Growth Spurt, Round 48

Junius is having another growth spurt. How do I know? Three tell-tale signs...

1. His wrists are starting to stick out from all his long-sleeved shirts and his legs seem really long (see photo -- and also notice he fell asleep in his chair reading because he told me he really, really didn't need a nap).
2. He's eating everything he can get his hands on (notice I didn't say "eating everything I put in front of him" -- he's still not a fan of most vegetables).
3. His stutter is back.

That last one might sound strange, but it's a good one to know about. We first noticed it after Junius turned two -- it wasn't so much of a st-st-st-st-stutter as it was getting hung up on the first word or two of each phrase. He'd start talking, but all he could say at first was "Mommy? Mmmmommmy? Mommy? Um, Mmmmmommy?" Then after several more skips and significant effort, eventually he'd say the rest of his sentence without trouble.

Thankfully, one of his preschool teachers that year assured us that this was normal, particularly among little boys. She'd seen the same thing with her own son. And as she predicted, the stutter would eventually work itself out, then return several months later with the next growth spurt. Our pediatrician confirmed the teacher's assessment -- this was a completely typical side effect in an a growing boy. Essentially, Junius's brain was growing along with his body, but his mouth couldn't always keep up with all the new words and ideas he wanted express.

I share this experience, not to diminish the appropriate use of speech therapy in children who need it, but to offer some reassurance for parents who are worried (as we were) about periodic stuttering. Believe me, I can get good and worked about every little thing -- but it's nice to have a few quirks that I can stop fretting about.

Now if I could just figure out how to get him to eat those vegetables...