Alan
After dinner, I spent quality time with Rach. I watched her play for a while, and then asked about where some of her toys were. It was a game I liked to play with the boys when they were her age. It was great practice for listening skills.
"Where's the puppy?" I asked.
"Ah?"
"Puppy..."
Rach felt around for it and finally made a sound when she had a hand on it.
"Good! What about teddy?"
She used her little hands to look for it. Twice, Rach got the wrong toy, but figured that out when she put it on her mouth. It wasn't easy to see this. Finally, she found 'teddy'"
"That's my girl!" I said in my happy voice
With that, she decided to bang on the wall with a large lego.
"No!" I took it from her, and she protested.
"EEEEE!"
"You know very well that's no place to bang anything!" I reminded her.
I got her interested in one of her other toys, and this kept her busy. After a while, I, in my best playful voice, suggested, after getting the toy box from her room "Why don't we play a new game!"
I got the hand, that had the toy and guided it, like Bob showed us, to the box, and gently got her to let go. I felt that it was important for her to start learning how to pick up after herself, especially now.
She whined, and after some feeling around, got the toy again.
I attempted the 'game' again, but with another toy. Rach wouldn't hear of it, and protested in baby talk.
Shaking my head, I decided to not push it, and showed her how the large legos could be put together. It had surprised me to see large legos, that were made for toddlers. After a few attempts, she finally got it, and got a kick out of putting several together to make one, even bigger piece. I was reminded of when Charlie played with the little legos. He'd spend hours upon hours building intricate things, without reading a single book! Once, a friend of Don's knocked down a very elaborate 'building' with a tonka truck. Charlie had gotten so upset! He cried, wailed and ran to his mother. Donnie yelled at his friend, and threw the truck on the street. It got run over. The boy's father and I exchanged heated words, needless to say. Time does fly. Before I know it, Rach will be the age Charlie is now.
Around eight thirty, she got cranky and I put her to bed. Then, Nat and I argued some more. Why does she think I'm being patronizing? Come to think of it, Margaret used to accuse me of the same thing, especially when she lived in Princeton with Charlie. Intelligence is one of the reasons why I married each of my wives. I'm just trying to explain my point of view.
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The next day, Rach had another session with Bob. Don was with the four of us.
"Hello Rach!" Bob joined her on the floor.
"geee?" she looked up from her toy.
"That' s good...you're looking at my direction." He praised her. "Can I see your toy?"
"ah?" She put the toy, a furry ball, on the floor.
"Where's your ball?" he asked.
She patted it, and then Bob got one of her other, noisier toys, and started to use it. Somehow, Rach decided then and there, that she wanted it. Carefully, she crawled towards the sound and after a few attempts, put her hand on it and tried to pull.
"Rach! What have I told you about grabbing things?" I pooh-poohed.
"AAA!" she strengthened her hold on the toy, and Bob let go.
"That wasn't very nice!" I continued.
"At least she's got initiative" Bob said lamely. "But she needs to learn how to communicate." Gently, he got the toy back and sat farther away..
Again, Rach protested "EEEEEEEEEE!"
"Ask for it Rachael" he encouraged her and shook the toy.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she crawled towards him, but he moved.
"What is this?" he made noise with the toy.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Bob turned to us. "Doesn't she know any words? Any at all?"
"She uses certain syllables to express different emotions" Don said quickly. "Like now"
"And she understands a lot of what people tell her" my wife added.
"Rach, say Beep?' " Bob told her and shook the toy. My daughter got more agitated.
"EEEEEEEEE!"
"Shouldn't that count?" Don asked, looked concerned. "I mean, she's saying that to ask for it"
"She needs to be saying words" Bob said, again telling Rach. "Say Beep!" That was the sound made by the toy.
"EEEEEEEEE!" her voice got louder.
"You can do it" Bob encouraged her. "You're a smart girl! BAaaaaaaaa-eeeeeeeeeeeeeep"
"EEEEEEEEEEEE"
He turned to us, again.
"Rachael should go to a speech therapist. She needs to learn how to ask for things. No one is going to be able to read or anticipate her thoughts like her family. I can make a recommendation to the school district" While the first several lessons had been out of pocket, the last few had been paid by the local school district. (Bob had friends there)
"Isn't it a little too soon to worry?" I asked, remembering my experiences with the boys. "Kids don't usually start talking until about two, or close to it. At Rach's age, Don only knew a few simple words"
"But she doesn't seem to know any" he told us.
"Yes she does, but it's difficult for her to say them." I countered. "We need to give her time."
Before he could say more, Rachael again demanded the toy, got up and began to wail.
TBC
