2 Years 4 Months
Hello!
Attached are two videos of Belle working on some wooden puzzles – one of her name and one that includes shapes of different colors. She loves puzzles! She is a little more chatty in the name puzzle one though. B is her favorite letter so far.
Working on the name puzzle:
Working on the shapes puzzle:
Belle is now 2 years and 4 months old and is Miss Independent. Her favorite word is officially “me,” which she says at least 50 times a day. 🙂 She wants to feed herself, dress herself, play with the Ipad by herself, etc., etc. While this is a good step in development, it can be quite challenging during her “TalkTools time” as she wants to hold all the tools, straws, and horns. I have to work extra hard these days to keep things fun and hold her attention. However, despite her new-found independence, she is continuing to do really well.
Belle has started putting two concepts together quite regularly now. Her favorites are “no no Mommy,” “bye bye Daddy,” “night night Bubba,” and “more eat.” She also loves to go around the room and name everyone. Each night at dinner, she will quickly name everyone at the table, “Mommy, Daddy, Bubba, Lyla, me.” Belle is also starting to show major interest in potty training so we have a lot of “potty” words emerging these days. I have kind of lost track, but I know her verbal vocabulary is well over 60 words now. Belle is full of life and has a lot to say!
Here are a few pictures of Belle at 2 Years 4 Months and 2 Years 5 Months. The third one is with her big sister, Lyla.
2 Years 5 Months
I am excited to report that Belle’s language has really taken off again in the last month. I just updated my list of words that Belle says on a pretty regular basis, and she has at least 80 words now! I would estimate that about 20 of those 80 words, a stranger on the street would understand, and another 40 that our close family can distinguish. Those last 20 words, however, are left for me, Belle’s daddy, and her big sister to enjoy 🙂 Attached is a video of Belle repeating some of her words – some old, some new.
The other video includes the current horn we are working on (Horn #3) that requires a 1.5 second duration. As you will notice, we are “not there yet.” It is a work in progress. I wanted to include an exercise that Belle is working on, so hopefully we can show her really mastering this skill in the months ahead. The work she does is not easy, and she doesn’t necessarily look forward to it every day. Even though she might not look too thrilled in the video, I secretly know that she enjoys the one-on-one time and my cheers for her attempts. I am so proud of this little lady. She is such a bright light in my life!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
-Lanie Beetsma
Annabelle has Down Syndrome and has been using TalkTools Therapy since she was born. Her story is a great inspiration for parents seeking help for a child with Down Syndrome. Follow Miss Annabelle’s journey from the beginning here.