Late Talkers : Are Experts & Family Right?

We recently went to visit Grandma. My sister texted me a few days back that my mother was worried and missing Daniel. *rolling my eyes* Mind you my mother never called me to say any of this.

I thought about planning a weekend visit but since we're in the middle of Chinese New Year weekends are no good. My son has a busy schedule of activities. LOL.

For the most part the visit was fine. I sat down in a corner and let my Mom, sister and my Uncle chase Daniel around the place with hugs and kisses. In truth I could have just dropped him off, since they're not interested in me. LOL

As Daniel did his thing trying to help Grandma clean and cook, my mother started telling me about my sister friends son. She went on about how he can talk and say certain words very clear. My mom felt it's cause he was in daycare and suggested I put Daniel back in daycare so he can talk faster. Hmm.

Later my uncle also brought up the daycare issue. He hinted that I'm holding my son back. Double Hmm.

Since Daniel turned 1yr I've been fielding the "Is he talking" questions left and right. I'm always hearing about some wonder 1yr old child that can say the whole alphabet, count to 10 and speak in complete sentences.

Some people suggest I'm not doing enough to encourage him to talk more. Other's suggest it's because he's a boy and therefore slower to do things. Hmm.

Goodness, people are always rushing children to do things. I've come to learned that Daniel does things when he's ready. He sat up, rolled over, semi crawled and walked when HE wanted to. I just had to wait.

But to be on the safe side I did some reading but even the experts claim boys are slow in some areas of development. While I don't agree with the "boys are slower" way of thinking, it was comforting to read that some kids are late talker and it's normal.

What's ironic is that Daniel does know how to talk. I caught him saying words and I swear he asked me "where we going" the other night. But I admit he's not very motivated to really speak. I confess I'm partially to blame. I'm so good at reading his gestures and hand signs that I forget to encourage him to "speak" his needs.

Since this month I'm job hunting...yes again...Daniel will return to daycare anyway. I'm sure this will help him develop faster in some areas. Soon I'll blog about not being able to hush him up. LOL