Toddler Rosetta Stone

 If you are not aware, we found out that Dominic had significant fluid blockage in his ears in December. So much that he had 30 decibel hearing loss and basically was hearing things like they were being spoken under water. I believe that because he had so many ear infections from 18 months-2 years that they were blocked the entire time. Due to that blockage, Dominic suffers from a speech delay. He had tubes put in in mid-December and with the help of weekly speech therapy sessions has been showing a lot of improvement. His hearing was immediately improved to the normal range after the surgery as well.

I can't lie and say that it is not heartbreaking to see kids younger than he is speaking in full sentences or perfect English. It hurts and makes me feel guilty that I have done something wrong ( I know it isn't my fault). Dominic does have his own little language and he and I can for the most part communicate well. I sometimes feel like I could go to another country and communicate with them because I am able to do it with him. He has his own words and phrases that would make no sense to anyone else but I get it--which is great because I am with him all the time. Often, Lou turns to me and asks "What is he saying?" lol.

 Last fall, he was put in daycare four days a week and when I would pick him up the teachers would proudly tell me something like this:
them-"Ohh Dominic came up to us today and said :I need to go potty:"
me-*thinking* Oh really because he can only say the word "go" and the kid could care less if he has poop or pee in his pants (at the time)

Those kind of situations make me feel especially grateful that I am now able to stay home and help him daily to learn and communicate better. I'd say that his vocabulary has probably tripled since he had the tubes put in and each day is getting better. Some days I still get frustrated or sad that this vocabulary miracle didn't occur the minute he came out of anesthesia--but it's not up to me. All I can do is my best to foster learning and communication. He will talk, not just to me, but to others. He does tell everyone "Thank You" pretty clearly so at least he has the important stuff down!

I've had a lot of people give me advice or their two cents about our situation-and it's a tough pill to swallow because not one single person is in our situation or has ever been. One of my all time favorite piece of mind by anyone about Dom's speech is "Oh don't worry some day he will be talking your ear off and you'll just wish he wasn't talking"

I can honestly say when that day comes, that thought will never cross my mind.