Me Me Me Meeeeeeeeee!

We've made some great progress with Kelty's speech this week! Last week we added long vowel sounds "e", "i", "o" to the previous "ba", "da", "pa", "ma" and "mmm" sounds in Kelty's repertoire. Our attempt was to isolate the long e, i, o vowel sounds and not combine them with consonants. We really struggled this week, Kelty really struggles with vowels and usually cries in frustration. Then suddenly the other day I walked down to the movie room to get Al and Kelty for dinner (they were watching Cars) ... I walked in the room, told them dinner was ready and then went to leave ... suddenly Kelty blurted out a crystal clear and sharp "ma, ma" ... I turned around in shock and then Kelty said "bye, bye"! Kelty has never made the "i" sound for a specific word before ... let alone make a real word out of it and in the right context! Al and I literally cried with excitement!

Then ... during our Speech Pathology appointment we were working with Kelty to use "me" instead of "mmm". We do activities like "who wants the toy", etc. in an effort for him to use "me" ... usually he would make his eyes big, tilt back his head and go "mmmmm". We kept working and working and then it came ... with BIG eyes and very loudly he yells "MEEEE"! I think everyone in the hospital could hear us cheer for Kelty. I wish we had it on video because it was the cutest and most amazing moment.

In other news ... we had a Skype playdate with our friends back in Tampa! It was wonderful to see our mom and kiddo friends in-action! Thanks ladies for a great time on Skype!

Michelle and baby Connor, Shayne (looking at Connor) and Jake! You can see Kelty and I on the computer screen. I stole this photo from Megan ... thanks Megan!

This turned into a big week for us. After 9-weeks of waiting, the playset we ordered Kelty finally arrived ... just in time for cold weather! O'well. Al and I assembled it Wed after Kelty went to bed and then I kept it out of sight from Kelty until Al arrived home Thurs night! We're done with the backyard until Spring now. Hopefully his outdoor play area will help burn-off some of his energy every day.

He didn't waste a second exploring (or climbing). We chose this playset because Kelty loves to climb and slide ... there are a few different climbing options for him with this particular set.

I even raked his sandbox the night before so it was "fresh". Thanks Mimi and Papa for some of the sand toys!

Climbing up the rope ... this is the first thing he did and he ended up doing it by himself the first time. We thought for sure it would take him a while to do this one ... apparently not!

Looking through the telescope with Daddy ... he prefers to use it as a trumpet for now though. Ha!