Pathologists and Dentists, Oh My

Last Friday, Noelle had her speech assessment at Mount Washington in Baltimore.  This was something that her pediatrician had recommended when we talked about her delay during her two year check-up back in July.

The appointment was at 8:00 a.m. and in Baltimore, so the wimp in me who hates driving into a city asked my mom to come along.  It was really helpful in many ways since Jonah was his typical mess and my mom was able to take him out of the assessment room while we finished up.

not related to the pathologist, but she does love her backpack

The pathologist and I sat down together so I could give her a history of Noelle's speech development, while Noelle sat down with another girl so they could "play" and the girl could make notes of what Noelle was doing and saying.  The pathologist was immediately happy that Noelle was super willing to sit down with a stranger and focus on the toys that they had out for her.  I was a little surprised that she was so willing, but maybe since we've been seeing a therapist in our home for the past six months, she wasn't afraid.

After giving the pathologist the history, she said that it sounded like things were going pretty well and that we could start with some parenting sessions and go from there.  Honestly, in the last 3 weeks Noelle's speech has improved so much, that I was really hoping the pathologist would tell me to just keep doing what we're doing.  I told her as much, and she said we could absolutely do that.  She said that since we'd done the assessment and were in the Mount Washington system, if we changed our minds later on down the road, it would be easier to get her in.

I've been praying that Noelle's speech would improve and I am so thankful that we don't have to drive down to Baltimore multiple times a month!  We also had her six month assessment with the therapist we've been seeing through the Infants and Toddlers Program and she has met all the goals we set for her!  We made new goals for the next six months, and will continue with the in-home therapy for now.

And just an example of how her speech has improved: last Sunday she went with Luke to hang out at his parents while his sister Hannah was visiting.  When she came home I asked her if she had fun with Aunt Hannah, and she answered with "Yes, I did!"  I about fell over in shock that she had said a complete sentence.  So happy for my girl!

We also had Noelle's first appointment with the dentist.  To keep things simple, we took her to the dentist Luke and I have been using instead of finding one who specifically works with children.  The hygienist and dentist were both great with her, but she was not having it and would not let anyone look in her mouth.

Noelle is not too sure about what's going on.

She sat in the chair by herself for all of one minute before I got in there with her in hopes of making her feel more comfortable.  But in the end, she was screaming "no!" while the dentist held Noelle's head in her lap so she could at least get a quick look at her teeth.   Apparently she is teething which might explain why she has woken up in the middle of the night recently and wandered into our room. The dentist was nice and also felt Jonah's mouth and told me his teeth are coming, just not about to pop through at any moment.

We finished with her picking prizes from the treasure chest for "doing so well."  The dentist told me she did about as well as most 2 year olds, and that we don't have to come back for another year. Thank goodness!

 Jonah's happy moment at the dentist until he lost it 

while I sat with Noelle