My youngest son is 2-and-a-half, and he knows about as many words as he did a year ago.

When he was a baby, we thought he’d be a fast talker, as he copied sounds and said “Dada” and “Mama” earlier than any of our other kids. Then he fell behind.

At his two-year well-exam, our pediatrician didn’t necessarily think it was cause for concern. He knew enough words, and he has three older siblings that do plenty of talking for him. He likes being treated like the baby of the house, and the whole family, Mom and Dad included, enjoy his adorable baby-isms.

Long story short, not much has changed and our youngest is now enrolled in speech therapy in an effort to help him catch up with the normal learning curve.

I won’t bore you with the technical specifics, but I’ll share the most important factor: There are local services available for parents concerned about their children’s physical and behavioral development. The Idaho Infant Toddler Program provides early intervention programs for children ages 0-3, and it can include in-home therapy services, speech and occupational therapy and more.

The Infant Toddler Program is voluntary and comes at no cost to families. A doctor’s referral and subsequent testing for eligibility is required before services begin. We utilized the Infant Toddler Program for occupational therapy for our oldest son when he struggled with mobility issues as a toddler. The people are kind, compassionate and great at what they do.

Google Idaho Infant Toddler Program and you should find the Idaho Health and Welfare page as one of the top results. You can also call the Coeur d’Alene office at (208) 769-1409 for more information on services.

Anyway, many of my son’s speech issues are pretty entertaining. At an early age, he figured out he could get most things he wanted simply by pointing and saying, “THIS.”

“What do you have in your hand there?”

“THIS.”

“Yes, you have a cup.”

“Yeah, THIS.”

He also applied easy phrases to favorite things. Since about his first birthday, he’s said “ICE” when he wants water or any kind of beverage. It started because we always got water out of the refrigerator dispenser, which also provides ice. He can say “Wa-Ter” now with prompting, but he still reverts back to his preferred terminology at every opportunity.

Him: “I want ICE!”

Me: “You want ‘WA-TER.’” Say “WAH.”

Him: “WAH.”

Me: “TER.”

Him: “TER.”

Me: “Good! “WA-TER.”

Him: “ICE!”

More of his favorite words include “RACE” instead of “CAR,” a “WHOA” instead of “DOG,” and “DADA” for both me and his older brother, whose name is nothing close to sounding like “DADA.”

One of his absolute favorite things is “MMM-MMM.” That’s our life-size remote control BB-8 robot from “Star Wars.” He rolls around the house like a member of the family sometimes, happily beeping and bopping while on the lookout for Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren. “MMM-MMM” is like a pet for our youngest son. He can say “BB” now no problem, but refuses to change his name.

Him: “MMM-MMM!”

Me: “You want to play with BB-8?”

Him: “Bee-Bee? YEAH, MMM-MMM!”

Me: “BB-8!”

Him: “NO! MMM-MMM!”

I’m pretty sure my son thinks the rest of us are dumb. Learn it his way or else! Even after he successfully completes speech therapy and catches up developmentally, I’m half convinced these certain words won’t change. He’ll visit me from college and greet me with:

“Hello, father. How is my brother, Dada doing? Yes, I just drove here from the airport in my rental RACE. Yes, I’m very thirsty. Will you please get me some ICE with ICE in it?”

Eh, that could be fun.