You kiss your Mama with that mouth?

Look at that sweet little mouth. Who would know that those tiny lips and tongue don't work quite right? Yet.

Unlike typical babies, Henry never complied with our attempts get him to repeat "ba ba ba" and he never put toys in his mouth. For almost 2 years his kisses were more like Swahili tongue clicks.

Those oral motor milestones that Henry confidently eschewed put him about a year behind in that stuff. But we've seen incredible progress in just the last week. His ability to repeat sounds has exploded and he's chewing and swallowing better than ever.

This week we've been listening to the fabulous new Natalie Merchant album. Henry's been continually imitating violins and trumpets, drum snares and piano, scatting like he's Ella Fitzgerald. He parrots a high pitched "beep" when I lock the car. He's doing animal sounds and singing, in a manner, tunes written by someone other than himself. For the first time he is hearing and processing and producing sound with thoughtfulness. Awesome.

Henry now kisses normally. And when you've got kisses and smiles and love, words seem secondary. But the words are sounding really really good.