God "Winked" at Me!

if you have been reading my blog for a while, you might remember when i have mentioned what i call "God winks" in the past!  well, He did it again!    to set the stage, i must back up a little...when wyatt was born, and we received his diagnosis of Down syndrome, one of the things i remember most vividly was how badly i wanted wyatt to be able to speak clearly and communicate effectively.  i'm sure i've blogged about this a lot actually, but our family is really BIG on communication.  tim and i both talk A LOT, and it's just something you may not realize is that important to you until you are not sure that it is a possibility for one of your children.   so that continues to be a HUGE concern for me. 
when i am around "typical" children, i am really reminded about wyatt's delays in communication.  when we saw ben, wyatt's "brother from another mother" (who i wrote about in my last post) last weekend, he AMAZED us with his vocabulary!!!!    he could very clearly repeat just about anything he heard....tim, penny, garbage truck, etc.!  WOW!!!   we were quite shocked with his ability to speak!!!   with as many children as i have met with Ds since we began our journey, he ranks right up there as having the best vocabulary i have heard in children with Ds, even older children!    we are THRILLED that he speaks so wonderfully, but i must admit that it made me a little sad that wyatt does not speak anyway nearly as well as ben!    no.where.close!!!    (i know that each child develops at his/her own pace, they progress quickly in one area while another lags behind, etc!!!)   but I WANT WYATT TO TALK!!!!   

i sat in on as many sessions about communication that i could while at the conference and came back with questions and ideas for wyatt's speech therapist.   i knew that "apraxia" might be part of wyatt's diagnosis, and she confirmed that when i asked her about it.   UGH!!!  ONE.MORE.THING for him to overcome!!!!   according to the american speech-language-hearing association, "Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words."  so now we are trying to figure out the best ways to help wyatt learn to talk with this in mind. 

and so last thursday evening i was cleaning the kitchen while wyatt was finishing his ice cream after supper, and he was jabbering away as he often does.   i was cleaning and feeling quite sad about his inability to talk, and how hard it is for him, and i noticed that his jabbering had escalated.   so i casually asked him "are you all done with your ice cream?  ready to get down?"  and he very clearly said "ALL DONE!"    yay wyatt!!!!   yay GOD!!!    that was wonderful, and we celebrated and i praised him.....    and THEN, later on, while he was taking his bath, i again noticed that his jabbering was escalating, and he was standing up like he wanted to get out of the tub.  so i asked him, "are you finished?  are you ready to get out of the tub?"  and he responded AS.CLEAR.AS.DAY "I GET OUT!"     WOO HOO!!!   HAPPY DANCE HERE!!!!     THANK YOU FOR THAT "GOD WINK!" LORD!  

princess lily

as i shared that "GOD WINK" with my Ds online community and our other friends, everyone rejoiced with me about wyatt's words!   then on sunday, my good friend cathy texted me that she had received a "GOD WINK" as well!   her daughter lily, one of wyatt's valentines (wyatt's royal valentine....princess lily), is also delayed in her speech.   in church that day, as they all gathered at the altar for the pastor to say the benediction, after he said "amen," LILY VERY CLEARLY REPEATED "AMEN" after him!   cathy said she looked up and saw half a dozen faces grinning at her, sharing the joy of their "GOD WINK" moment!!!!   as cathy said in her blog, "Thank you, sweet Father, for calming this troubled momma's heart in a way only You could.  What a beautiful God wink....."    

yes, Father God, thank you for these "GOD WINKS," and for reminding us that YOU CARE ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE CARE ABOUT!!!!