As I stated in my last post, Annika will be starting speech therapy soon. I'm not entirely sure when, but it will be in the next couple of months. (It would be sooner, but we won't be available for a while.)
After all that we've been through with Sam's speech and confidence, we kept an eye (or ear) out for anything similar in Annika. And sure enough, she isn't talking yet. Which in and of itself is probably not much to worry about, but with our family history, for Annika it is. She isn't trying to talk--she grunts here and there and has a couple of baby signs that she uses, but overall, she is quiet.
So I took her in to be evaluated by the people at Early Intervention (EI). EI is for families who's children are delayed in any way or have an issue that could affect their development. Going in I really wanted them to say, "no problem here, she'll catch up soon." But they didn't. Instead she is at a 7-9 month level for speech. I can't tell you how disheartening this is. I really wanted them to send me home and laugh at me for being such an overprotective mom. I also know that a speech issue that will be "fixed" fairly easily is nothing compared to what most of the other families at EI go through. But, like every other mom, I want my children to move easily through life. I don't want any of my children to struggle--especially not with something as basic as communicating.
In any case, Annika will be getting services soon. She goes in for a hearing test next month and for an actual speech evaluation then too. After that we'll know exactly what we have to do to get her at age level.
On the other hand, she tests at 36 months for fine motor skills!
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