And then there was a word...

Today is a really good day...Exciting for all parents, but really, really cool for us.

Deak has had quite the range in noises since he has been born. When he was born he would make these sounds that (I kid you not) sounded an awful lot like a fish blowing bubbles. He didn't babble or do the regular baby jabber. In fact, Deakon pretty much didn't have anything to say until he got tubes in his ears at 15 months. We figured out then that he really hadn't been hearing a whole lot.

Once he began hearing, he began making sounds - but still not very typical. More like "Uhhh" (Sounding at times like wild animals). He has learned how to communicate quite well using no words, and we have figured out what his sounds mean for the most part.

Well...a couple months ago he recieved a toy which made a monkey sound. This was apparently very inspiring for him because he has done nothing but make monkey noises since recieving this gift. He has created many many words using monkey noises. This was a good sign for us though because we knew he was hearing and mimicking his world around him.

On to tonight...Deak has had a busy day and was extremely tired. We were at Blair's parents' home and I began to rock Deakon to sleep. As I rocked him, I looked at him and said "Night, Night" several times. Then all of the sudden, he turned and looked at me and said "Ny, Ny." No one was around and I thought no one would believe me. I turned and walked upstairs and told everyone thinking he probably wouldn't say it for them. Ten minutes passed and I lifted him up to go and said "Night, Night Deak." He looked at me again, and with the cutest face I have ever seen, said "Ny, Ny." (In front of everyone, including his Grandma who is a Speech Pathologist and exclaimed, "Yes, it had clear consenants and vowels.")

It is nothing short of amazing -truely.

Most children who are born with Chromosome 18 abnormalities suffer some sort of major speech impairment. Most communicate, but most do it in different ways then we might be used to. Language and Auditory processing are extremely difficult for many children. Deakon also has a cleft in his palate which makes producing sounds even more difficult. To be quite honest, I never expected to even begin worrying about speech with Deak until he was at least three years old. Here he is, not even two - and has said his first word. I am so lucky to witness this miracle which has been given to me every day...His future is so bright; I can't wait.

"Ny, Ny" to you all. My dreams are looking good tonight.