Frith O’Steen

Why, you may ask?

Because Decker is now imitating the hand/body motions back for two of the verses when I sing it to him! For two days running now, when he’s taking his bath I have sung “Wheels on the Bus” to Decker (which I’ve done lots before, but he was always more interested in playing with his toys and listening, rather than participating), we get to the verse about “the babies on the bus go wah wah wah” and I rub my eyes like I’m crying…and Decker rubs his eyes too! AND I swear he is making noises that sound like he’s singing along with the ‘wah wah wah’ part! And even better (here’s the part where I tear up a little, yes I’m cheesy, I don’t care) the next verse is “the mommies/daddies on the bus say ‘I love you’”, and you hug yourself and sway - he holds his sides and moves back and forth! Go Decker, go! He is learning and growing in leaps and bounds - I know talking is going to be sooner than later, and then I can’t wait to hear all the funny things he has to say to us.

I am beaming.

Some of you may know that Decker has been going to a speech therapist since early July to help him in finding his words. I probably won’t be writing about it very often, unless there is something really cool to report…like today! Decker has been working on using pictures and signs to help express what he wants (his therapist Pamela is awesome and he likes her a lot and thinks they’re playing lots of games). He had already been signing “open” and “bye bye/done” for a while, but today…he signed ‘ball’! I was absolutely beaming - my smile could’ve stretched from wall to wall in the office. He’s making progress and it’s so dang exciting to see! He showed off his new “word” for his daddy this evening. Yay Decker!