His First Words

When my oldest child said his first words, it was pretty darn cool. I mean I called up my mother and told her about it and she was pretty happy. He was about 9 months old. He hasn’t shut up since, and believe me we’ve been trying.

We also have a daughter who it took a bit longer to get her to open up. She was about 14 months before she really started talking. For a while we were a bit worried, but now she is as bad (or good) as her brother.

Then there is our little autistic boy. Waiting for years for him to say “daddy” really was hard. There is an expectation that children will just recognize you at some point. That they will just say who you are and give you a bit of credit for bringing them into the world. When it doesn’t come it is pretty rough to deal with.

All I can say is that when that day did arrive it was one of the happiest in my life. I admit that I did shed a tear or two over it.

Unlike the other two we still struggle each day to get him to say even the simplest of phrases. There is something inside him that just doesn’t see the need to communicate like that. But there is still a look in his eyes and something in his smile that he reserves just for mom and dad. The words may not be there, but all of the love and emotion that a child has for his parents is there, and those are things that make him just too adorable to ignore.