Reid has really started wanting to be much more independent lately. Today we went on a walk and then stopped at the park on the way home. He didn't want to get back in the stroller after the park, so I let him walk home with me. I couldn't get over how old he seemed just walking along next to me.
To be honest, this age has been a little bit challenging for me. The last couple of days weren't my best mom days. I was feeling discouraged. Today was SO much better. I think that's just how it is when you're a mom. You have good days and you have bad days. I think what is making it challenging is that he wants to be independent and wants to communicate his opinions to me, but isn't quite there yet on some things. I remember feeling this way when I could tell he wanted to be mobile but he wasn't able to crawl yet. He got frustrated with things easily and I feel like that's what's happening now. You can't exactly reason with a 15 month old.
I have been stressed about his speech. As I've mentioned before, he makes noises and sounds all day long, but he isn't saying words. I know he is still so young, but I am a worrier. I called my dear friend last night who happens to be an early intervention speech therapist. We talked for a while and she gave me some ideas (thanks Court)! :) One thing we discussed was the pacifier. I have been wondering if the fact that he has it in his mouth 90% of the day could be hindering him from using words and instead just making little sounds and she said that it could definitely be affecting it. So starting today he isn't having a pacifier during the day at home when he is awake. I am letting him have it in the car and on errands still and when he's sleeping. Soon I will phase it out of the car and then eventually we will work on the sleeping.
I am SO, SO grateful for a healthy and happy child. If speech is my greatest concern right now (which I am probably making way too big of a deal out of and is something that can be worked on), I know I am VERY blessed! :)
15-16 months isn't my favorite age so far :) Davis is fun in a lot of ways, but VERY, VERY FRUSTRATING in many other ways... but you're right, I think most of it boils down to them not being able to communicate when they want to assert their opinions.
ReplyDeleteI hope the pacifier transition is going well! When we decided to only let Davis have his in the crib (which we definitely cheat on sometimes), we started teaching him to say "bye bye" to his monkey and having him throw it in there - seemed to help that we kind of made a game out of it. Anyway, just passing on that tidbit in case it might help :)
You are doing a GREAT job Mama! Don't let a few crazy days get you down, we all have them. I can't tell you how many days Jonathan has watched too much TV since Matthew has been born. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to get through the day! Good luck on the pacifier weaning! I can't help you there...both my boys threw theirs across the room around 5 months! Zack's mom said he did the same thing :)
ReplyDeleteHey Brittany! I love reading your blog and seeing how sweet your little boy is - what a cutie! I thought it might help to know my experience with the speech thing - my oldest is now 4, but when he was 2 he only had 6 words. He would make other sounds, but I was so stressed when my pediatrician told me how behind he was according to what was considered "normal" by the pediatric standards. She encouraged us to do speech therapy, which we decided not to do quite frankly because I (selfishly)didn't want to have to drag him around to a specialist when I already didn't feel like I had enough time with him as a working mom. I tried to work with him on it on my own, and talked to his teachers at his little school how concerned I was about it. About 6 months later, his vocabulary and speech just exploded - part of it was probably us working on it, but I honestly think he just moved at his own pace and wasn't ready until then. And now he uses phrases like, "I would certainly be delighted to carry that for you." I think that alot of it came down to his personality, as he is pretty shy. Anyway, I hope that helps you not be so stressed about it!
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