A Boy of Few Words

I recently found myself in the pediatrician's office feeling so sorry for the mother of a screaming toddler. This child had thrown himself on the floor (I'm not sure why) and laid at his mother's feet, kicking her, and screaming some kind of unrecognizable language. The mother's face was flushed and sweat was forming on her brow. She politely apologized to the other people in the waiting room and tried a wide range of tactics to end the tantrum. End new tactic came with a new version of a tantrum. She tried to hold him. The child slapped at her face. She put the child down, the child kicked at her, banged his head on the floor, and then began rolling about the waiting room. I truly felt humiliated for this mother.

This mother was me.

The child was mine.

I love this boy. I love him. I love him. I love him.

The tantrums ended when we finally got called into the exam room, but they didn't stay gone long. By the time we left the doctor's office. I was sweating and crying. My 11 year old was a nervous wreck (and pretty ticked at me because he ended up getting a shot). As we were leaving the lady at the front desk looked at me in sympathy and asked, "Are you going to be okay?" I assured her I was and practically ran to the car. Liam was asleep within about 5 minutes of us leaving the parking lot.

You see, I knew it was going to be bad. Once again I forgot that I now had a toddler who is very dependent on his nap and scheduled a doctor's appoint. Right in the middle of nap time.

Big mistake. Huge. (cue "Pretty Woman" scene here)

Lesson learned.

This was Liam's 18 month check up. Healthwise he checked out fine, but the doctor did confirm what I already knew. Liam is, by definition, "speech delayed."

His current vocabulary consists of: Hiiiiiiiiiiiii (he drags it out), Bye, Uh-Oh, Ba-Ba, and Choo-Choo (he says this every time he sees a train).

He understands and babbles a lot, but as far as recognizable speech goes, that's it! He will not even attempt to say "ma-ma." He has said "da-da" before, but I am not sure if he was saying the word or just sounds.

We did discuss a few things like Aspburgers and Autism (because I asked), but the doctor does not seem concerned...yet. With his speech and some of his behaviors, I was curious. We are going to wait until he is two to address the possibility of speech therapy. I feel confident enough to do some home therapy on my own (we've been down this road with our first child). Liam understands what we say to him and he does interact and communicate with us. Truly, from what I have learned about his personality, I think he knows how bad I want him to talk and that is exactly why he won't.

Boy...I may be in for it!!

ISO: Copy of the book, The Strong-Willed Child