Yep, There's That Sea Cow

The Cincinnati Zoo has a manatee exhibit. I love manatees--there's a canal near my aunt's house in Naples, FL that is rife with them. The girls had never seen them, so when this enormous thing goes swimming by, it's quite a sight. Ellie used all functional language to express herself. "Yep, there's that sea cow. And there's that other sea cow. Here it comes again. It's floating. It's floating in the water." There was no singing the Muppets, or using words from Goodnight Moon or Click Clack Moo. These were all Ellie's ideas. A little formal? Yes. That's not unusual. She may always have a bit of formality in her language, maybe less the hyperactive squealing we see in Emma when she's excited about something. But that doesn't diminish Ellie's continued mastering of using language to communicate her ideas about her experiences in the world. Once again, THERAPY WORKS.