Parenting the "Parrot"

Griffin is delayed with his speech. It is hard to say for certain why the delay? We can only guess that it was due to a lack of hearing while he was having chronic bouts of double ear infections. He has been working with his speech therapist Miss S since he was 18 months old. She always told us to be patient with him and that eventually something would click. She had no concerns with his vocabulary. Even though he was not vocalizing words he was sitting back and taking it all in.

Well folks, I think the switch has been flipped! We have a parrot on the loose in the house. Griffin now talks..... non-stop! We are amazed by the new words that he introduces to us DAILY! We are having so much fun with him. It is amazing to watch him develop so quickly before our very eyes!

Here are are few of his latest antics:

*Griff now calls me, "An-ria." Ummmm, excuse me? That would be "Mommy" to you Mr. Big Shot! I keep the smiles on the inside with this one. I will NEVER encourage him to call me by my first name. I am not nearly "new age" enough for that to be even an option! I can see why he is a bit confused. I mean everyone else calls me Andrea. He has been doing this the past couple of days. At first infrequently, but now he does it pretty regularly. I mean he does hear Satch calling my name around the house. Now that I think about it, I would be a little more weirded out with Satch calling me "Momma" than with Griff calling me An-ria. ;)

*I am going to admit something that I am not proud of. I am actually a little surprised that I will let this one out of the bag. Remember how I mentioned that I occasionally lose my temper.... Well, the other day all 4 of us were in the car. It was one of those days that we had someplace to be and were at a total stand still in traffic. You know, not moving at all! This was not the problem. The problem was the lunatic lady behind us blowing the horn like a complete maniac. She wanted Satch to follow the car in front of us even closer~ as if we had any place to go?!? She was not only sitting on the horn, but she was also waving around a certain finger. Yeah... this is the part where I fit into the story. In a very un-christian like manner I returned the favor with both hands. Yes, I did this with my CHILDREN in the back seat. I must admit, not one of my finest parenting moments. Geesh.... have I lost my mind? I am sure you can figure where this story is heading.... As soon as I did it I so wanted to take it back, but it was too late. Griffin immediately started waving around both of his index fingers saying, Mommy...... look Mommmmyyyyyy....... Lesson learned. Practice what you preach because a very impressionable sponge is WATCHING. MY. EVERY. MOVE.

*Griffin calls his baby brother Roman~ Ro-ski. I am working on getting this on video. It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.