Speak
It’s starting to make me crazy that Oscar won’t talk. I’ve started obsessing about it, wondering what is causing this delay. Is it solely related to having been in an orphanage? Is it just a developmental delay? Is there a genetic component? What is a developmental delay, really? What does it all mean? Does he actually understand what we’re saying, but just can’t talk? How will it impact him in the future? Is there something I could be doing (or could have done) to change this situation?
As frustrating as it is, we’ve worked out a bizarre method of communication, composed of grunts, head shakes and leaning motions. It’s oddly effective. Oscar refuses to sign (even when he knows the sign) when he wants something. Instead, if I’m not already holding him, he’ll grunt so I pick him up, and then start leaning towards whatever it is that he wants. If I tell him to use his words or sound out the word I think he needs, he just grunts again and leans harder (if you know what I mean) towards the direction he wants to go. He’ll grunt again when I get where he wants to go, and if I pass it, he’ll shake his head and do his fake cry. If I give him something he doesn’t want, he’ll throw it off his tray or just away from himself. So, at least we have a method of communication, caveman-like though it is.
What gets me is how I’ve become so desperate to think he’s trying to say a word. Yesterday he was in his highchair saying “da”, and since the dogs were in the room, I was quick to believe he was trying to say “dog.” In reality, I suspect he was just saying “da.” “Ba,” “da,” “ma” and “ga” are his big sounds (like any infant). That’s pretty much it, and as much as I would like to believe that his “ma” is referring to me, I think I have to accept that sometimes “ma” is just ma.
A big day
How did the little guy celebrate being on this earth for 19 months? By taking off his pants and feeding himself some yogurt from a spoon all by himself. No, he didn’t do these things at the same time. That would just be strange. The pants thing is a little worrying, since I understand the next thing he’ll strip off will be his diaper, but feeding himself with a spoon is huge. Sure, lots of kids do this by the time they’re a year old or a little older, but this apparently falls into the fine motor skills area, where we have a bit of a delay. Have to say that I’m a little sad that he’s learned that the primary use of a spoon is not just to be a weapon.
Put your fingertips together for
more, more milk.
Most of you have no idea what that means, but there are a few of you who are right now cursing me for putting that *&$%^! song into your head. We’ve been watching the DVD Baby Signing Time for the past 10 days or so, and I can tell you that I find it probably more annoying than anything else I’ve ever watched. It was recommended to me by another parent who has incredible success with it, and I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical. At the time we started watching it, Oscar had exhibited virtually zero interest in communicating. When he starting signing “more,” I figured it was a bit of a fluke (I’m not really sure he knows what it means – he signs it when he wants to feed me a Cheerio). BUT – tonight he signed “milk” for the first time when it was time for him to go to bed – you know, when he gets his bottle. Amazing. I want to awaken him just to get him to do it again.
Got milk?
We finally do! Oscar is off the Enfamil and he doesn’t even seem to mind. I can’t tell you how pleased this makes me. Aside from the nasty stench associated with the formula, I was getting annoyed with the price gouging. $28 per can. Seriously? It ended up being our luxury item for the week. I attempted to switch to the Target knock-off, but it was clumpy, and Oscar was not amused. Neither was I, come to think of it, although I did appreciate that I could save $10. The Target brand was actually lumpier than the Vietnamese formula Oscar’s orphanage used. I’m off to think of things to do with the extra $120 I’ll have lying around each month now. So many options . . . like perhaps his college savings account. Well, there went that fun.
He’s walking!
I don’t know how others are able to record these events for posterity. I certainly tried, but probably not very successfully . . .
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