I would like to introduce to you my youngest son, Donovan.
Donovan turned two years old just a bit before Christmas. He is a boy’s boy and a class clown already. He loves to wrestle and make people laugh, and when there’s tickling going on anywhere, he is right there in the middle of it. He looks more like his Daddy than his Momma, and Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite. He’s strong-willed but loving… a climber and a cuddler. He loves hot Italian sausage, and he eats most of what I put in front of him no matter what it is.
He also does not speak. He tries, and I know he is learning words, but he is on the slow spectrum for speech at his age. He has maybe 10 words he uses a lot – about the same that Elias had at one year old. And that’s my problem – at 15 months old, Elias was speaking in complete sentences, and at 2 years old, we were having full conversations with him.
Elias has been my “normal” so long that I don’t know what to do with this “new normal” kid I have. Because Donovan is normal for a 2 year old. But because he is mostly non-verbal, I forget that he’s getting older… that he is able to learn and do more than I think he can… that with Elias at 2 years old I was already starting pre-school activities (and soon after, hopping on this blog with Amanda).
So what do I do with this “new normal?” Most of my “teaching” attention has been focused on Elias or such a long time, with my energies towards Donovan focused on keeping him busy while I do something with his big brother. I even posted about that here. No more! My littlest man needs to become a man of God, too!
I’ve been thinking for a while about what I can do with Donovan, since his learning style is already so different from Elias (I’m trembling at the thought of the homeschool-years yet to come!)… and one thing I’ve hit upon is music. Even though Donovan does not sing words to songs, he makes up songs all the time, and sings “Dah dah dah…” to songs he already “knows.” And he loves to sit and listen to me sing – so that’s one thing I’m doing with him now. While we’re cuddling, I start to sing… before bed, I sing… grace before meals, I sing… and Donovan sits there and soaks it in. We also are playing the Seeds Family Worship CDs a lot again, and when I can, I sing those to him, too.
Donovan also loves books – why is it that as a new parent, I read non-stop to my first born, but when baby # 2 came along, the reading slowed down to a slow crawl? Time to pick that back up again – and pick up some wonderful Scripture-based books for Donovan! We already love the Jesus Storybook Bible and the Mrs. Rosey Posey books… does anyone have any other scripturally-sound/based books that they would recommend for the “younger” set?
So you’ll be seeing a lot more of Donovan here on Impress Your Kids… and more ideas geared towards younger kids again. Do you have any requests/suggestions/concerns/ideas you’d like to see addressed for the non-verbal/2-and-under crowd?
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Respectfully submitted to Real Life’s Your Life Your Blog!
Oh Leigh, you could so easily be talking about my boys, who are 4 and 2! They are such opposites, especially in their learning styles. David (4 yo) is strong verbally and week with fine motor skills (he’s left handed). James (2 yo) is the strong silent type. He says very little and loves to play with small toys (excellent fine motor skills). Like the pic of Donovan, James is rarely without Thomas!
Sometimes I worry that James is behind, because David was really ahead. Thanks for the encouragement to just do what he enjoys and let him learn in his own way!
.-= Sandra´s last blog ..#2 in the Book Nook =-.
Oh, Leigh! What a perfect and beautiful post! Asa is only 15 months old and I think about this stuff all the time.
Thank you for such an encouragement. AND cannot wait to see what you do for and with Donovan!
*weak not week. Love when leaving comments keeps me humble! 🙂
.-= Sandra´s last blog ..#2 in the Book Nook =-.
Our 3-year-old struggles with speech and I’m so amazed at how much more farther along his 2-year-old brother and sister are in communicating. All of our kids are adopted, but while the younger two came to us as infants, our oldest was 15 months old when he came into our home. We feel he didn’t have great exposure to language and literacy in his early months, thus the delay. But it’s so true that he knows so much more than he can communicate. He amazes me every day!
My son will be 3 in April and he was a slow speaker. I know you aren’t supposed to compare your child to other kids, but he was talking NO WHERE like his daycare pals were. We recently started speech therapy. His hearing tested fine and there is nothing WRONG with him. He is just taking his time. So we read alot, and we play games, and we repeat syllables. And hopefully we will be able to understand him more. Good luck with your little one!
.-= Kristen´s last blog ..Menu Plan Monday =-.
I singing is a great idea. Since he loves it, he’ll really start to remember the words, and before you know it, he’ll be talking up a storm. I’ve heard from many moms with slow-to-talk toddlers that one day they just all of a sudden start talking.
Kudos to you for making a huge effort to be more proactive with Donovan. I’m sure he’ll catch up quickly with some extra attention.
.-= Allison´s last blog ..Whole Wheat and Wheat Germ Pizza Dough =-.
What a darling! We do lots of songs and dancing too. I remember thinking about that when my little guy was almost one, with his sister I was reading to her daily by then, but with him I was still in the habit of reading during his naptime. No longer! It’s like you look over and they’re not infants any more!
.-= Cara @ Health Home and Happiness´s last blog ..Homemade Onion Soup =-.
What a cutie! My 7 year old nephew babbled for a bit and then stopped talking completely at about 14 months. They found nothing wrong with him. He did do some speech therapy, but finally just started talking right after he was 3.
He went from saying almost nothing to talking in whole sentences! He just turned 7 and has been reading for over a year at a 5th grade level.
Good luck with your son, I’m sure he’ll love the new activities!
.-= Jenny´s last blog ..Bloggography Week 2: ISO =-.