Petey Speaks

If you know me or my family in real life, you might know a little bit about my Peter Matthias.  At 2 and a half, he's still the most contented and calm person in this family...not something that can usually be said about a toddler.  Of course he has his moments, but he is overwhelmingly peaceful.

He still takes long naps in the afternoon.  He will play with toys for hours and hours and you won't hear a peep out of him.  He's never bored, never rarely cranky and usually quite charming and delightful.  He also doesn't talk much.

I agonized over it for months.  A friend's daughter, born six weeks after him, was speaking in complete sentences at 1.  By 18 months, Peter only had a few words and rarely used them.  I had never really noticed when my others talked...they just did.  The older Peter grew, the more concerned I became.

So I started writing down the things he said on a list.  New words were cause for celebration.  I wrote down how well he understood us when we talked to him and how his speech didn't seem to hold him back from doing what I asked, or communicating things to me.  I asked him to say things for me, not too much, but enough to encourage a few more out of him.  I talked to a friend who is a speech therapist and she gave me some ideas.  And, honestly, I prayed about it.  Peter had hit all other milestones, but he just seemed (and still seems) more babyish than my other children at this age.

My written lists of his vocabulary give me a lot of comfort when I start panicking.  And this morning when he came in and blurted out "Mama, come fast! Baby crying!"  I nearly burst into tears myself.

Raising 6 such different kids is never boring, and often terrifying.  These days, this is one fear that I am cautiously putting to rest.  He's got this. 

In his own time, at his own pace, he's working it out.  My sweet Peter.


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