American Girl Doll and Speech Therapy

Speech therapy and AG dolls - that's what is in my mind this week end. Yep, in exactly this combination, LOL.

Camilla started talking this month. She didn't talk much at all. And in the matter of  several days, she all of a sudden started saying words. So many words that I can't even count them. Randomly naming objects around her, in the books, and on videos... so great! And that made me scared so bad: she can talk, but she still doesn't say several of the basic sounds, substituting or omitting them. I complained to the doctor and got a referral to the speech therapy, which is scheduled for July, 12, when she'll be 19 and a half months old...

I've read some about that and talked to people. Here are some ideas.

1. The mother can start blaming herself for not talking or doing enough to encourage the talk. It happens, and it's exactly my case. I felt so guilty, like it's my fault.
2. To help with the talk, keep conversation simple. It helps to say short sentences and to talk slowly, repeating yourself again and again.
3. Make breaks in conversation to let her talk back to me.
4. Singing is great. We a doing it, a lot. It makes the words sound clear and pretty :) It makes it easier to repeat the words both for me and Camilla. And she loves music. We make up our own songs very often.
5. Reading books. Camilla loved that. And now we are in a break: the old books are read so many times and got boring, and she doesn't like new books much. I need to find some that she'd love. We need to go to the library ASAP!
6. Talking while manipulating objects. This is always the best: I can see the result immediately. But it takes tiiiime. Also, imaginative play.
7. All that still doesn't help her to say the missing sounds. Crazy!

We had the grand opening of American Girl store this weekend. And it got blown out of proportion. Crowds of parents with girls and dolls. Here is a question. Do you think you have to buy an trendy doll and stuff when she is old enough to compare and ask for it? Or when YOU think you need to buy it because your friends have already bought it for their kids? This is always so funny to think about it.

We did go there to walk around and watch it happening. We could not get into the store. First, there were long lines just to get tickets to get into the store. After you get your tickets, you are free to walk around and wait for your number to get into another line to get into the store. All that is without any shades in a hot day. Fun!

Speaking of dolls, Camilla's baby doll is 12-inch Corolle, she has a soft body, pretty face, and she smells vanilla. I am posting a picture when she was 6 months old.