Maybe I should just have those initials tattooed to my forehead

The Early Intervention people came yesterday.

Not only is Chicky fine and developing at a normal rate but she assessed higher than her age on all the tests, especially on the Receptive Language test where she was assessed at 35 months. Thirty five months. And that's because 35 months is as high as the test goes.

(Which is really nice to know because now when I wonder if Chicky is listening to me and ignoring me or just doesn't understand me I'll know she understands me just fine. Oh yeah, she understands what I'm telling her. She's totally busted.)

My kid is smart. I, however, feel like a moron. A big one.

The "test" - a profile, an assessment really. "Test" sounds so 9th grade - was just getting started when the woman assessing Chicky took out a laminated sheet of paper with pictures on it and asked Chicky to name everything.

"Ball. Chair. Doggie. Car. Hand."

No hesitation at all. It was like she had seen that paper a hundred times. That was when I looked at Mr. C, who with head bowed was silently vibrating from laughter, and knew our child was not delayed in any way.

Do I feel like an idiot? Oh, just a tad.

Do I feel like a helicopter mommy? You betcha.

Am I relieved to hear, from experts, that my kid is progressing nicely? Relieved and thrilled.

I will now wear a scarlet HM (for helicopter mommy) pinned to my shirt as my penance. But I'm okay with that act of attrition because I was doing what I thought was right for my kid.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.









Okay, do you really believe that last line of crap? More importantly, do you believe that I believe that last line?

Yes, I did what I thought was right but I still felt horribly embarrassed to take up the time of the wonderful EI women who came to our house. But I'll get over it. Eventually. With lots of therapy.

Alright, I'm done.








One more thing.

The women from EI really were great. I can't stress that enough. They made Mr. C and I feel completely at ease and there was not even a smidge of judgment in their eyes. They were very professional and extremely kind and I think I will now put them on my Christmas card list and send them both humongous fruit baskets.

I'm done now.









Okay, really just one more point.

In the past two weeks since I made the appointment Chicky has made astounding progress in her speech. She went from saying just a few things clearly (and a lot of things that only I could understand, and even then it was pretty sketchy) to stringing together two and three word sentences. Her language quite literally exploded. I know everyone told me that would happen but I really didn't believe it. Now I do.

I should have known this would happen because this is exactly what happens when I bring my car to the mechanic. As soon as an expert is brought in the freaking problem stops.

As a matter of fact Chicky is sitting next to me making up words to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb", involving her blanket. Or bucket. Or maybe pocket. She's not going to be a great orator any time soon but I see great things for her in the future.

I'm done now. Really.







I'm so embarrassed.