“I just Rossettied my Daughter”

“I just Rossettied my daughter.” Those were the words that exited my mouth as I was discussing my daughter with my friend. 

I am a Speech and Language Pathologist(SLP) by training, and am a new mother by approximately 5.5 months of “training” if you will.  And in all honesty I am surprised I hadn’t “Rossettied” my daughter sooner than this. No. Really. I am shocked. 

If anyone has “hung out” or is friends with a pediatrician SLP, they will testify that we SLP’s tend to be organized people who are obsessively concerned with “developmental” norms. We are constantly assessing children’s speech, language, and play skills. I’m sorry, but it’s true. If you and your children are hanging around me, I have begun to assess them and could give you an informal assessment of their speech and language skills. (Who am I kidding? I’ve probably assessed your speech and language skills as well).

So there I sat, in front of my daughter, trying to objectively assess her using a copy of The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale .  I was trying to assess her “pre-verbal” language skills … to make sure she is well on her way to speaking at an appropriate age - months from now. Of course the key word is objectively.  And here is the catch. Just when I am about to get panicky and worried that she isn’t necessarily demonstrating ALL the play skills we would like to see for her age. She gives me a gummy, drooly smile that only a mother can kiss and think, “But she’s just a baby still”. 

I then set the Rossetti assessment down and went back to making raspberries on her tummy. It’s part of my job as a mom. I am suppose to love her, cuddle her, play with her, and be there to show her she is in a safe environment that is hers to explore and learn in.

However, I can't ignore my training and I genuinely do get excited when she reaches a milestone I know should be coming. So the question is, what should you look for in your 6-month-old baby? Here are some skills we would expect to see with a six month old;

Maintaining eye contact

Imitating facial expressions

Smiling at self in a mirror

Reaching for objects

Turning his or head towards a voice

Recognizing their own name

Anticipating feeding

Taking turns in vocalizing

Babbling and laughing

Stops crying when spoken to

Side note; Lets hope that the talented Dr. Louis M. Rossetti never reads my blog and is offended by the fact I have turned his name into a verb.

http://www.asha.org/SLP/assessment/Rossetti-Infant-Toddler-Language-Scale.htm