Alphabet Song

Sunday night I was laying in bed, trying to fall asleep and also trying to swat away the annoying thoughts that run through my head just when my head hits the pillow. Walter happens to fall asleep before his head hits the pillow--he's talented like that. He also starts snoring instantly. So, in the midst of listening to Walter's snoring and contemplating just how long Isaac would sleep, and trying to ultimately power down my brain, I thought, Isaac doesn't know the alphabet song. He also doesn't know how to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This week I need to work on teaching him the alphabet--he should know it. Uh, rewind. Reality check number three billion: Isaac is going to turn three years old soon, and still can't say his name.

We've been working on training the muscles of Isaac's mouth to make all of the many sounds that comprise his name. You wouldn't believe all the hard work your mouth has to do in order to say a fairly simple word. I was feeling ambitious and did try bribing Isaac with iPad to say the letters of the alphabet. It didn't work, and really it doesn't matter, because learning the alphabet isn't all that important right now. Every day we practice the components of his name: I-E-Z-A-K. His speech therapist showed me how to help him move his mouth to make the 'I' sound. He can do it, but he needs verbal prompting, and sometimes the physical prompting at the sides of his lips. This is a link to someone showing a prompt, and this is a link to a mom doing the speech exercises at home with her son (I sat at the computer crying as I watched this series of videos. This is a testament of this mom's hard work at getting her son to make sounds and strengthen his mouth. I could seriously feel her love for her son as I watched it. Hopefully one day we can implement the help of the tools she uses, with Isaac, but for now he will not tolerate anything like that near his mouth.)

Yesterday Isaac said from his car seat: "Ma, ah do!" He was playing with a calculator and wanted me to see that he could do it. I'll take that over the alphabet any day.

Not speech related, but simply signs of a genius in the making, while he was playing with teddy bear counters, he first lined each bear of the same color in perfectly straight rows, then he chose two colors and made an ABABAB color pattern all on his own. It was slightly creepy, but also very exciting.

This time he tried he to avoid his dentist appointment by falling sound asleep after his morning bath. Both kids were in the tub, also known as our indoor swimming pool, for almost an hour, hence the very wrinkly fingers and toes. 

As for his dentist appointment, it went exactly as I'd imagined--quite the traumatic experience for the little man. He avoided all eye contact from the minute we set foot in the office. I was concerned that he had a cavity, but it turns out it's just discoloration and not a cavity.

It is rainy and dreary here in northeastern Ohio. Isabella still insisted on playing outside today. She tromped around the yard and painted the slide with mud, and Stella patiently stood by her side, and made very pathetic glances at the back door.