I had made an appointment with our Pediatrician in the middle of the week not because Ava was sick but because I was concerned about her speech development. Yup, I'm a worry wart! Anyway, it was a total "unexpected" visit for Ava. As you can see from the pictures of the doctor visit below, she didn't smile the entire time.
When Ava had her two year check up, the doctor said don't be too concerned about her speech. Well that was ten months ago and I still see (or hear) the same thing every day. Ava's vocabulary has grown tremendously. Every day she's saying a new word or phrase I never heard before. So it's not her language comprehension I'm worried about. For the past eight months, she's been putting 2- 4 word sentences together. But when she gets really excited about something or if she has a LOT to say, she sounds like she's speaking in "baby talk."
Most of the time we understand what she's saying to us due to context or our current environment. But if she's in the next room, or riding in the back seat, or talking on the telephone, it's really hard to interpret what she's saying because she's not physically in front of us. I wanted the doctor to consult us with a speech therapist and get an analysis done.
I told the doctor that I don't want to wait until she's three yrs old and find out we could have helped her with her speech much earlier. The doctor agreed that she is close enough to the age of three and referred us to a specialist. We are still trying to get an appointment. I just feel terrible when I have to ask her to repeat what she's saying 3-4 times. I can see the frustration on her face. She knows exactly what SHE"S saying, we just don't comprehend her pronunciations on certain consonants and letter combos (like "th", "r's", etc.).
I know it's not fair to compare her with Sebastian's early speech development. He started talking when he was a little over a year old and hasn't stopped since ;-) I just want to give Ava every opportunity she has available. Even if we have to help her and guide her (or be the speech therapist in our own home).
Daddy finishing up a conference call after work while Ava nervously looks around..."wait a minute, this place looks VERY familiar."
Ava getting weighed (note the nervous stance with finger in mouth).
Even being close to Mommy doesn't help.
Mommy and Daddy promising Ava that there will be no poking and prodding and SHOTS! Still not convinced.
Our doctor has been the Pediatrician for both Sebastian and Ava. Starting when Sebastian was a newborn. So he's gotten to know us quite well ;-)
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