Ack. How and when did I get myself into so much travel this spring? 48 hours after we got off the train John Paul and I headed for the airport, Beijing-bound. This month was definitely the best time to go though, since Mom and Dad are here to manage the logistics while I'm away!
He's a dream travel partner (4 years old is definitely a sweet spot!) and the trip was smooth as silk. He had a blast, every moment of each day. But I am so glad to be home!
We arrived Tuesday noon-ish, my friend Leah picked us up at the airport and we headed for her house. I have several friends in her neighborhood and enjoyed visiting with them while John Paul ran around with the other kids.
Wednesday morning we headed for one of the few English-speaking therapy resources in the country. I would love love love to go back and see our original Speech Language Pathologist from ND days, but that's just not a reasonable option. And Matt and I really wanted to have a current speech eval, so this was our best bet.
He rocked his appointment. So much testing and he hung in there til the end. I'm fairly confident the results are gonna be exactly what we're hoping to hear, but I won't know anything definite until I get the official write-up from the clinician.
His speech has come so far! I'm excited for him. I think he's now 80-85% understandable (to a stranger). I understand almost everything he says. Even in the past two months he's added some new sounds - /f/ and /v/ - and while he's not getting it every time I hear those sounds more with each passing week.
Tricky sounds for him (in addition to /v/ and /f/), are the /ch/ and /th/ and when he's tired or talking extra fast he can still miss the initial /s/ (but this is less and less common). Also a little concerning is that he's releasing air through his nose when he says /v/ and /f/. Honestly, I'm not even sure how he manages to do this, because try as I might I just cannot breathe out my nose and say 'fish' at the same time, but some how John Paul has picked up this (bad) habit. The good news is that it happens more in isolation and less in normal speech, so hopefully this will be a short lived problem.
For a 4 year old with a late palate repair (at age 2) and only 4 months of speech therapy under his belt, he's doing amazing. So grateful for the Lord's healing touch. I'm eager for him to be age-appropriate speech, but I don't want to miss out on the journey he's on, always looking ahead for the next thing. So we'll keep walking forward, and see where the Lord leads.
After speech and lunch we headed back to the airport. He sure looks little right there in the world's largest airport, huh?
He is easy to entertain, happy to watch the trains and airplanes on the ground, and play cards in the sky. Of course, he also pushes every single button within reach (overhead light on, off, on, off) and virtually takes apart the headsets and this might have been the first flight where we didn't accidentally call the flight attendant. I call it a win.
Matt and the kids drove to pick us up and sweet John Paul..... oh, this was maybe the best moment of the trip. He ran for his Daddy's arms, got covered in hugs and kisses from the siblings, and then settled in his seat, right in the middle of the van. And before Matt or I knew what was happening, he burst into tears. "I didn't want to go on the airplane. I wanted to stay here."
More tears, heaving sobs, and all this time absolutely no convincing him that he actually had a great time (which he did!). He remained adamant that the trip was an absolute disaster and he never wanted to leave again.
He's four, and he's learning how to express his emotions. And this was perhaps the most convincing way to tell each of us that he IS SO GLAD TO BE HOME!!!!
We woke up this morning to a rocky household. Matt headed out early to the train station (he's the one who typically has the travel, so this is closer to normal for us) and we all struggled to find our groove. Tired boys (late night at the airport) and overwhelmed Mommy (why didn't I plan more meals ahead of time?) and we ended up barely making it through lunch! [Actually this whole month has been full of days where we struggle more than normal.]
Now it's quiet. Girls at local school, Isaac playing on the living room floor, tired boys sleeping. I'm off to build a dungeon with Isaac :)
2 comments:
Wonderful new about John Paul. So glad you sacrificed and took to a therapist. So wonderful he is definitely improving. God is so good..
John Paul's speech has climbed mountains in two child years, surgeries, duel languages and humongous stimulus changes! My favorite part is the 'meltdown?' Ride home...how he did not want to leave again. I'd imagine the sounds in the van were far from music to a tired Mama and Papa ears, but oh the security and love of John Paul's 4 year old communication. God be praised! bn
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