......the strong, silent type?

Well, after much anticipation, Andrew finally had his assessment with the Speech Therapist that he was referred to.  It went really well.... I guess.  For those that spend a significant amount of time with Andrew you may have noticed that he is a man of few words.  By few I mean at 2 years old he has a vocabulary of only about 10-15 words.  I began to have some concern at around 15 months but chalked it up to his motor mouth siblings speaking for him and my amazing ability to translate his pointing and grunting into meaningful conversation.  At that point his pediatrician wasn't worried so neither was I.  As the 2 year well check approached with no change and no new words I decided that maybe it was time for my little man to not only be seen, but heard - and the doctor agreed!  So off to the Speech Therapist we went yesterday morning.  He immediately warmed up to the therapist and happily "played" with her.  After her evaluation she explained the results and what she recommends.  Basically,  Andrew is right on target for his age as far as recognition. processing. etc.  he just isn't verbalizing for some reason.  She said that his verbal skills are that of a 9 months old - ouch! That was hard to hear for some reason. I think because I have not done anything differently with him than I did with the other 2 kids and they didn't have any verbal delays. So now I find myself wondering what I did wrong or what I could have done differently this time around.  The good news however, is that there is nothing developmentally preventing him from talking.  So, as soon as our insurance company approves it he will begin speech therapy twice a week to get back on track.  She also recommended enrolling him in a Mother's Day Out Program so he can interact with children his own age and hopefully gain the motivation to talk.  This is something that I have contemplated for some time.  But I have gotten the impression when I have mentioned it before that Kris thinks that since I don't "work" then there is no reason for any of the children to need alternative childcare.  Whatever the case may be,  I will do whatever is recommended to help Andrew become more verbal.  Plus, I think that partnering the therapy with a M.D.O class will mean less therapy in the long run.   Ideally, I would like to arrange it where he goes to school three days of the week and to therapy the other two so he has that stimulation and reinforcement everyday.  I really think that once he is around children that are speaking it will just be natural for him to follow suit.  I plan on going to check out a couple of programs next week to hopefully get a head start before his therapy starts in February.  I am so excited to finally hear what my little guy has to say!