I have been holding onto this precious piece of news for the last few days, as I digested it and praised God for His blessings.  

Samuel said his first word. Oh, to write that sentence seems so very surreal! I am not quite sure that Scott and I believe it, still.  Yet, each time we hear our Samuel vocalize, we are nearly overcome with tears. We don’t want to get our hopes up, but we have an abundance of faith that these will not be Samuel’s only sounds- that one day, he will engage us in amazing conversations! 

At his therapy facility, when his therapist is finished with an instruction or has completed an interaction with Samuel, he or she says, “All done!”  It is said in a sing-song fashion, as he responds beautifully to melodies and music in general. He has been able to hum the tunes to songs that he hears over and over again. It takes a LOT of repetition,  but he has picked up the melodies of 4 songs, so far. 

About 3 weeks ago, when he was in the bath, Scott and I heard him sing-song a 2 syllable rhythm. We laughed and both thought it sounded like, “All gone.” We didn’t really know, because it was just humming at that point. 

But, at the beginning of this week, Samuel was lying in my lap drinking a sippy cup of milk. When he finished, he threw his cup down, held out both hands palms up, cocked his head to the side, and said, “All done!” His interpretion sounds more like, “Aww dumb!” 

Not only did he say those 2 words, but he used them appropriately! We know now that this was the phrase he was trying to verbalize in the bath tub. And, he is saying it at least 10 times a day, now! When he is finished eating- AWW DUMB!  When he is tired of the toy he has- AWW DUMB!  When I am finished changing his diaper-AWW DUMB! 

And, while it takes a lot of echolalia (mimicking) and a long period of time for him to interpret and break it down for himself, he KNOWS these 2 words. He really knows them. 

He says them at school, too! And, all of his therapists are so proud of our boy! 

My prayers are of thanksgiving and praise. My God is so BIG! And, if it takes 3 more days or even another 3 years for other words to come, I am so humbled and filled with gratitude. I have gotten to hear my son’s voice. Thank you, Lord.