Guess Who's Talking?

Good evening, all! How's your Friday been?

I spent the morning marching around the livingroom at my son's request, singing Colonel Hathi's March from the Jungle Book. Every time I stopped, he'd bring me his little elephants and say "Muh? Muh?" If I didn't start singing right away, he'd try to do it himself. "Hut doo, hut doo."

Before we went to Wal-Mart for our weekly food shop, he helped me bring in the garbage cans from the street. He pushed and pulled with all his might, even though the recycle bin is five times his size; he loves to be a little helper. Along the way, he pointed to a bird flying overhead and said "Bur! Bur!"

Many of you know how long we've waited and prayed for Caleb to start talking. In the last two months, God has begun to answer those prayers. I don't know if our move had anything to do with it, or if the switch in his brain just flipped, but in the last two months his speech has blossomed. Sky-rocketed, in fact.

Now Caleb uses all sorts of words every day. "Cook-ie" is by far his favorite, followed closely by "Nack" (snack), "Muh" (more), and "buh" (banana). He can, and does, say rain, whale, apple, bear, tree, dog, duck, and a whole host of others. He's finally learned his farm animals (after learning all the wild ones first), and can make appropriate noises for each. He can also point to most of his body parts: hands, nose, mouth, eyes, feet, toes, ears.

Today he learned a new body part. Anyone care to guess? I was changing his diaper when he looked down, pointed, and asked 'Ut's at?' (What's That?). It was definitely one of those shake-your-head-with-laughter moments. Certainly one of the funniest in my career as a mommy thus far. He was so matter-of-fact in his curiosity.

But my favorite word, the one I love to hear no matter how often he says it, is ma-ma. More often than not, it comes out "ba-ba", but that's ok. I know he means me. :) I've waited two and a half years to hear that word. And I cherish it no matter how it's pronounced.

That brings me to a huge praise report: Caleb qualifies for Washington's Headstart program! This is pretty much the same program he was supposed to participate in, in California. It's a sort of preschool, only geared toward helping children develop in whatever areas they lack, such as speech, motor skills, or cognitive abilities. And even though Caleb's speech is rapidly improving, he's still technically "delayed." This program will hopefully be just the push he needs to catch up.
When we left California, I had no idea if I'd be able to find something similar, or if Caleb would even qualify. Different state, different policies. And we currently have no health insurrence. But I continued to bring the matter before God in prayer, knowing He would provide exactly what we needed. And whaddyaknow? He did.

I met with various people from the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) this week; these people looked over my paperwork from Cali, asked me all sorts of questions and assessed Caleb in the various areas of his development. On Thursday, I found out he qualified for the program. :) :) Thank you, Jesus!

The class begins Sept. 23 and will run two days a week, for two hours each day. This mommy's heart is very thankful. The class will be good for Caleb in so many ways.

Although it feels a bit odd, the whole idea of sending my toddler to class. But that's a post for another day. It's almost midnight now and my brain is shutting off. Coherent thoughts are drifting and . . . and . . . and my spelling has already gone to bed. So I think I shall, too. Night all!