Up Down

Kids are the funnest and strangest things. We believe our twins are language delayed or it could be that they are right at their adjusted age but that the doctors stopped counting that as they should catch up at some point. I’ve often questioned what catching up means. My thought is the three months they were born early dwindles to a smaller and smaller percentage of their lifetime until a three month difference is close to meaningless.

With that being said we are focused on language. We are focused on getting them to speak, to ask us for things, and to tell us what they want. We were pleasantly surprised at a group playdate this afternoon when our boys began shouting, “Up down,” while bouncing and being bounced on a trampoline.

This wasn’t the end of their use of, “Up down,” throughout the day but it was the first time we had heard them use those words in that combination and we have been working on getting them to tell us when they want up and when they want down. Now they only want, “Up down.” As the day continued they asked us many times to get up or down but never said up or down only, “Up down.” The two words merging into one and containing both meanings. The direction for up or down not an individual word any longer but a single word whose meaning could be derived from the situation.

I want to know what is going on in their minds. They understand the concept of speech much more than they speak. They know that sounds and gestures are used as symbols for thoughts, ideas, concepts, and objects. They understand this a great deal. A point and a grunt can contain as much or even more meaning than a clearly spoken word, but it is language and it is a symbol that conveys powerful meaning.

I am one of those parents now. My child makes a sound and I say the word they mean back to them. How drink sometimes comes out wink or bink or dwink or a sound hard to imagine could be drink except to the well trained ears of that child’s parents.

Watching them grow and learn is the most rewarding part of my life. Today was special and tomorrow will be as well. They are learning and growing at such a fast rate now. I cannot wait to see what surprises all our future days hold.