Monday, July 20, 2015

The most amazing words in the history of words

"It's amazing you can understand him," people sometimes say to me. Well, yes, I can, often because Max likes to repeat a lot of the same phrases. He uses the speech app on his iPad to communicate and he knows that's critical for people at school, friends and others to understand him.

At home, though, he prefers to speak words and say them again and again until we get it. This can be tricky, since the majority of consonants are not yet his thing (yay for the letters "m" and "n"). But he wants to talk so badly, one reason I took a hard stand when his speech therapist at school said articulation would no longer be a focus of therapy sessions.

Sabrina is particularly good at translating Max-ese, and when I am not sure what he's trying to tell me, she often is. Sometimes, we have a good laugh. (See: Want to buy a monkey?)

What's most amazing of all is that this boy is talking. Those doctors in the NICU sure can do a number on you, and when we were told he might never talk, that stuck in my head. Once, years ago, someone laughingly said to me that when Max did speak one day I'd get tired of hearing him. "When he talks, I will never, ever get tired of hearing him," I informed her, and it's true.

Every single day, I am grateful for the words. For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the words.

"Hi, ohmmmy!"
["Hi, Mommy!"]

"I ahn ooo eee a ire-ahn ehh I owe uh!"
["I want to be a fireman when I grow up!"]

"Are ooo oh ahh-eee?"
["Are you so happy?"]

"Oh-eeen eeeesh my ay-or-ih or!"
["Bowling is my favorite sport!"]

"Ayn oooh!"
["Thank you!"]

"Oooh ire-ouse!"
["I'd like to visit a new firehouse. Now, please."]

"I ahn ooo eee inion ooh-eee!"]
["I want to see the Minions movie!"]

"Ah oooh oh-ay?"
["Are you OK?"]

"I ahn oooh-eeee!"]
["I want sushi!"]

Oh, and the best words of all, the ones I have always seen in his eyes and in his kisses but that he has only started saying in the last year:

"I uh ooooh, Ohmmmy!"
["I love you, Mommy!"]


  1. Those are awesome words Max! He is communicating in the way that works best for him and the people around him-wise beyond his years. Keep up the good work Max!

  2. Replies
    1. That is very true, Nisha! Just doesn't apply to "I want to see the Minions movie." He he.

    2. The Minions movie was awesome! We loved it even more than Inside Out.

      I was told that my daughter wouldn't talk too. Those NICU doctors... Sigh.

  3. Talking is hard. Max is doing it, which shows that he doesn't let the experts stop him.

    1. Experts sure do not know everything, as many of us can vouch for.

  4. Ashley gets frustrated when his vocalisations don't make sense to us so it's great to have a translator on hand like your Sabrina and my girls. We had some doomsaying doctors but learned to listen to the positive ones who "when he walks" and not if.

    1. Oh, Max gets frustrated too when we don't understand him. He tends to lean in closely to our ours and speaks louder because he thinks we have listening issues!

  5. Replies
    1. I would SO love for all our kids to hang out someday!

  6. Great job max!! Keep it up! Talking is one of the hardest things for your body to do actually.

    1. Until I had Max, I never realized how much effort goes into talking, between tongue movement, coordination, breathing, etc. Now I know full well.

    2. Tone, articulation, emphasis...It's like playing a musical instrument.

  7. Have you heard of smart Palate? It is a tongue device that helps with placement during speech. I am going to look into it further for my son. Here is an article:

    1. Thank you for sharing this, sounds like it could help a lot of people! I hope it's of use to your son. I'll mention it to his speech therapist but Max's oral motor challenges are more involved than just tongue placement—lips and vocal folds are also involved and diaphragm too.

  8. Way to go Max!! Love that "I want sushi" is on the list of his most popular sentences ;-)

  9. I remember back when I thought my little girl would never be able to tell me she loved me, and it hurt so bad then. But you grow to realise that they can communicate in other ways that are lovely too. Love your translating, it's fab, and well done Max! x


Thanks for sharing!

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