I have noticed myself lately having to tell Moose to be quieter, or even to stop talking.

I never thought I’d see the day when I’d discourage his speech!

Of course, we’ve seen a lot of improvements in him over the last year or so. There was a big language leap right after school started up again last August. And the Rising Star award he received last fall. So I knew that he was improving, and catching up, at least somewhat, to where he *should* be.

Even knowing all that, I guess I didn’t realize just how much he’s been talking. All of the sudden, he’s finding words to express himself–“I need help,” “Ladybug hit me,” “Funny,” “I want ice cream,” (he is still a four-year-old, after all!), “My tummy hurts.”

That’s all I really wanted for him when this whole school thing started–that he’d be able to get the help he needed so that he could tell us what’s on his mind. He still has a long way to go–he’s not at a four-year-old level for speech or anything, and he can’t put together really long thoughts–but he *can* tell us if something is bothering him, or if something amuses him or makes him happy, or if he wants something (even if that something is ice cream!)–that achievement has been the goal all along!

So, he’s really started communicating, and I’m finding that, for the first time, as with all children, sometimes I need to tell him to stop talking. Part of me hates discouraging his speech in any way, but the other part of me is so very grateful that he’s reached another very “normal” milestone!