So often I just can't understand him. His speech is a roller coaster of varying degrees of quality ranging wildly from slurred and muddled to clear and crisp. The clear and crisp is always with a delicious, adorable seriousness.
We waited for those first real words.
We waited... and waited... and waited some more. We are so thankful for his words! Still, while he can speak, his verbal communication still lacks. It is better, yes. And it is true that he can pronounce just about anything he wants. The complications arise when he's to think and express himself verbally. So often the first word or two will come flying out, clean and clear as day. The first few words are then followed by a garbled smear of something unintelligible.
Realizing the treasure of his speech, we tend to try hard to hear what he's saying. We don't want to miss anything he's saying, and honestly even the repeated phrases from movies and shows and apps are precious.
This morning, on the way to school, Ryan kept saying something, but the only thing I could remotely get was "Max" and "Moot". Hmm. Must be a new cartoon he saw somewhere.
Then he leaned over, and with the car stereo on tape with no tape available, he clicked down the volume, saying each number as he turned the knob. With hand-flapping, humming excitement, he counted down until...
you guessed it...
"mute" appeared on the display!
He said "moot" but after a couple minutes, he clicked the volume up, number by number again until it got to "Max".
He knew exactly what he was trying to say. And with a little minimalist Ryan-argument, I convinced him that it was pronounced "mute"!
This is one of his new games in the van on the way to school. His other one is super adorable.
On the way home from ABA the other day, he was in the front seat because his brother and sister stayed back with their Granny. He fished a penny out of the ashtray, laid it on his leg, and mutter-sang something about a little money. Then it was two little monies... something unintelligible... one came along and then... something unintelligible... and I realized he was not just talking along, he was making up a little song and game with the spare change!
We waited for those first real words.
We waited... and waited... and waited some more. We are so thankful for his words! Still, while he can speak, his verbal communication still lacks. It is better, yes. And it is true that he can pronounce just about anything he wants. The complications arise when he's to think and express himself verbally. So often the first word or two will come flying out, clean and clear as day. The first few words are then followed by a garbled smear of something unintelligible.
Realizing the treasure of his speech, we tend to try hard to hear what he's saying. We don't want to miss anything he's saying, and honestly even the repeated phrases from movies and shows and apps are precious.
This morning, on the way to school, Ryan kept saying something, but the only thing I could remotely get was "Max" and "Moot". Hmm. Must be a new cartoon he saw somewhere.
Then he leaned over, and with the car stereo on tape with no tape available, he clicked down the volume, saying each number as he turned the knob. With hand-flapping, humming excitement, he counted down until...
you guessed it...
"mute" appeared on the display!
He said "moot" but after a couple minutes, he clicked the volume up, number by number again until it got to "Max".
He knew exactly what he was trying to say. And with a little minimalist Ryan-argument, I convinced him that it was pronounced "mute"!
This is one of his new games in the van on the way to school. His other one is super adorable.
On the way home from ABA the other day, he was in the front seat because his brother and sister stayed back with their Granny. He fished a penny out of the ashtray, laid it on his leg, and mutter-sang something about a little money. Then it was two little monies... something unintelligible... one came along and then... something unintelligible... and I realized he was not just talking along, he was making up a little song and game with the spare change!
He played that little game all the way home. Now he does it on the way to and from school, all the way from one to ten and back again.
I never thought that a little song like this coming from my seven year old would thrill my soul.
I never thought I'd love the idea that my son liked to count down the numbers on the volume and found such joy in doing so.
I never knew my heart could be so full and so tired and so exhilarated and so frightened for the future all at the same time.
And I never knew that looking into the face of my babies could teach me to be so thankful for and rest in the sovereignty of God.
Thanks be to God for the little games he plays that are so very opposite of little.
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