Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Bye Bye Miss Jeni

Remember when I told you about the doctor freaking out on momma about me not having a 10-18 word vocabulary? Well, I guess I never told you about the whole situation, did I? Oops.

So, back about a year and a half ago, the doctor was worried that I may have a speech delay so he made momma call a speech therapist. I was one of the lucky ones and got to have the COOLEST speech therapist ever, Miss Jeni. The first time she came to my house I was super shy but I warmed up quickly. She made me take tests!
Ugh, seriously, tests and I was only 18 months old. Well, I passed all of them with flying colors except the speech part. I could understand and was ahead of my age in that part but I just could not get the words to come out of my mouth. Miss Jeni thought I may have Developmental Apraxia of Speech. In other words, my brain and my mouth muscles just couldn't work together. Miss Jeni was very cautious when talking to momma- saying things like well, I have some kids that improve a bit and others that need a lot more therapy. So...

Miss Jeni told momma about sign language, gave momma tips to help me communicate AND gave me homework! Seriously, homework! Did I mention that I was only 18 months old?!?! Anyways, Miss Jeni came over to my house and "played" with me about two times a week for just over a year. We played A LOT but we also worked on my homework- ugh! Sometimes things were rocky and I just couldn't concentrate and sit still but mostly I was a great student for Miss Jeni, making amazing improvements every couple weeks. I even ended up meeting Miss Jeni out in the driveway by her car so I could help her pick out the toys I wanted to play with that day!

Well, to make a long story short, Miss Jeni calls me her "STAR" student! I am so thankful that I was one of the lucky ones to make such great progress! I am talking up a storm now! Momma says I am still a whine bucket (but its a different whine than when I couldn't talk!) And, even though I like to talk, I LOVE even more to sing! My favorite songs right now are veggie tales songs which momma and me rock out to in the car!

I just want to say a big THANK YOU to Miss Jeni! Thank you for helping, encouraging and playing with me! I will never ever forget you! And I know momma won't either :)

Today I was discharged from Early On...
next step is Pre-school!!!

I love you Miss Jeni!

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