VOCABULARY EVOLUTION: NICO’S VERSION
Since Nico turned one, we were so excited to watch for his remarkable milestones such as communicating as we expected he’ll be talking and conversing with us sooner. But months passed us by and still we haven’t heard our son talking that much to a point we were contented enough if we hear him mumble just one or two words.
We began to worry at one time when my Mom commented that it is unusual for Nico’s age still not being able to converse with an adult. Worried and paranoid the Lola was, she even suggested bringing Nico to an expert, a developmental pediatrician that is, so that we can have a factual assessment on the developments of our son. Timing it was, we were then really intending to have Nico seen by an expert as we noticed how he mastered reciting and recognizing the Alphabet and counting numbers 1-100 back and forth, just in a few sittings when he was 2.3 years old.
So to make the long story short, after several postponements of our planned appointments, we finally hooked a schedule with a developmental pediatrician in the first week of January 2007 and was able to get hold of the results the following week. The assessment on Nico’s IQ Test was flattering (mixed with some worry) as results indicated he was intellectually ahead of kids his age. The second assessment, which is related to his talking, however was a bit depressing, as the doctor said Nico had speech delay.
These results kept me and Jun think of ways how we can guide Nico in such a way to “nurture his gift” and improve on his speech delay. We decided to enroll him in a Playgroup (thanks to the Yaya who left us temporarily and prompted us to enroll Nico in Playgroup since there’s no one in the house to look after him) and there we began to see improvements in his socialization skills but still, lesser in his communication skills.
Then I stumbled upon a post by Teacher Julie regarding Learning Disabilities or LD, a neurological problem that cannot be cured, but can definitely be managed and overcome if proper and necessary intervention and support from the parents are given.
Believing the post might be of help to our dilemma, I ticked on the link T. Julie provided and it somehow made me worried as almost all of the characteristics/ traits of a pre-schooler with LD are somewhat present in my child (not yet confirmed by an expert, but at least how I see it) such as: speaks later than most children; pronunciation problems; slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right word; difficulty rhyming words; trouble interacting with peers; difficulty following directions or routines. As to the other traits though, thankfully I didn’t saw those in Nico: trouble learning numbers, alphabet, days of the week, colors, shapes (not true with Nico, in fact, he has mastered the Alphabet and counting 1-100 at 2.3yrs old); and extremely restless and easily distracted (not true with Nico also; he’s not restless, he’s got focused attention at people who speaks to him).
After reading T. Julie’s response the following day, I was encouraged to have Nico seen by an expert again, this time a speech pathologist, particularly in the Multi-disciplinary Intervention Center in Ortigas where T. Julie is affiliated. I told Jun about my plan but no matter how much I explained in detail, he was just as close-minded as he claimed there’s nothing wrong with our son. I don’t want to make a move on my on capacity as I’d still believe the perfect time will come when Jun would understand my plea. So the plan was in the waiting—waiting, until the last two weeks we were surprise to witness at how Nico deliberately talk!
Hay, thank heavens, Nico is now talking! I don’t know where his latest vocabularies came from, but we’re just so surprise how our son’s vocabulary evolved, to think we thought he was not able to communicate as normal as other kids are.
Here are some samples of Nico’s vocabulary evolution from 1.6 years old, progressively to the present. Note the pattern. He thought of the word first in English, then learned it later in Tagalog, then uses it sentences understandable to adults.
- On communicating dislike or reject (example: asking him to sleep already)
No
Awa (translated as ayaw)
Ayaw
Ayaw pa
Ayoko pa
Ayoko pa nyan
Ayoko pa po nyan sabi eh. Ang kulit nyo!
- On delaying to do something (like taking his vitamins):
Later
Later lang / Mamaya lang
Later na lang / Mamaya na lang
Mamaya na lang po
Mamaya na lang po, understand mo po?
- When he’s hungry and wants to eat:
Eat me / Kain me
Kain me po
Kain po ako
Gutom na po ako, pwede na po kumain?
And just this morning, before getting off our family bed, I greeted him “Good morning Son!”. He returned back a similar greeting to me but with a spin: “Good morning Son! Gusto mo po spell ko?”, Nico asked so I said “Ok, spell mo”. Here he goes, “G-O-O-D M-O-R-N-I-N-G S-U-N, Good Morning Sun!” So I said, “Anak, not S-U-N, it’s S-O-N, kasi anak kita, son kita.” But the smart Nico insisted, “No Mommy, S-U-N po yun, SUN. Ayun oh (pointing outside the window curtain), may sun. Morning na kaya!” “Oo nga naman Mommy, SUN nga naman yun. Ikaw talaga,” the joking Dada of Nico said. Sayang lang, I wasn’t able to record the moment in video. Maybe next time.
Gee, the latest developments kept me at peace. Thank God. At least, know I now there’s nothing to worry about (though I’m stil curious how Nico did it, bigla na lang dumaldal).
19 responses so far
nalungkot ako for myself, ndi na tayo sabay 
when...
so he basically started to talk at 1 and a half year old? louna’s vocabulary isn’t progressing that much too.. tho im sure she understands more than we think she understands, be it in english or in french.. but well, im quite too impatient to really hear her talk correctly..
cute naman ni nico, of course it’s good morning sun nga naman mommy hehehe..
hi Mommy Analyse! yup Nico started so late, that is, in so far as comparing his talking vs. other kids i know. don’t worry if Louna’s still not talking that much. i guess, kids who are exposed to multi-language (in the case of Louna these are French, English and Filipino) are often late talkers talaga. sometimes lang nakakainip na to hear them talk, pero don’t you worry, pag nagsalita na si Louna, naku, be ready to answer philosophic statements.
re: the Sun, natatawa pa rin talaga ako pag naaalala ko yun.
hi feng, thank God Nico started talking now & he probably won’t stop anymore!
That’s still our present concern with my 3-year old. He has glue ear & it affected his speech. Now he knows a lot of words but he’s still not stringing them together, the most he’d say are two word phrases. Sometimes he’d say three, but it’s really rare. We have a speech therapist checking on him every 3 months. Minsan I’m really tempted to send him home para makakuha ng mga experts talaga & I’d feel he’s looked after well. Kaya lang ayaw ko naman malayo sa kanya. For now he’s starting some speech group session once a week for 2 months. Sana makatulong.
Part & parcel of being parents ‘no? It’s troubling but I know he’ll recover like your Nico. I can’t wait
hi auee. i can emphatize with your worry. really, it’s bothering to know if our kids would be as normal as others.
your son is blessed to have you as his Mom kasi you’re doing a good job in improving his speech through theraphy. re: your plan to seek other experts’ opinion, why not? there’s no harm in getting various views. i did the same when Nico had a hole in the heart nung baby sya. i think, naka 4 pedia cardio ata kami before we get a satifying answer.
i hope the speech group session helps in improving your son’s comm skills.
God bless you mommy auee.
Feng, I’m happy for you and Nico. Good that he is already talking more and his verbal utterances are becoming longer and appropriate (parang lesson objective ito ah, hehehe). But come to think of it, what if he didn’t? You would be consumed with guilt because of the time that elapsed, thinking you could have done more to help his language develop faster but didn’t do anything about it.
To Jun, tell him that as parents, worrying is natural. He could say to you the “I told you so…” but then again, nothing wrong to have a child seen by experts if parents feel there is a problem. Be ready to answer all questions now and prepare for an endless chatter from him. At least, better than him not talking di ba?
i hope it is just paranoia. i had 7, not one the same in terms of development and growing up. some had words and sentences early, some had them late. maybe because i have 7 i have learnt how it was to become cool.
take a look at this: http://dine.racoma.com.ph/family/a-true-confession-my-children-are-abnormal-part-1/
Hi Feng. I’m very happy to hear about Nico’s latest developments. You know, my son Yohan is a late talker too. We were very worried at the start. We wanted to bring him to a devt. pediatrician too but for some reason we kept postponing it. He is now 3 yrs old and he is talking well and quite madaldal. Minsan nga, antok na antok na ako pero nagkukwento pa din. he! he!
Hope that Nico will continue to improve to put all your worries at bay. Take care and thanks for visiting.
Enjoy the coming weekend!
hi feng, i too brought my son to a developmental pediatrician before, also upon the lola’s order. he’s been diagnosed as having delay in speech (the tantrums he threw because he couldn’t communicate well was terrible) and ADHD.
up till now, he’s still not stringing words or sentences together quite that well, and he’s already 4 years old.
but a family friend who’s a psychiatrist said that all children develop differently. so i will have to wait and see if he improves when he starts going to school regularly.
but i am glad your (son, not sun! LOL!) Nico is starting to speak already =)
Wow!! He can spell?!!! You’ve got a genius in the making! This is so impressive. Go Nico!
Hi Feng, you know, even if Evan is just 11 months old at the back of my mind I worry about this too (worrywart nga eh
Pero at the same time I am conditioning myself not to be expecting too much kasi boys are supposed to be late talkers compared to girls. Plus the 2 year olds that I have come across here don’t really say that much.
I wish to comment more but past my bedtime na. Very informative entry. Thanks!
I am linking you, hope it’s okay.
hello Mommies, thanks for visiting here!
julie, and my many thanks to you for being so accomodating in answering my questions kahit na sobrang kulit ko. at least now, i felt much relieved from worries. pero just the same, paano nga if something’s wrong with Nico at hindi namin binigyan ng enough attention? it would be much of a regret siguro. siguro nga, our being worryful, or better call it paranoia, as mothers is way ahead than the fathers, iba talaga ang pag-aalala ng isang Ina.
sexy mom, your raising of kids only goes to prove that children goes through phases of development differently. one maybe ahead from the other for a skill, but it doesn’t mean the one that’s behind is abnormal. *my hugs to you* re: your confession. i think of all us Moms have our own sets of paranoia. i’ll be visiting the link to your post in a while.
Rach, talaga yatang totoo ang kasabihan na boys are late talkers than girls. I’ve always been at envy reading your posts on Yohanisms. sabi ko, sana ang anak ko rin magsalita na rin. at naku, tama ka, like Yohan, there’s no stopping them in talking, sobrang daldal, di mo alam kung san nanggaling yung pinagsasabi. you likewise take care. happy weekend too.
sheilamarie, *my hugs to you* i know how you feel coz i’ve been through the same myself when my son was diagnosed with a hole in the heart when he was a baby. quite depressing when we knew it. pero later we came to realize having our son alone is a blessing from God. so if he isn’t normal as other kids are, we should still be thankful. we realized, it is Him who gave us our son, cares even more. so mommy sheilamarie, hang in there. you will get by. just continue holding on to God to give you strength to be there for your son. God bless.
pinayhekmi, salamat for the flattering words. yup, he can spell na, and read na rin.
geri, tama ka, worry wart nga tayong mga mommies, bakit kaya? it’s too early to tell if Evan is going to be a late talker. pero, just to be sure, observe pa rin tayo for anything unsual.
feng, ‘wag ma-praning! i think its natural that we want our kids to be growing as the doctors say they should. but not to the point that
i remember one time we were so worried bec dui (wala pang one year) got sick with a fever and rashes. dui naturally has a big head (at kalbo pa) and i could have sworn that her head was bulging! heto naman ang mga doctor at nurses, panay ang sukat ng ulo at baka nga naman hydrocephalus or meningitis. it turned out to be nothing - pero grabe kami as first time parents (nasosobrahan din yata kami kasi ng praning sa kakabasa ng mga libro kasi)!
you can only continue to provide nico your support and the environment so he is healthy and happy! i know you are doing your very best.
have a great extended weekend!
hello Mommy Aloi. tama ka, wag ma-praning ng sobra, minsan talaga yung our being worrysome affects our parenting capabilities eh.
re: Dui’s big head, sobrang ka-praningan nga yon. meron akong officemate, ganyan din ang suspicions nila hydrocephalus. pero, like you, it turned out na nothing was wrong. matalino lang siguro talaga si Dui!
have a great weekend ahead too!
Pilosopo din kaya! Amazing spelling skills for Nico at his age. Isaac is just learning how to talk properly. The most I can understand when he starts to babble are 3 words. And he gets frustrated when I don’t get what he means. Talino talaga anak mo.
hi May! thanks for visiting here. medyo addict lang talaga si Nico sa Alphabet that’s why maaga syang na familiarize. pero yun nga, like T. Julie said the more important thing for a preschooler is not how he mastered the Alphabet or numbers, but being able to how to listen for instructions and communicate.
Isaac is doing just fine. kailangan lang siguro mas ma familiarize ka with his own vocabulary para you’ll understand what he communicates.
Hi, feng!
I’m so glad to hear about Nico’s latest development!
Btw, since he now has widen his vocabulary, I’m sure you’ll have a hard time letting him stop. hahaha!
One thing, I know, boys develop late! My eldest, Nicole started her first steps at nine months old while Lance, was around 14 mos.
Have a Happy Weekend!
hi sassy mom, sorry for replying this late. was unconnected in the blogsphere for loong days. thanks for visiting anyway.
yes, sobrang daldal na talaga nya at ayaw tumigil.
well i guess, the same holds true with Nico and my niece. my niece started walking at 10 months, while Nico learned it at the around the same phase as Lance.
hi feng. im happy for you and nico. with prayers and a lot of faith im sure your son will keep improving. he is lucky to have a mother like you who will move heaven and earth for him.
thanks ladycess for all the kind words. Nico’s Mommy here is *blushing*