Anna Skamarakas

When I took Eilis for her well baby check up at 18 months old, I told the doctor I was worried because she wasn’t speaking as well as Brighid did by that time.  He asked me a few questions about how many words she said and things like that, and he agreed that she was probably behind in her speaking abilities.  However, he said, with an older sibling in the house in addition to her parents, there was probably little motivation for her to learn to speak.  All she would have to do was grunt or make some sort of noise and someone handed her 12 things and let her choose which one corresponded to that grunt.  He told me to stop giving her things that way and make her say the words.  If she didn’t catch on by her 2 year check up, we would seek speech therapy.  Within a few weeks, she was talking blue streaks.

(more…)

So during the day, on Tuesday and Thursday, I am at home, alone, with Eilis and Grace.  Most of the time, I think I do okay dividing my time and attention between the two of them - especially as Grace gets older and can sit and play with a toy for a few minutes by herself.  But there are still times, like when Grace wants a bottle and is falling asleep, that I HAVE to give all of my attention to her, leaving Eilis to find something to entertain herself.

(more…)