Delayed

Libby has developed a speech delay.  At 12 months of age, she only says Mama, Dada and Baba.  99.9% of things in the world are "Dada" according to Libby.  She does point at Craig and proclaim "DADA" and she usually calls me Mama but otherwise, no words. 

Technically, this is a speech delay.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Speech Therapist and all parenting books, Libby should have 3-5 solid words beyond Mama and Dada at this point. 

There are some glimmers of words occasionally.  She points to the dog and to D-words in her books and says Dada.  But then she also points at the picture hanging over our bed and the baby on the shampoo bottle and says Dada too. 

Today, the book she was looking at in the car had a cow on the front.  She pointed and said Dada, I corrected and said cow.  She then said "oooo" - as I interpreted to be Moo.  Horray she associates cow with moo.  Celebration ensued.  Followed by Libby again pointing and saying Dada.

We talked to her pediatrician about our concerns at her 1 year well check.  Melanie feels like we can give her another few months before bringing up the subject of speech therapy.  I completely agree but I'm at a loss as to what to do to help her.  All the advice in the AAP books, the parenting books and websites recommend increasing reading time and naming objects.  I feel like this is all we do with Libby.  The majority of the time, she is being read to, "reading" herself or looking at books.  We constantly name things, go over animal sounds and sing together. 

I don't have any concerns about her hearing and processing (also known as receptive language).  Libby knows 3 body parts, can follow commands and will look at Mama, Dada and dog when asked. Its just the expressive or vocal language. 

She is not a particularly vocal kiddo.  She is pretty content and for the most part quiet.  She giggles when things are funny and certainly lets us know when she is bored or unhappy.  But this kid plays in her crib for 30+ minutes when she wakes up in the morning without seeming unhappy.  We hear her over the monitor talking to her cribmates - Dada, dada, dada.  All with different inflection.  Its pretty humorous.

I am trying so hard to just be patient and not get frustrated.  Libby is so sweet and happy; the likelihood that this speech delay is a precursor to anything significant (like autism) is small.  Since one of my best friends was recently telling me the joys of a talking toddler and the amounts of Nos and attitude that come with that age.... maybe I'll just enjoy the quiet :)