside herself. My heart goes out to her -- when your baby is sick - the protective momma bear comes out.
Jonah is a sweet little boy who loves to throw the baseball with his Daddy and will call out Victor Victor Victor whenever he sees us and we can't wait to play with him when he gets better!
