Today my verbally delayed 16 month old said his first word: "mama."

I have three kids, ages 4 (Emily) 2.5 (Hazel) and 16 months (Owen). Owen's been a little behind on some of his milestones and qualified for early intervention last fall. His occupational therapist has been especially concerned that he does not say any words at all yet.His primary way of communicating has been to point and scream. A loud, ear piercing scream. To make matters worse, whenever he does this the 2.5 year old yells "Stop screaming Owen! Stop screaming! Mama, I don't want Owen to scream." and then the 4 year old yells "He can't help it Hazel, he's just a baby. He's just a baby Hazel, stop yelling at him! Stop yelling at him, Hazel!"So it sounds like this: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-Stop Owen Stop-He's just a baby-EEEEE-I don't want him to-Stop yelling at him-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Then I join the cacophony by banging my head on the table.Today, I had emptied a toy bin to put the trucks in it , and my 16 month old came over and tried to sit in the bin. Instead of shooing him away, I decided to help him in and offer to push him around the room. I pushed him about singing "row row row your boat" and he clapped approvingly the whole time. Then he turned around, pointed right at my face, and said "Mama."I started crying pretty much immediately and freaked him out at first with all of my "yes that's right! Mama! I'm mama! Mama!" But now he has said it two more times.What a great day. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2Aq14Ue