Namine had her three-year checkup yesterday. Namine’s third birthday was just on the 15th of last month, so it was time to have her looked at. And the verdict is good: she weighs over 23 pounds, now – and just think, there was a time when we wondered if she’d ever reach 20! Her overall health is good, and things are looking up. She’s starting school in September, after all.
Namine is growing by leaps and bounds, and I don’t just mean in physical terms. She will carry a short conversation now, under two conditions. One, she has to know you. One thing that we weren’t too happy with that came up in the IEP was the goal for Namine’s speech – to have her use three-word sentences in a year’s time. Jessica and I agree that the reason Namine never talked their ear off is because they’re strangers. Even on the phone, Namine will tell me how her day is going (usually “good,” because does anything get her down? I don’t think so) and what she’s done that day. (Number one on the excitement list, I think, is when she goes “mimming inna pooah” – swimming in the pool.) And two, you have to listen – I mean really listen, not just nod your head stupidly and say “uh huh,” because she knows. And comprehension – not on her part, but on yours – is the tricky bit. Namine’s consonants are getting better, there is no doubt about that, but her speech still consists primarily of vowels. And sometimes those hard consonants come out as M instead of whatever they’re supposed to be. But it’s a process, and Namine is improving every day.
Namine really impressed us over the weekend. I think it was the night before last that she lay awake, singing to herself. The really impressive bit is that she was singing a song – “Rain, Rain, Go Away” – that Jessica hadn’t sung since Wednesday. She got the tune right, and everything. Then she improvised a bit and sang the words “Elmo’s World” to that same tune. (Namine loves several things, probably about equally – Disney princesses; fairies, particularly the Disney ones; Elmo; and Batman.)
Namine can get off the couch by herself now. Even without her braces and shoes, she’ll lower herself enough until she can plop her little butt down on the floor. The first time she did it, I thought she might have hurt herself, she plopped down so hard. So I asked her if she was okay. Her response was “Yeah!” like I’d just asked the most ignorant question ever. I’m pretty sure I heard some teenager attitude in that reaction, too. (But if any three year old has earned the right to have a ‘tude like that, it’s Namine, hands down.)
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