HEL .........P

Before entering the feeding program Kaylie's speech was incredibly delayed. This is normal considering she has difficulty with her feeds. Usually the speech will come after the feeding improves. This has definitely been the case.

Before therapy...she said da da and a few letter sounds but still lacked in several key sounds. We would get mum, mum, mum only when she was mad so I would not really classify that as mom. She would say dah for dog and clear her throat to say uh oh. It sounded painful but was adorable all at the same time.

After 3 weeks of therapy...She now says the following. They are in order of appearance. Surprisingly, they are all clear.

1) da da - No mistaking this. She knows who he is and can say it very clearly. It makes my heart melt because usually it is accompanied with the biggest smile and laugh you have ever seen.

2) Uh Oh - She no longer clears her throat to say it. She doesn't say it as often as she had but she can now make the correct sounds.

3)dah - I am not really sure if this is a word or not but it is her way of calling for the dogs so we are going to give it to her. I still insist I heard her say dog one day at Jolie's.

4) all done - She usually says this during her feeds when she has no desire to be there or when the timer goes off signaling the end of her meal. She has grown accustomed to the timer with her feeds and gets super excited when it goes off. She smiles, pushed the button to turn off the timer and says "all done" while clapping. I will have to video it one day.

5) hello - On Thanksgiving we were playing with her telephone. We answer the phone and give it to her. She took the phone and said hello.

6) ma ma - In the past two days ma ma has officially made its appearance. I got to listen to her on the phone while I was at work this afternoon repeat it over and over. When Jason would say it she would say it back. Jason said she walked up and down the halls all day saying it. I am no longer chop liver =).

7) Help - This is our newest word that made its appearance today. Whenever Kaylie starts to fuss because she can not figure something out or get something she wants we will say "help?". Then will follow it with showing her the sign and saying "help mommy." She was trying to get a toy from the table and got frustrated. Jason asked if she needed help, repeated it once or twice and the next thing she said was, HEL...P. She combined the first three sounds and accentuated the P. Jason was so excited he tried to get her to say it for me while on the phone but instead she just repeated mama. I guess I can't complain!