November 21st

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The cutest thing that has ever happened. knit cushion, Ikea; knit & fleece throw, Canadian Tire (it’s priced at $26.29 online but I got it for $10 in the store).

It’s been a few months since the pediatrician referred Gwen to the speech therapist and we still don’t have an appointment. Like I know it takes a long time to have your appointment but they could at least schedule it! Today I tried calling the health center to see if I could find out how much longer it would be before our appointment was scheduled and all I learned is that it is impossible to get any information from them. When I called I got the switchboard, and the switchboard operator was like “I don’t have any access to that information so I’m going to transfer you to the front desk.” The lady at the front desk was like “I don’t have any access to that information so I’m going to transfer you to the switchboard.” I told the switchboard operator that the front desk lady had no info so she transferred me to the speech therapy department (idk why she didn’t do that in the first place?) and I was sent to a voicemail with a message that said “DO NOT LEAVE A MESSAGE, HANG UP AND CALL THIS OTHER NUMBER” so I hung up and called the other number only to be sent to another voicemail of someone who is only in the office 3 1/2 days a week – and today isn’t one of them. And all I’m trying to find out is how much longer it will be before Gwen’s appointment is scheduled! Ugh this is very frustrating, she’s made literally zero progress in the forming words department and at this rate when I take her back to the pediatrician for her follow up appointment we won’t have even seen the speech therapist yet!

Even though she can’t effectively communicate outside of *yells angrily* and *yells happily*, it’s amazing to see how Gwen is learning new skills and developing in every other way. She’s so smart and funny, the other night at dinner I made a stir fry with pearl onions and she stuck one on the end of her finger and shrieked “HA!” to get our attention so we could all share her silly onion joke.
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She loves brushing her teeth, reading The Dark by Lemony Snicket and watching Yo Gabba Gabba. She’s never really been into watching tv, like there have been times when I’ve needed to get something done so I’ve tried plunking her down in front of Netflix Kids but after about 3 minutes she loses interest and wanders off to make some mischief. Yo Gabba Gabba is the only thing she’ll sit through a whole episode of, so we watch one every day when I finish work and are both tired and frazzled.

She’s so crazily tall now that there isn’t any surface in the house that is safe from her. The only place where I could safely leave things out was the kitchen island, but she’s figured out how to climb up the stools to reach all the things I don’t want her to have, like my big leather shears and a box full of pins. I’ve been trying to be better about putting my things away when I’m done working on them but sometimes if it’s nighttime I’m just too tired and then in the morning I forget and she gets her little fingers on them. More than once she’s gotten ahold of stickers I’m working on and stuck them all over her pants. More than once she’s unspooled an entire spool of thread and become tangled in it.

She likes taking clothes off dolls and asking me to put the clothes back on them. Thankfully she only has a couple dolls with removeable clothes: her Roving Ovine doll has a skirt, and her Little Red Riding Hood (from Ikea; goes with the Big Bad Wolf & Grandma. Ikea has been KILLING IT is the soft toys department recently) has a cape, so it is off & on with the skirt and cape all day. I am not looking forward to the day when she figures out how to get the dress off her Hazel Village raccoon. She also likes to take her own clothes off, she’s in the toddler stage when clothes are for chumps and diapers are also possibly for chumps. She’ll run to her room and slam the door and when I go to check on her I find her perched on the polka dot pouf, happily nakie.

This week she’s developed the first gross cold of winter, with sneezing and a hideously runny nose. It’s supposed to rain most of the weekend so I’m looking forward to staying home with her for relaxing cozy time before I wage my CAMPAIGN OF INCESSANT CALLS to the health department next week. Once more into the fray of bureaucratic phone tag and all that. Wish me luck.

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8 Replies to “November 21st”

  1. I know all about the hassles with the health system. Trying to get Fraser Health to commit to anything is like pulling teeth. Good luck next week. Gwen and Georgie look so sweet.

    1. ugh yeah I’m sure Vancouver Coastal Health is no better than Fraser Health.

      Thanks so much, maybe I’ll see you on Sunday after you, Clay & Sym go to Ikea?

  2. Okay I’m definitely a doctor and not a lawyer (lol not even then) but I read an article about something similar and it turned out to be a hearing issue and not a speech one

    OKAY THANKS DOCTOR MARK GO AWAY

    1. lol they actually recommend a hearing test as well, she’s scheduled for one December 1st. That being said, we can ask her to do something/get something/if she wants something and she understands what we are saying to her, she just doesn’t talk herself.

    2. i’m studying hearing & balance and speech delays are often hearing issues, but any self-respecting SLP is going to request a test showing normal hearing, so (like a fool), i didn’t mention it.

      😐

  3. (Feel free not publish this, of course!)

    Hey! I just swung by to make a suggestion re: language. If you don’t already, give her a few ASL signs. Just having some language is going to make her happier and less frustrated, just so she can communicate her needs a little better.

    Natalya can give a TON of better advice about getting started, but my concern (always) is that she’s getting a good input to encourage good output. If you need a few signs, I’d be happy to Skype or get some suggestions on books/movies to check out in the meantime!

    All the best!

    1. Thanks Brittany! I haven’t tried signing with her before because tbh she doesn’t show a lot of interest in learning stuff like that? She won’t even wave bye-bye, lol. If I do decide to give it a whirl I will definitely let you know!

  4. Oh I wanted to also tell you what we did with Riv was print out pictures for stuff around the house. For example we had pictures on the fridge of water,juice, milk, cheese etc and if he wanted something he would have to point and I would always say the word to him and also choices, choices, choices! Holding things out in front of him and making him choose. I found myself doing everything for him all the time and that doesn’t promote language if he’s never having to speak up for anything, so I changed that real quick. Once he hit 3 things really sped up

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