BIG SMILE! Update on Speech & Hearing

We are knocking on a lot of wood around here, but things have improved tremendously since Waylon had tubes surgically placed in his ears last month. Without all that cucky fluid, he definitely is understanding a lot more and attempting to speak LOADS more. He is not a great orator just yet, but we're thrilled he's trying. He drops the first letter off of most words and is just mimicking sounds of words rather than actually speaking them (i.e. instead of "water," Waylon says "ahh er"). However, compared to the non-verbal child we had before, this is a huge improvement. Waylon is really improving at his animal sounds, which his infant stimulation therapist, Susana, wanted us to focus on. He really enjoys saying "oooooooooooo" (for moo) when we ask what a cow sounds like, and he also likes things that growl (lions, tigers, & bears...oh my), but he still cant make the "quack" or "oink" noises.

The biggest improvement has been in his auditory reception. When we ask questions he REALLY enjoys telling us "noooo" and once in awhile he'll even nod "yes." Waylon can point out lots of body parts, and will even follow commands...when he feels like it. According to Susana, we really need to work on his focus, which is all over the place when there is a lot of stimuli, so we're working on getting him to follow small commands. Aaron and I almost cried with joy yesterday when we asked him to get "Five Pumpkins" (his favorite book) and Waylon ran (or rather did a Davis-Strasburg waddle/run) into the other room, and returned a minute later with the book. We are very thankful for our little guys steady improvement.

Its hard to find a picture to capture his improved speech and hearing, but these pictures show his ability to follow commands. When we ask Waylon to show us his "big smile" this is what we get...