He has a word!

Okay, okay, so Eli "talks" but doesn't exactly use real words as you all know. He says "sss" for the end of "please" & that is about it other than grunting & jibber. Yesterday i thought i heard him say "shoe" & i turned around (i was driving) & he was pointing to his shoes! He did it twice while we were going to pick up Jackson from preschool but not since.I got so excited though! So hopefully, he will add this to his repretoire. Later that afternoon, when Ms. Marie was here for speech, he started saying a /g/ sound for "go" & signing it at the same time! This one HAS stuck because he has been saying it all day today (and aunt becca is my witness because he did it for her in bible class tonight). So, i am thinking maybe he is starting to pick up some sounds. He has been using a /b/ sound over & over in the car also, but as soon as i engage him & try to get him to play an imitation game with me, he stops & grins at me. I just hope that the sounds he makes, he keeps. With apraxia, they can make sounds one time & not necessarily the next- the repetition is KEY & helps them "program" it into their brains in order to be able to retrieve it the next time. So i will keep encouraging these new words & sounds as much as possible. I would just love to hear "mama" though, & i remember it taking Jackson a long time to make the /m/ sound. (/m,b,p /are usually most kids first sounds- & /k, g/ are usually much older- some of the last sounds, but Eli can make a perfect /k/ sound! He used to babble the /d/ & /m/ sound but not anymore. Can we say "disordered speech" anyone?! Oh, well, it will come! He is just so excited too when he makes sounds & it is obvious that he wants to talk because he is so "verbal", making all kinds of jibber sounds with inflection & gestures. And to be honest, we understand most of it- so he is a great communicator even without words.