let's talk about Kate

In July, I decided to call Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) to talk about Kate. She was frustrated and not communicating as much as I thought she should be. It was hard making that first step but I am so glad I did. Two sweet therapists came to our home to talk with us and get to know Kate. She warmed up to them immediately. Their next visit they tested her and she scored very high in cognitive and physical tasks, but not as well in verbal. At 23 months, they said she should have had at least 50 clear-spoken words. She had 5. She qualified for speech therapy once a week.
It's hard to explain how I felt in that moment. My daughter had not changed, but I felt our lives had in a way. I felt I had let her down. With lots of prayer and support from Will, family and a few friends, we moved on and became more intentional about things....labelling, saying names and sounds over and over, and making Kate's days even more structured than before.
Fast forward 4 months and many Mondays of speech class, and our little 2-year old is thriving! Sure, she still throws the occasional frustration tantrum because she can't get her thoughts across to us, but they are so much fewer. She is speaking in phrases, like "here ya go," "thank you mom," "go outside," and music to our ears, "love you too!"
Who knows if it's the therapy or if we would've seen this progress naturally, but we are so happy for our dear girl. She wakes up talking and saying hi to all her family members. She walks around imitating me and Josie during the day. She "reads" to Sam. She talks on the phone to Doc and Mam. She goes to sleep talking about her Dora books.
Kate, we are sorry you went through a frustrating time. That must have been hard to know what you wanted but not know how to communicate it. You are doing much better and not giving up. We like your feisty spirit and determined nature. We know you will have many more trials in life, but we want you to know that we are on your side and will help you through it. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON YOU.