A boy of many words!

Toward the end of last year we found out that Parker would need tubes in his ears. He had constant ear infections, and when his hearing was tested his level of hearing was very low. He was about 14 months old when we found this out, and he had only said about three words (Daddy, Momma, and bye-bye). Ellie had practically been born talking, and by 14 months was saying a lot, but we had heard that boys usually talk later than girls, so we didn't think much of it. However, once his hearing was tested and we found out that he wasn't hearing much, we were excited and hopeful that with tubes his speech would improve quickly.


Parker's surgery was at the end of December, and within a couple weeks he was saying several new words. At his six-week post-surgery appointment his hearing was checked again, and he was hearing at a normal level. Since then he has picked up probably ten words a month, and now has a pretty large vocabulary. He still usually only says one word at a time (no sentences yet), but his speech has improved so much! Two of Parker's favorite words are "tractor" and "Brody" (Brody is our dog, and Parker calls all dogs Brody). Just this past week he began saying "rock," "walk," "bike," and "nose." He also loves "reading" books, and while he looks at each page he chatters up a storm (and I'm sure he knows what he's saying)!


We are so proud of Parker, and so thankful that his ear problems were detected and treated. We enjoy each new word that he says, and we love to hear him talking!

Parker and Daddy before the surgery (Parker was very upset!).

Parker and Momma after the surgery (he was still pretty out of it).

Parker's first bath after the surgery. He now has to wear ear plugs whenever he takes a bath or goes swimming.