Letter to My Mom

Hi! I have so much to tell you. I have had such a fun year. My favorite color is pink. My favorite food is McDonald's hamburgers. My favorite TV show is Little Einsteins. 

I love to play. 

Inside

I love to play hide and seek. No one can see me in my tunnel.

I'm really good a building with legos and blocks.

Outside

I like having a tea party with my stuffed doggie. 

I love to play with water,

And climbing trees.

Best of all was playing at the beach. 

I go to speech therapy.  

At speech, I play game

and I play bubble to build my muscles.  Good thing I love blowing bubbles.

Maybe I'll be an artist when I grow up. 

I love to paint

and color with markers

and play with play-do.

I love to help cook. 

I love making cookies with my friends. I crack the eggs
and pour the sugar and stir the batter
but best of all is licking the batter off the spoon. 

I just learned how to peel carrots.

I even like washing dishes.

I love to dress up. Everyone says I'm a "girlie girl."

I love tutus

and pretty dresses

And I love wearing make-up!

I love animals

I have friends with goats and chickens. I like to chase them and to collect the eggs. 

Horses are big, but they don't scare me a bit! 

My best friend is my dog, Spartan. I like to chase him and pull his tail. I like to share my food with him  under the table. And I like to lay my head on him and use him as a pillow. I love him.

I love to give hugs and make people smile. I smile and wave at everyone I see whether I know them or not. I love when people smile back.

One of my favorite things to say is, "Rose happy" because I am. 

Love, Rose

A Special Love

Abuela thought we were crazy to adopt a baby. “You have kids who are married. You’ll be a grandma soon. Why adopt?”

Then she met Kymee. It was love at first sight. The only baby of mine who she hadn't been in the delivery room with – then again, I hadn't been in the delivery room either. No matter, no loss of “bonding.” 

She made up for not being in the hospital delivery room, by being in the hospital for each of Kymee’s operations. She maneuvered around Kymee’s breathing tubes and IV as she sang “La linda monita” to her.

Abuela crocheted her a blanket, and a hat, and bought her little dresses at garage sales. And when Kymee grew out of medically designed bottles, and no longer had to eat through a syringe – Abuela made her hot cereal, arroz con leche, and tembleque. Kymee’s first solid food was a bowl of Abuela’s beans and rice, which to this day is her favorite meal.

Before she could speak, we would pull our van up in front of Abuelo and Abuela’s house and Kymee would smile, squeal and clap.  Abuela was completely dejected when Kymee learned to say Abuelo before Abuela, and would pout if Kymee choose to give Papi a hug before she got one.

But no matter how sick she became, Abuela would light-up the minute Kymee entered the house. Kymee loved trying on Abuela’s hats and shoes, and playing with Abuela’s baby doll and Abuela would share her teddy bears that she’d received from loved ones as she was in the hospital.

Kymee and Abuela shared a love for gardening.  In the spring, when Abuela felt up to it, Kymee would help her water her flowers in the backyard. Kymee would walk around the garden and talk to all of Abuela’s ceramic turtles and frogs which were hidden under the bushes. Abuela would smile, laugh and hug her.

When Abuela was too sick to play, Kymee would sit and cuddle with her, and run around her, and hug and kiss her.  Kymee got scared when she saw Abuela in bed, too sick to play. Abuela told us to take her away and not scare her. Kymee left the room, a few minutes later, she crept back in and laid her favorite stuffed animal on Abuela’s chest, then ran out of the room. The precious gift was received and treasured all day as it remained on her chest.

Kymee may never remember these precious times with her Abuela, but God blessed Abuela through Kymee and gave her joy immeasurable in her final time here on earth.  

Should I be concerned?

Should I be concerned that my 2-year-old, Kymee, doesn't say many words and is hard to understand?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/toddler-speech-development/AN01940

Not when she's this cute

But ...
Sometimes it's so hard to know if Kymee's speech is "normal" 2 almost 3 year old, or if there really is a problem. I listen to her every day - so I probably understand her more than others do. So, I decided to research it. 

Answer

from Jay L. Hoecker, M.D.

If you're unable to understand any of your 2-year-old's words, talk to your child's doctor about scheduling an evaluation. Done Speech delay can be an early sign of other developmental issues.So true

Although every child grows and develops at his or her own pace, toddler speech development tends to follow a fairly predictable path. For example, the average 2-year-old:

• Speaks at least 50 words Yes, but not necessarily understandable words
• Links two words together, such as "my cup" or "no juice", Yes
• Speaks clearly enough for parents to understand some of the words Yes - well maybe me more than Nelson, then again Nelson doesn't always understand what our 15 year old is saying

      The average 3-year-old:

• Speaks 250 to 500 or more words Not there yet - but somewhere between 50 and 250
• Speaks in three- and four-word sentences Just starting this
• Correctly uses pronouns (I, me, you, mine) Uses all of these, but not correctly
• States first name Sometimes, sometimes when we ask "What is your name?" She answers "Two" and holds up two fingers
• Speaks clearly enough for strangers to understand much of the time NO In fact, I can't understand her most of the time if she's sitting in the car seat and it isn't in context

So, I think speech therapy and age has brought Kymee more into "normal" range, but I don't think she is quite there yet. There are still letters she doesn't say, and strangers who don't understand her - but she's not supposed to speak to strangers anyway. 

So my question is  should I be concerned?