Talking

Question: Ah-ah-ah?
Answer: Oh

It may seem silly to most people. Even parents. For the past few weeks, if I say to my 6-year old "ah-ah-ah" he consistently looks me in the eye and responds with "oh." That may not seem like much, but for my baby who is a week and a half short of 7 years old, it's huge. It's humongous. It's the closest thing to a miracle I've ever seen.

So when his speech therapist told me to switch to "ooh-ooh-ooh" and wait for a response of "eeee" (of course, after demonstrating this to him), I was sceptical but hopeful, considering that after months of practice he did latch on to the ah-ah-ah and oh sequence. But lo and behold, 2 days later, and every day since, he is consistently responding with "eeeee" if I "ask" him "oh-oh-oh." I'm left speechless. And I can assure you this doesn't happen very often. Being speechless that is. Not one of my problems.

A week after we started that sequence, the therapist is so pleased with his progress, that we're going for big now. I will say "ma-ma-ma" and I should teach him to say "da-da-da." The reverse will also be acceptable, which I prefer. We can't have F1-2 say "da-da" before he learns to say "ma-ma," right? He's got to be kidding me.

Think of the possibilities. If he can learn to say mama or dada, there are not enough words to describe how I would feel about that. I'm trying really, really hard not to get my hopes up too high, but I can hardly imagine a world in which F1-2 could really talk.

Ok, I've got to stop writing now. I'm at work, and it would be unacceptable for me to start bawling in the lab, and I feel the burning of tears behind my eyelids. There is real hope.