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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Talking in '12

Happy New Year :)

I've done some reflecting back, and some looking ahead, and here's what I came up with:

2011 was the year of the walking.  I'd like 2012 to be the year of the talking. 

Talking progress, that is . . . I'm not expecting her to start speaking intelligibly.  But it sure would be nice if she got some more words, even if I'm the only one who understands them.  I'd like her to use her voice more, to give her tongue a workout and build those muscles. 

Weirdly, it's as if Maya can read my mind . . . suddenly, she's "talking" a lot.  (If you're a FB fan, you may have heard the video that I put up of her jabbering away in her crib.)  For the past 3 days, she's been a chatterbox.  It's amazing. 

From the beginning, she's been a silent quiet girl.  At the end of our first ever appointment with our first ever speech therapist, when Maya was about 10 months old, the therapist turned to me at the end of the session and asked something like "Is she typically this quiet?" and I said "Oh, yeah.  She doesn't really make noise.  Unless she's laughing.  Or crying."  That question haunted me.  I hadn't even put 2 + 2 together that she should be babbling.  I knew that words would come late, but I hadn't recognized the absence of the meaningless baby babble.

Now, we've got babble.  And word approximations.  Some old ("Ah!" for alligator has been around for a while now) and some brand new.  Like her name. 

That's right, people, she's (basically) saying Maya.

This was shot this afternoon.  Make sure your volume is on, and you'll get to hear: babbling, "me", "alligator", "Maya", "bad", and some jibberish.  It's all amazing.  She's finding her voice.


A hint: if you see a black box, click it. It should play.  If it doesn't, double click the "YouTube" box in the lower right corner and watch the video there.
She's getting noisy.  I've waited years for noisy.

16 comments:

  1. That's awesome!! I think anybody could understand that "Maya"!

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  2. so proud of that little girl!!!!

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  3. That's just awesome. Totally made me smile :) From a blog stalker/admirer from afar, I hope 2012 brings lots of talking and other wonderful things your way!!

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  4. so great! she is really saying MAYA! and all the other stuff sounds just as great! love it!!!!

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  5. That is beautiful! I hope someday my "J" will talk...

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  6. That is so awesome! Love hearing her say her name :)

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  7. Oh little bit teary. Awesome job! We too are waiting for the words to come. So great.

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  8. What an amazing video! I loved listening to her talk. My son took his first staps in 2011 and I truly hope we will hear his first word in 2012. I loved your comment at the end "I've waited years for noisy" - I feel the same way.

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  9. That is awesome! I also want 2012 to be the year of communication for my son. He also started walking in 2011.

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  10. Too cool!

    If you think she may have low muscle tone in her jaw, lips and/or tongue (my son did), you can play some really fun, yummy games with her to help. Have her sip yogurt, apple sauce or pudding through a straw. Play "catch the lollipop by taking a lollypop and putting it above, below and on each side of her lips and have her chase it with her tongue (keeping her head straight). Also, using the pop to stroke her tongue (back to front), making her tongue curl. Blowing bubbles, pinwheels, whistles also help :)

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  11. Oh my goodness! What a beautiful voice!!!!!

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  12. Oh my oh my Maya - MAYA! Watch out, that girl has a lot to say! What a great way to kick off 2012. Go Maya.

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  13. Cheryl (in Buffalo)January 4, 2012 at 8:12 PM

    Oh wow...I think this is definitely going to be the year of the chatterbox!!! Go Maya!!

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  14. SO GREAT! Made me laugh and cry. Nice work team!

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