Speak to me

This fall, a Halloween themed group is in the works!

This will be a fun opportunity for kids to practice and learn about decorations, costumes, and trick-or-treating, while learning social skills and ways to communicate their feeling to others. There will a Costume/ Trick-or-Treat Day just before October 31 and Sharing Day just after.

The Club meets for four 1-hour sessions over a 2-week period. With interest, we will offer a morning group for preschoolers from 11-12 and an after-school group for the school-aged kids from 5-6 on Tuesday and Thursday (October 23, October 25, October 30, November 1).

Kids loved the summer Social Butterflies! Recently, a mom shared: [My daughter] loved the club. After each class, she shared what she did and even mentioned some of the children in the group by name. [She] is very bright, but did not seem to have confidence in herself when speaking. She will work on using her loudest voice. [She] was very sad for the club to be over and said that she’d really like to do it again."

Give us a call to get registered for this great social group.  The co-leaders (Michelle Pentz, Speech Therapist and Courtney Stanley, Occupational Therapist) can provide more information. 

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones.  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, especially since her mommy is a pediatric speech therapist, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a therapist in our office

Her 7th month...

She is changing sooo fast.  She got her second tooth the day she turned 6 months(also the first day of her 7th month), we didn't even know it was there.  She was chewing my finger and I said to my husband "I think she has another tooth."  He said, "no way."  Sure enough it was another tooth.  Some of her friends who are 4 months older than her don't have any teeth...or hair, they are jealous.  She gets her hair pulled by other babies a good bit. 

Speaking of other babies, she is obsessed with kids, she will practically loose her head trying to locate where they are when she hears them.  They entertain her so much.  So she still hasn't gotten over her smoker's hack from last month, so we took her back to the doctor, well, because she was keeping us up at night.  Doctor said she had an ear infection, left ear.  Provided us with her first antibiotics.  She HATES it.  We also started giving her yogurt because of the side effects of the antibiotic.  She did not initially like yogurt, but now we can get her to eat anything if it contains yogurt.  I now call oatmeal, yoatmeal, and rice, yice because she only eats it with yogurt in it. I have to say the turning point with her eating was actually finding when she was hungry and believe it or not it was carrots.  The girl ate almost a half container of carrots everytime we gave it to her.  She apprears to go through food jags, now she likes yogurt.  She also eats puffs and the veggie meltable things.  She can't pick them up yet, so you have to put them in her mouth, but boy does she try.  She just hasn't mastered the art of opening her hand back up to release the food in her mouth.  She now gets food 4 times a day in addition to her 4 bottles.

She sits up unsupported for longer amounts of time.  She is pushing herself onto her knees and rocking...so close to crawling.  If you put your hand on her feet she pushes trying to get at toys, objects, and the cat (poor cat).  She loves to stand up, or jump...with help of course.  You can hold both of her hands and she will take a step here and there.  I brought her to the office the other day for her "check up", no really Erin Harkins, one of our physical therapists, asked for her on a Friday and I was done for the day.  So she came and played with Erin, Marion Wilm, one of our occupational therapists, and Barbara Hartshorn, one of the other speech therapists, for an hour or so.  She showed off all of her abilities and everyone was very impressed with her abilities.  She was tellling everyone about her blah blah blah's which is her most recent "talking".  She was manipulating toys from hand to hand.  She was rolling over.  She stared at herself in the mirrors.

While we were on vacation with my husband's family she went from lying on her back to rolling on her belly to somehow kneeling all by herself.  Was I dreaming this..that seems so crazy, but she was doing it when I looked over while cooking dinner. 

I almost forgot...she waves now.  She hasn't quite got it fully mastered but when someone waves she smiles and picks her arm up and wiggles her fingers to wave back.  It is so cute.  She waves at the cat  and her toys when playing too!

Only a couple of spots remain for the July Social Butterflies Club at Child and Family Development!

The Social Butterflies Club is a way for kids to learn social skills, while interacting with a small group of peers in a natural, structured setting.  Each child is screened and placed into the group that is the best match, on the age range and   abilities. 

The structured groups are led by an occupational therapist and a speech therapist. 

The theme for the July group is “Just Beachy”.    

Additional groups are planned for August. 

Contact Michelle Pentz, M.S., CCC-SLP at 704- 541- 9080 ext 214 for more information. 

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones.  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, especially since her mommy is a pediatric speech therapist, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a Child and Family Development therapist. 

Her 6th month...

Many things have occured this month.  She got her first tooth.  It is at the bottom, she plays with it with her tongue constantly.  She also bites her lower lip constantly.  Don't let her fool you...she still doesn't want to eat real food, at least not for mom and dad, yet daycare reports she eats it for them.  She gags on anything that actually has flavor and does not taste like paste.  To date we have tried rice, oatmeal, peas, squash, banana, sweet potatoes, and I even bit a real piece of banana in one of those biter bag thingies.  She doesn't want anything if it comes from a spoon.  She will clinch her jaw and lips closed and it is impossible to pry them open, even if you had a crow bar...I am not kidding.  She does not like it when we trick her to get food in her mouth, then she just spits it out and/or gags.  We back off here and there because maybe she is just not ready...I believe she is never going to eat real food, she likes her milk too much.  My favorite thing is when she is really hungry and you go to give her her bottle and her mouth immediately opens and she looks like a bird waiting on food from the mama bird.  Sometimes she will reach out, with mouth open, grab the bottle, and put it in her own mouth.  Why won't she open her mouth like that for real food or hold her bottle?  I must look up when this should occur.

She is now in daycare.  She has this terrible smoker's hack....no no one smokes at the daycare, or in our home, she just sounds awful.  We took her to the pediatrician and he says it is just a cold and not to worry unless she acts like she doesn't feel well or gets a fever.  We have had none of this.  So far at daycare I have been told she likes watching the boys, playing dolls with one of the girls, was cranky...but still social, and enjoys her "piggies" (feet/toes) in "mud" (brown paint).  Oh yeah and did I mention she will eat food for them. I cant' tell you the guilt I have for working full-time then picking her up and only getting and hour, maybe 2 hours at the most with her before she is so tired and has to go to bed. 

Let's talk speech...my favorite subject.  She is making so many sounds, although she mostly only chats with us on the weekends because she is so tired after daycare....and the daycare reports she is pretty quiet there, she likes to watch all of the other kids.  We definitely do not see this on the weekends.  On the weekends, after getting really good Friday naps at home and her first Saturday nap, then she will laugh, giggle, squeal, and make lots of babbling sounds.  Her current sounds are b, d, m, g, and all vowels sounds.  She blows raspberries and spits on everyone.  She plays peek a boo...and if my husband or I walk out of the room she waits for us to return or jump out from behind a column to surprise her.  She likes being startled.  She drops toys and looks at them on the floor, waiting on you to pick the item up.  Sometimes I pick it up, sometimes I don't; the pick up game gets old very quickly.  She hysterically laughs at her crazy cousin who doesn't even have to try to get her to do it.  He just acts like himself and she laughs, so cute!!

She loves her thumb, she sometimes spits her pacifier out at night so she can insert her thumb.  I guess sometimes there just isn't anything you can do to prevent a thumb sucker.  I swear she knows what I do for a living and is doing this and not eating just to spite me.

She sits up by herself for short spurts of time.  She is not mobile with her rolling yet, but she does kind of scoot herself around on her belly, by spinning and such.  I think the cat will be the reason why she crawls.  She is obsessed with the cat.  When we bring her into the living room she looks right at the blanket on the corner of the couch to see if the cat is there.  She will do tummy time for hours if motivated by the cat being around.

The Social Butterflies Club has come to Charlotte at Child and Family Development. 

This summer, the Club will help kids gain social skills in a way that can be easily carried over into a classroom and everyday life because they are taught social skills in natural but structured scenarios.  The Club is led by Courtney Stanley, an occupational therapist, and Michelle Pentz, a speech-language pathologist.   

Both Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy are involved because so many of the kids who have difficulty with social skills, also have difficulty with sensory processing, and/or fine motor skills.  All of the kids interested in the club will be screened to determine which club groups would be the most beneficial for them, based on their social abilities.  We will be alternating movement and language tasks to help elicit social interaction in a naturalistic way.  The approximate schedule is 5-10 minutes of free play, 10-20 minutes of an opening circle time, 10-20 minutes of a motor activity, 10-20 minutes of a craft/cooking activity and 5 minutes of a closing circle.  The Club meets for 1-hour sessions, twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday at 11. Several options are offered this summer.  Kids can enroll and benefit from consecutive groups.  Each group will contain between 4-8 kids.

Social Butterflies Club™ was founded in 2004 by Rhonda Osisek M.S., CCC-SLP in Virginia.  It is widely used across the country. Visit www.socialbutterfliesclub.com for more details. 

Contact Michelle Pentz, MS, CCC-SLP at 704-541-9080 ext. 214 or mpentz@childandfamilydevelopment.com

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones.  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, especially since her mommy is a pediatric speech therapist, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a therapist in our office

Her 5th month...

Well her month began with her decideding that 3 am was a good time to roll over, thankfully we have a monitor and I heard her stirring.  Yes, that is right...in her swaddle, she rolled from her back to her belly and was very angry when she could not get back.  Mommy ran to the rescue, calmed her back down and went back to bed.  Only to hear a strange noise on the monitor, turn it on and watch her do it again.  Why must she practice things at 3 am.  If she is going to stir it is always around 3 in the morning, doesn't she know that mommy only knows one 3 o'clock and it comes when the sun it out, doesn't she understand I have to work?

She sits up with support.  She likes her Bumbo seat and sits for longer times.   She sits and uses both hand to explore toys.  She just doesn't want to go in the car seat anymore, and sometimes we have to force her, but once she is in it she does fine.  She grabs at things on her carseat bar, exersaucer, high chair, etc.  She likes to stand up, with support, I believe because it gives her a better view of what is going on around her, and I think I have mentioned how nosey she is. 

She watches and attends to noises, which can make feeding her kind of difficult, as it is very hard to keep a bottle in her mouth when her head constantly moves.  She actually will look around until she locates where a sound is coming from.  She follows your movement around a room.  She plays peek a boo, and actually appears to look for you when she knows you are hiding and playing it.  The she laughs when you say "boo".  Her laugh/giggling is so cute.  We try to video it, but she does not let us, everytime the camera comes out she just stares at it, despite our efforts by tickling, playing peek-a-boo, silly faces, etc.  She smiles when she sees people she knows and she scrunches her face and studies new/unfamiliar faces before she will smile at them.  I love seeing her little personality develop.

Speaking of her not liking things on her fingers, when preparing her Easter Cards I attempted to paint her hand to do handprints on the cards, and she really did not like her hand messy.  I should also mention that when she was a newborn, we tried to stick her fingers in the clay to make a mold of her hand and ended up having to do her foot b/c she would only fist her hand when we put it in the clay, she cried when we did her foot, but atleast we were able to get it.  She honestly looked like she was trying to wipe the paint off on the high chair.  I feel her pain.  It is hard to try to push the messiness  when I know I would not be happy with that either. 

So speaking of yucky things that I don't like....she is still slinging spit everywhere and sliming everyone who holds her.  Just when I though she had gotten as bad as teething could probably get she kicked it up a notch.  EVERYTHING goes in her mouth.   She does some munching (up and down motion, a pre chewing skill) on toys, shirts, hands, arms, face, etc.  You get too close, prepare to walk away with slobber on you.  She lateralizes her tongue (moves it from side to side) when things are in her mouth.  No teeth yet.  I did find out that my husband got his first tooth when he was 4.5 months, which may explaign some of the chaos. 

The Dr. recommended we start food this month.  We started with single grain rice, mixed with breast milk.  Mmmmm yummy...no really... it looks like paste and sticks to things like paste and this mommy has texture issues and does not like to be messy.  I know it is good for her to get messy though, so I try to let her face keep the yuckiness on it, but she is not so sure about it, especially when it is on her fingers.  She did well for a week with rice, but when we introduced oatmeal started getting mad everytime we brought a spoon near her, so we are took a couple day break and tried again.  We started back with rice and it appears to be going well again.  Maybe she just doesn't like oatmeal?  I guess only time will tell.

So now my favorite part.  She is doing more and more babbling.  She will oh and ah and put some m, k, g sounds in there as well.  She starts as soon as we wake her and does it on and off all day.  I love it and encourage it by talking back to her as much as I can. 

I am sure I have forgotten something remarkable that occurred this month, but stay tuned for Month 6....

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster,not to mention she should since I am a pediatric speech therapist,  whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a speech, pysical, or occupational therapist in our office.

Her 4th month....

She continues to drool.  No swollen gums, no redness, just chews her hands, chews her dresses, chews my hands, my arm, shoulder, basically anything and everything that she can get in her mouth.  No one really tells you how gross it is to always be slimed by your sweet adorable cute baby.  I really don't want a finger sucker, I am a believer in it is much easier to get rid of a pacifier than it is to get a kid to stop sucking fingers.  She sucks her thumbs all the time.  Does anyone think it would be bad to paint her nails with that bitter stuff they use on older kids?...Just Kidding.

She sits in her Bumbo seat now for short amounts of time, while playing with toys, or waiting on mom and dad to finish eating dinner.  That is some hard work for her.  She sits in her exersaucer...shhhhh don't tell Erin Harkins or Jessica Sapel, Physical Therapists in our south charlotte office.  I only do it for short amounts of time and I have put a book under her feet so her feet fully touch the bottom, I know they have told me it is not good for a baby's hips to be in that position for a long amount of time.

Tummy time is still not her favorite, but she is tolerating it for longer amounts of time, and she does it without a pillow under her.  She is soooo close to rolling over.  I keep swearing that she is going to do it, but then she doesn't.

When on her back, she kicks so much that she can move herself around on a mat, or turn herself completely around in her crib, while swaddled (I believe I have a Houdini, b/c she can certainly get out of a swaddle if she wants to bad enough, especially if her daddy put her in it ;) ).  She can lift her hips up off the floor.

When lying down on the floor or in your arms on her back, she does what I refer to as baby crunches.  She tries to lift herself into a sitting position.  Again, I think this stims from being nosey...kind of hard to be nosey lying down on your back.

Her cooing has changed.  She changes the pitches of her voice now...the cat does NOT like this, the cat's tail is huge when she comes to see what is going on!!  She is beginning to have more sounds...daddy is mad, still no dada.  She talks more when her hand is in her mouth.

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones.  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a therapist in our office

Her 3rd month...

She grabs at things.  I mean she looks and sees something, reaches out and grabs things.  She is truly amazing to watch.  

She still watches tv and when you turn it off she looks at the blank screen like what in the world did you just do? 

She laughs out loud.  She smiles at everyone who smiles at her.  And if you give her the slightest bit of baby talk she smiles so big that her eyes disappear because her cheeks are so chunky.

She holds her head up, only occasionally loosing control and bonk you in your nose, shoulder, necklace, etc and then crying because it hurt. 

She says mama, but she has no idea what it means, she just knows it makes mommy very happy and she gets clapped for doing it.  She responds when she is being talked to.  Sometime we have very in depth ahh and ohh conversations.  She has lots to say…just like her mommy.  She is beginning to make /b/ sounds.  Daddy is still waiting on his dada…lol!  Little does he know /d/ is a later developing sound that /m/, he just thinks I practiced “mama” too much while I was at home on maternity leave. 

She has started getting “peek a boo”.  She smiles when you reappear now, I think she is just happy I came back, not that she knew I was hiding.  Just priceless how much of an idiot you will make yourself look like to get your child to smile or laugh.  She can sit up for short amounts of time when propped on pillows.  She occasionally will lift her body off of said pillows, only to roll to the side like a bobble doll and get mad because it usually surprises her.

She sleeps 11-12 hours a night…most nights…there are a few nights here and there where she blesses me with her crying at 3:00 in the morning.  Why is it always 3:00? 

She isn’t so fond of tummy time currently because she has become so nosey and wants to see everything going on.  Boy, she is her father’s child.

She puts everything in her mouth and she drools.  She is sliming everything.  Can she be teething already?  My mom said I got all of my teeth early, maybe she will be advanced in her dental development as well.

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a therapist in our office. 

My daughter's 2nd month...

My baby, in month 2, is still advanced as far as I am concerned.  You see I am a pediatric speech therapist in Charlotte, NC who rarely gets to see a typically developing child, so anything she does just looks superior to me. 

In her second month of life my daughter began to lift her head and chest off the tummy time mat.  Tummy time is very important; all of my coworkers at Child and Family Development have mentioned this to me time and time again, so we do it multiple times a day.  The doctor saw her for her check up this month and he said something to the effect of, “I am not going to ask you if you do tummy time because it is very obvious that you do”.  I mean I am not trying to brag or anything, but I did tell you my daughter is advanced in my last blog.  I haven’t yet had the heart to tell the pediatrician that I am a pediatric speech therapist; I just want all of the glory of how well my daughter is doing.

She watches me as I move around the room and had been doing this for a couple of weeks, when the doctor said I should begin to notice it.  Do you think my daughter will be brilliant and have better than average visual perceptual skills?  I do, but like I have said before….I AM biased.

She is cooing, lots of aaaahhhh and oooohhh’s.  Maybe an occasional /m/.  I as a speech therapist and thrilled to see this!!    

She copies facial movements, like sticking out her tongue when she sees here daddy, because she knows he likes it and he will laugh at her.  AND she began to smile…at 5 weeks.  Oh how I love to see her do that.  I thought it was a fluke the first time, but it continues to happen.

She watches everything.  I have even had to start turning off the television.  I remember articles and research that have been done about how too much tv/video games and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are related somehow.  I don’t remember the statistics, but if we can avoid adhd at my house, we are going to, so no tv for the 2 month old!

Speaking of hyperactivity…She moves her arms, legs….oh my goodness I hope she isn’t as active as her daddy, but it is appearing she may be.  She can get on her side.  Sometimes she appears to be spasming, I am sure that it is just a normal phase and she will become more coordinated, please, please.  Man if she gets something in her hand she does not let go, no matter what it is.  Bye-bye earrings, bye-bye hair, bye-bye necklaces, etc…I will miss you.

Hmm she now weighs 10 plus lbs and is now 24 inches long.  She is in the 98 percentile for height, 95 percentile for head circumference, and 40 percentile for weight.  I suddenly have a giant.  She has grown 6 inches since birth…it doesn’t seem fair that they grow so fast. 

My Disclaimer...

This blog is going to be for a step by step guide to my child's developmental milestones  I have a girl, please note that girls typically develop speech milestones faster, whereas boys typically develop physical milestone faster.  It can be used as a guide for other families, but please keep in mind that all children develop at different rates and should you have any concerns about where your child should be, you should speak to your pediatrician or schedule an appointment with a therapist in our office. 

Her first month...

I want to make sure that as a first time mom I do not wear blinders and miss something in my child's development that might not be normal.  I mean I think my daughter is the cutest, most advanced child on the earth, but does that mean she really is?  Probably not...I know, but it doesn't prevent me from thinking it.

As a speech therapist in Charlotte, NC, I of course want to insure that my child is on target for meeting all of her developmental milestones, and I don't just mean her speech milestones.  Therefor, In her first month of life I brought my daughter to lunch with my friends and collegues to show her off, of course, but also to have them check her and to get confirmation of her gifted abilities.  :-)  I know I am going to be that mom, but I just can't help it.

A little of my reasoning on why I did this...My daughter was born breech and at birth the doctor recommended an ultrasound as a precaution to ensure that the ball and socket joint in her hip had grown appropriately.  Evidently it is common for the socket to not grow around the ball joint when a child is breech, don't know why, just know that is what they told me.  After finding this out, as a psychotic  parent to her her first child, I had Erin Harkins, DPT, one of our Physical Therapist at Child and Family Development, check her hips to see what she thought.  Erin very gently checked my daughter's hips and reflexes, (although she did eventually make her cry) and reassured me that she too thought everything looked great.  We had the ultrasound in December and low and behold nothing is wrong with her hips.

I had Marion Wilm, OTR/L, an occupational therpist at Child and Family Developemt check out her neck control.  I think she is crazy advanced in this department, as when I burp her she picks her head up, turns it and then burps.  It was really crazy to watch her at weeks old do this.  Marion also confirms she has great head control.

So in her first month of life she cried when she was hungry, this really was the only time she cried.  She slept in everyone's arms, which of course makes everyone love her even more.  She slept 3-4 hours a night.  She breast fed like it was her job.  She had very active bowels.  She lifted her own head to burp.  And she began to notice things and people in a room, or is she just staring off into space pretending I am not staring at her?  

It is amazing how little a baby at this age can do, but how much a new parent will stare at them and completely loose a whole day doing so.  I know I did and I was okay with doing it because everyone keeps telling me how fast she is going to grow up so I should be savoring every second, right.  At her 1 month appointment she has aready grown several inches, although some of this is due to her having been breech and she has stretched out her legs some.  She has put on over a pound, making her a little over 8 lbs.

-Having your child describe his/her ideal costume.

-Ask them about their school party-be sure to ask open ended questions.

-Have them tell you about their favorite candy and you guess what it is based on the description, or play I spy with their bucket of candy.

-Work on descriptive concepts by talking about colors, costumes, pointy noses, sparkly skin, sizes, scary, etc are all great things to start with.

-Have the child tell you what they need to do to get ready for Trick or Treating.

-Work together to make up a game to play at a party.

-Make cupcakes and have the child tell a family member what the ingredients were, the steps of how to make it, or how to decorate it the way they did.

-Have your child describe a leaf, then go on a hike and see if you can find one like it.

-Separate all the candy into categories like color, size, shape, type of candy, etc.

-Make a list with your child of Halloween/Fall words that help them practice a sound that he or she has difficulty with (i.e. if the sound is /s/: scary, skeleton, skull, treats, pumpkins, ghosts, etc. are all great words).

The most important thing to remember is that if you make it fun your child will want to do it. If your child thinks this is work, then they will not enjoy it as much. You do not have to do these activities sitting at a desk to make them a great learning experience. Most kids learn better when they are active in their learning anyway. Have fun and enjoy the many other speech and language activities that there are to do in the Charlotte, NC area.

When do you dress up in a costume?

When do you go trick or treating?

When does Halloween come this year?

When can you eat your Halloween candy?

THE OPTIONS ARE ENDLESS, BE CREATIVE!