Super Secret Liam Pants Superhero had his two year appt.  I knew he wasn’t speaking right for turning two.  Not that a two year old has a wide vocabulary, OK maybe some do but I was told “Boys don’t talk as quickly as girls”.  I was also concerned that he drooled like he was teething but had all his teeth, including the two year molars. So…..after his doc saying we should see a Speech Therapist we consulted with our friend who is a Speech Therapist and she thinks he has Oral Motor Problems from being a Premie.  A totally separate issue than his tongue tied problems.

Here’s the signs:

• Drool Excessively – Check
• Bite straws when drinking, put the straw more than 1/4 inch into their mouth – Check, funny he’s used straws longer than all his friends.  Since before a year.
• Overstuff their mouths when eating – Check
• Have an open mouth posture – (When sleeping) Check
• Have a protruding tongue – Nope
• Look like they are smiling all the time – He does smile a lot but isn’t that cute?
• Like one brand of baby food carrots over another – Seeing I made his food he LOVED all I gave him.
• Have a limited diet – He does but what toddler doesn’t?
• Swallow without chewing – Check, this was even pointed out at his two year party by someone who asked “Did he swallow that whole?”
• Grind his teeth during the day – ???
• Have a history of difficult nursing, or did you “not make enough milk for your child to nurse” – Check and he was Tongue tied as well.

So I thought because he had his tongue snipped at one week that he was OK but I guess he wasn’t.  That’s why he had such a hard time feeding still after his tongue being snipped.  We had to use flat tipped nipples so he could basically bite them to get out milk.

The good news is we are able to have a person we trust work with him.  I’m willing to drive to her to have her see him.  I love and I’m grateful that we have someone to help us.  I checked with the referral from our doctor and it was $600 for the evaluation.  Some can be as much as $1,000.  Crazy, right?

This is just another adventure we have to tackle.  Our little guy though he came early has brought us so much joy and he’s right on track with so much.  He’s going to be driving us crazy with talking before you know it.  Until then I’ll enjoy his version of Love You and his famous “Uh Oh”.