I feel like part of the problem is I haven't been doing all the babytalking and songs and rhymes and pointing to things and naming them and so on because I didn't know I was supposed to!

My mother didn't do that either, and would roll the eyes at the suggestion. I graduated high school top of my class and got into Oxford.

Children aren't uniform, they aren't computers. But they may sense your panic, especially if you make it a pattern that lasts. And that has more potential for causing problems than not singing to her enough.

Moms worry. It's their job. They quit worrying about 15 minutes after their own funerals. That's just the way it is.

It's not wrong to worry about milestones, and if your instincts tell you to get an expert assessment, you have to follow your instincts. But it is also good to be able to say "Screw the numbers! My kid is great no matter what the charts say."

And I don't know if it's too late to fix anything I've done wrong, like I've missed a developmental window, because I've been avoiding all the child development books to try to keep myself from freaking out like this.

You have to basically leave your child to be raised by wolves or lock them in the attic and never interact with them for them to not acquire language.

If you feel guilty about not interacting with her enough why don' t you just interact with her more? Wouldn't that be better than sending her to a developmental specialist? You overrate experience here. You just listed all the stuff you're supposed to do.

"What does the cow say?
"Moo!"

Patty cake patty cake.

Read books to her.

Lots of face time.

It's not that complicated. You know exactly what you need to do.

It's boring sometimes. That's okay. Repetition is their friend.

Susan, I really hope you aren't feeling piled on, but yeah, what everyone else said.

As hard as it is, both you and Annabel are going to be a whole lot happier if you focus on enjoying the phase she is in now instead of worrying so much about where some standardized chart tells you she should be that you end up driving both of you crazy.

And I would've gone to the pede first, except that due to Dr. B's vacation schedule, Annabel's 15-month checkup is still 2 weeks away, and I kinda wanted to see if I could get some peace of mind before then.

Fay, I just want you to know that you are my hero.

David, if it eases your mind, every time I've seen Susan and Annabel together, Susan has been very relaxed and not at all projecting worry. She's more likely to give herself a complex than to give Annabel one. Trust me.

Susan, I'm going to go against the tide and say that if you're worried about language development, getting her tested early is a good thing. Language issues are one of the areas that can be helped tremendously by early intervention, so there's no bad here. Either she's perfectly normal, in which case, you can breathe a sigh of relief, or she's slightly language delayed, and you can get her treated before it becomes a major issue.

Hanna's language issues were treated as wait-and-see until she was almost four, and getting her on target with her talking has been twice as much work as it would have been if it had been caught at the first sign.

That said, make a list of Big Stuff (language, maybe some types of mobility) and Small Stuff (everything else), and toss the Small Stuff list in the bin. Remember that developmental milestones are more of a guideline, really, and cheerfully let the little ones slide, knowing you're on top of the big ones.

I think doing the assessment is fine, Susan. It's not going to hurt Annabel and it will give you an answer. I hope that will help you to feel more secure about what your doing - whether that's continuing what you've been doing or making some changes.

Fay, I just want you to know that you are my hero.

strikes pose.

And so to bed.

flies off, cape flapping in the breeze

Susan, don't feel guilty about taking her to get assessed. I know I told you that Mom took my brother in even though she was a speech therapist and was pretty sure he'd turn out okay. But he wasn't talking soon enough and it freaked her out and started the guilt thing.