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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Like the wind

Maya's progress is . . . interesting.  Not typical, not quick, not slow and steady . . . it's often invisible---but wind is invisible too, and that doesn't make it any less real.  Her progress is a secret---I'm never quite sure what she's observing, what she's learning, what her inner narrative is. Internally, I imagine that she's learning new things and making new connections everyday, but externally the growth comes in fits and starts----nothing, nothing, nothing, then suddenly something new.

And in the past week we've had 2 big somethings new.

First, Maya said Mommy. As you may imagine, hearing it after 4.5 years is a pretty sweet sound.  Prior to this she could say "Mama" (and "Daddy"---of course that came first, because she adores her daddy) but not Mommy.  Suddenly, a weekish ago, her mouth just . . . cooperated. 


They had a field trip to Santaland that day.

Second, she can spell her name, which is pretty great. It's another indication that reading and writing will come, which is simply invaluable for a kid who won't be able to speak so clearly for a while. All the cool kids text instead of talking anyway, right?  (She needs some scaffolding with her name still, but it will come independently, soon I think.)





And, just so that we keep things balanced, here's a picture of Will that I took this morning :)

11.5 weeks old, making his own progress during tummy time.
 
 
 

7 comments:

  1. Awesome "somethings" indeed. Wishing you the merriest of holidays.

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  2. That is beautiful and wonderful! Hope you and family have a great holiday :-)

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  3. Go Maya Go! She's doing so great!

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  4. Oh my goodness! My heart just soars at the sound of her voice. I'm so happy for all of you.

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  5. Aww! Heart melt! Hearing "mommy" from her is so sweet. Yay, Maya! Yay for mommy, too! And of course Will is adorable as well. Congratulations. This post gave me the warm fuzzies <3

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  6. Ah you know for some kids it happens that way. My Alex, who is autistic, learned to read long before he started to speak. He was reading age three. His staff didn't believe me saying it wasnt possible and how on earth do you know anyway if he couldn't speak? Well I just did know! It was only when he *did* begin to speak at 5-6 it was obvious he'd been reading to some purpose for a while. Of course no communication devices then, I reckon Alex would have done so well with one, I'm sure he learned to read with computer books, good old Dr Seuss! Although several distinctly low tech things worked for us, such as using an extremely soft artists pencil, alex couldnt grip properly because of his sensory issues, but the soft pencil made it possible for him to write. Erm... waffling now, so anyway, am thrilled for you, Al used to call me Mimi, it was lovely when he finally got 'mummy' x

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