f..f..f….Fabulous!
I thought I might lose it today. I’m still a law firm widow and it is looking like that will be the case for this weekend and beyond as well, plus I’m getting a bit crook and the kids wouldn’t go to sleep last night. Linus in fact gave me a fright. He was in our bed as Hazel was unsettled in the kids room and I went in there to plug my iPod into the computer, prompting Linus, who also should have been asleep, to head out with a cheery retort of “I’ll be back Mum!”. I was only going to be setting my ipod to sync so I didn’t argue at the time but once that was all working, I headed to our lounge to herd Linus back to slumber.
Except he wasn’t there.
We only have a 2 bedroom house and I’d passed the kitchen and bathroom to get to the lounge so he could only be in the kids’ room, which I went to check.
And he wasn’t there either.
At this point I’m mildly concerned because there really just isn’t anywhere else in the house he can be. I wander back down the hall calling his name just as Ash comes in the front door and I explain that I seem to have lost our son. At that point the side door opens and our son comes in from outside. Why on earth he felt the need to go out, into the dark, and the rain, at 10 o’clock at night is beyond me, but mysteries of Linus are many and varied.
But as I was saying, I’m tired and crook and cranky. I tried to con Hazel into a nap around 11am but she was having none of it so I piled everyone in the car, and headed for Southland. I’m not usually one to view a shopping centre as the height of fun family times but it has been raining now for days on end and I needed to be Not At Home. The kids were great and we had some nice lunch after which my son uttered the most beautiful words…
“Mummy. I’m so full!”
Linus’ articulation issues mean that he inserts consonants in words beginning with f, s and sh, so before today this sentence would have been, “Mummy. I’m so dull” (as in rhyming with full but starting with a ‘d’ sound, not telling me he is dimwitted). Our work with Suzie Pinches had got us to the point where Linus was actually able to say f words correctly if we modelled for him but he was not generalising, i.e. he was not spontaneously saying his ‘f’ words correctly.
But today, as we stood in the shoe store, Linus asked me if he could tell me something and then proceeded to quite deliberately articulate the ‘f’ in ‘full’. It was honestly like the moment that Hazel walked again for me, if not more astounding and uplifting. Linus is such a sensitive, self conscious boy and he has worked so hard to master this skill that my heart just burst with pride and admiration. It has been like a switch turned on as well as we have had many beautiful ‘f’s since then.
He just amazes me.
Present Imperfect 
This is fantastic to read Sansha, both the pride Linus has in himself, and how hard he has clearly worked, but also the pride you have in his achievement, and I’m sure the relief you must feel. The last year has been one of great challenges for both your children, and they have risen to the occasion both figuratively and literally. Enjoy the moment(s).
Thanks Emma. I hope things are going well for your little man as well. Would be great to get together. I hope Woodend isn’t under water like everywhere else these days?
He’s doing well. His speech has come a long way though I still hear a huge difference between him and his peers. He’ll get re-tested in the next month or so, so we’ll know more for sure. The main thing is that he progresses. No we’re not underwater, though parts of Woodend have been. For a while we had no power and one of our main roads out of Woodend cut off, but all has been restored with the sunshine. Would still love to have you out here so have a think about when you might like a weekend visit and we’ll tee it up.