NICU Grad party, Costco, Speech Therapy & the "no" theory of child development

Yesterday we all went to the NICU grad party. The neonatologists are so personable. We saw twins that were Little T's neighbours in the NICU. It was amazing to see how far one had come. The other...well it's not my story to tell. It made me remember how lucky we are in how far Little T has come. Special K loved the petting zoo and dancing on the stage with the guitar player and other kids.

I've been trying to find long-sleeved clothes for Little T that snap up the front and was being to despair. I went to every kids store around and found nothing, except one yellow one that was too ugly. I did find one outfit online, but it was depressing to order the same outfit 10 times. I even emailed my local mother's club, but one person responded and had 3 outfits.

C said "Maybe Costco will save us" and it did finally today. Today I went to Costco and I found just the clothes Little T needs. Hooray! I also bought Special K a plush tiger costume for Halloween.

At his OT apt, his Occupational Therapist said that she felt that Little T should be evaluated by a speech therapist. Oddly I had just stopped worrying about his speech development. He's apparently still delayed. He's supposed to say 1-3 words and maybe he says "Hi" but it's kinda a stretch. However I was worried when all he said was "gah". Now he actually babbles and he babbles all the time. I think he will start talking soon. But I think he's more interested in figuring how to move about better first. Already he's improved his scooting technique. I see him trying to pull up on things, but not actually doing it.

His OT says he may have some motor planning deficiencies and it's different for oral-motor than for gross motor. It's clear from his PH probe Houdini act that he has no difficulties in gross and fine motor planning. I just think he hasn't quite figured out the advantages of talking.

When Special K was 11 months old, she had a great breakthrough in communication. At that point, she said "mama", "dada" and "meh", which was milk. We went to an art gallery and Special K pointed to some food and said "meh". Then we went to the grocery story and she pointed to some food there and said "meh". After that her vocabulary and her talking took off. Little T says "Hi" to get our attention and to be cute, but he definitely doesn't seem to realise that he himself can communicate with us.

Maybe it has to do with being mobile and saying no. I told our OT that Little T got told "no" very little until last week. The only reason we told him no was when he pulled his sister's hair. So he doesn't even really understand no. When a child isn't mobile, there's no real reason to tell him no most of the time. I talk to him all the time, but I guess he doesn't need to understand what I say. But now sometimes he must understand what I say. "No climbing on the stereo." "No eating cat food." This is turning into a sad theory of child development. What do you think?