Early Signs (Age 1)

- The week of Evan's first birthday we started taking a 'mommy and me' type class. The class had a little bit of everything: circle time, songs and instruments, free time, and guided play with a different theme every week. Evan and I were having a blast. By the third class I noticed a glaring difference between my child and all the others. He was the only one that didn't want to crawl back into my lap during circle time. He didn't wander over to me for a kiss or swing his arms around my neck for a hug. Sure I hugged and kissed on him, but he never initiated it. Every other kid looked mommy obsessed and Evan looked ambivalent towards me. As the weeks progressed, I joked with the other moms about it and they just said, "Oh, he'll come around."
- Evan was an early teether. His two-year molars came in at 13 months. But when it came to chewing he had a hard time. We'd learn much later that this was due to low muscle tone in his mouth.
- Most children walk first and then concentrate on talking, but Evan operated in reverse. At 15 months he knew 60 words and we stopped counting. He also had great pronunciation and loved to repeat words and memorize songs and books. He was particularly obsessed with naming all the pictures in his collection of Roger Priddy books.
- At 16 months we realized (like crawling) we would have to really work with Evan to get him walking. He didn't seem to care, but we thought he was due to walk and needed some help. I read that children need to be able to stand independently for 60 seconds before learning to walk. I would distract Evan by asking him questions and hoped he wouldn't realize I had let go of his hands. We practiced in a room with carpeting and did a lot of tempting with toys and cheering with excitement at any step he took. After a couple of weeks he was finally walking (the moment was captured in the photo above)! I didn't think he was that far behind, but in his gym class the teacher announced ecstatically that Evan and Mark were now walking! They had been the only two non-walkers out of a class of twenty and Mark had Down Syndrome. It was cause for pause.