Heather R.'s Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 11/30/01 -------------------- 10/25/01 6/21/01 5/10/01 4/8/01 3/30/01 3/23/01 3/15/01 3/7/01 2/27/01 2/20/01 2/12/01 1/29/01 1/17/01 1/1/01 12/27/00 12/19/00 12/1/00 11/13/00 -------------------- Heather R.'s Introduction

March 23, 2001

IVAN TALKED!

HE REALLY TALKED!

And not just the stuff he’s done for a while – “dada”, “mama”, and the occasional “baba”. He really said an entirely new word. What is this word, you might ask? What little gem of wisdom did my youngest bestow on us?

He said “train”.

Well, it actually sounded more like “traay”, but I am certain of his meaning. This is how it all went down:

Ivan and I were playing together amongst his toys. Chloe was painting at the table, and I was taking advantage of this to spend some alone time with Ivan. I was holding a toy train in my hand, and looking through the toy box to find the accompanying train conductor, when I noticed Ivan’s face. His brow was deeply furrowed and his brown eyes focused tight. His face looked almost elderly with concentration. Then, slowly, Ivan raised his arm with one chunky finger pointed outward, and said ”traayy”.

Of course, I didn’t overreact at all. In fact, I was the epitome of coolness.

Then I burst into tears of relief.

These past few weeks have been filled with stress coming from all angles. John’s Mom is ill, and was hospitalized for 5 days. Chloe was sick, work has been a bear, and then Ivan was still exhibiting all the symptoms that I had talked about earlier.

And then he talked.

It’s amazing the effect that a one-syllable, mispronounced word can have on one’s outlook. Things went from grim to okay in the span on a microsecond.

And Ivan’s been talking more. Or, trying to talk more it seems. Quite often he gets that very same intense look of concentration on his face. I can tell he is willing himself to talk. And then he opens his mouth, and tries. So far, I’ve only been able to make out “traaaaayy” a few more times – but there are other words that I know he’s trying to say, and are just not coming out right.

All of this has made me recall my youngest brother David. Six years my junior, David has always been the smashingly charming lad that every girl swoons over. You know the type – dark haired, sultrily quiet, athletic. But growing up, David was always different.

David had an almost impenetrable speech impediment. He was in speech therapy for 11 years, beginning when he was 3. My Mom, who sometimes even amazed me with her ideas, told his teachers that David was Russian and had a heavy accent, so that he wouldn’t be labeled “stupid” or “slow”. To this day, we still call him “Little Ruskie”

David has also always had problems reading and writing, and not for wanting of effort. And yet David is highly mechanical, and can literally fix anything. As a toddler, my mom would give him clocks and other kinds of mechanical things, and he would take them apart without any trouble.

Why is this important? Because I think Ivan takes after David in many, many ways. Ivan has exhibited some mechanical prowess – he loves to build blocks, and he is absolutely enthralled with the washing machine cogs. And after seeing his expression as he was trying to spit out his newest addition to his vocabulary, I was reminded of my youngest sibling. Who always had to force himself to sound “normal”, and who worked so hard at talking, who still does in fact.

I called my Mom last night, and she confirmed that Ivan in fact, had quite a bit in common with his uncle. As a toddler, David often bit people (that I remember!), banged his head, and had difficulty talking and interacting with people. All of this made me feel HEAPS better.

So that is where we are now. I’m still trying to move forward with the Early Intervention assessment, because I think it is a wise move to make for Ivan’s sake. But I am also happy to report that my mood has lightened considerably, and I am hoping that this is all more or less, a personality trait that dear Ivan has been blessed with.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted – I’ll be replying to your posts soon

Love,
heather