Family Chatterbox

08/22/2025

✨ Speech Sound Milestones: R, L & TH ✨ Wondering when your little one should start saying tricky sounds like R, L, and TH? You're not alone! Here's a quick guide:
👅 L – Typically develops around 4–5 years but help practice by putting the pointy part of your tongue up BEHIND your front teeth
🐯 R – Often mastered by 6–7 years, help practice the ROAR sound!
🦷 TH – Usually emerges between 6–8 years, help your child practice putting their tongue between their teeth and blowing/buzzing air!
Every child develops at their own pace, but if you're unsure or have concerns, a speech-language pathologist can help! 💬💛

08/09/2025

Sometimes it’s just too good not to laugh! 😂 💩 ☔️

07/25/2025

This summer will be 5 years at Family Chatterbox for me, Lauren! 👏 🎉
I have loved getting to know so many families, collaborating with other professionals across the Twin Cities, becoming certified in DIR Floortime, and taking formal training in SOS Approach to Feeding, gestalt language processing, orofacial myofunctional therapy, and oral placement therapy.
I’ve been enjoying time with my partner and our puppy, traveling, and celebrating speech graduations! 😊

07/18/2025

Struggling to help your little ones follow directions? Does it seem that transitions are always a challenge?! 😤😩
Try adding a visual component to whatever you’re doing to help your child match what they hear with something they can see! Research shows that ~80% of the information that we are learning is taken in from our vision! 👀
This can be as simple as snapping a picture on your phone, drawing a little picture, or even printing out a visual to help with something that happens regularly! Even better…use real life objects to help children learn!

07/11/2025

☀️💦 Splash, play, and communicate! 💬🧠
Water play isn’t just summer fun—it’s a language learning playground! From new words to social skills, every splash helps your child build communication in exciting ways. 🗣️👂
🏖️ Try naming toys, giving directions, or making up water adventures together. Even a bathtub can be full of learning!

07/05/2025

According to Google, this is the question most parents are asking about their child’s language development…when are they going to TALK?!
See some of our previous posts for more information because speech and language development encompasses so much more than just talking, but don’t get us wrong… We always want to hear kiddos talk as well!
Head on over to our website to download our free milestones handouts for more information about your child’s progress 💪

06/27/2025

Who knew that knocking things down could also be classified as “clever”?! 😆 Loving the vocabulary though!
Kids say the funniest things!

06/13/2025

Hi everybody! 👋 I’m Mikka Nichols and I’m SO excited to be joining the Family Chatterbox team as a speech language pathologist!!
I am from North Dakota and made the move to Minnesota about a year ago with my husband — we just got married last summer! Most of my favorite things include being active and outdoors (camping, hiking, playing pickleball, yep, yep, and YEP)! 🏕️ Another one of my new favorite activities is being a tourist around the metro, finding new restaurants, coffee shops, or walking trails! 😋
I can’t wait to meet you and be a part of your child’s journey!!

06/06/2025

You’ve heard it said that repetition is the mother of skill right? We couldn’t agree more!
Try repeating things with your child, research tells us it could take between 6-20 exposures for a child to learn a new word! Slow things down, repeat yourself, add the word in context, don’t give up!
A good rule of thumb is to wait until your child is sick of an activity/topic before moving onto the next thing. Trust us, it might be a bit slow for you but they’re soaking it all in! 🧽 💦 👏

05/30/2025

What does vision have to do with speech and language? Well, so much!
We want our kids to be visually attending, using joint attention, and shifting their gaze from toys to our faces and back to the toys to learn more speech and language skills. This shared attention and ability to shift their eyes and focus is a foundational skill for so many future communication opportunities!
Try playing with bubbles, gear spinners, balls, ball ramps, mirrors, and other toys that require hand-eye-coordination like ring stackers with your child! 🪞🏀 🫧

05/23/2025

What should straw drinking look like? We’re so glad you asked 😉
Between 7-12 months of age we expect kids to be starting to drink through a straw appropriately. This means that the straw is at the lips not on the tongue, the lips are rounding around the straw, no teeth biting, and the tongue is retracted (pulled back!).
Reach out if you need tips about how to help your little one learn straw drinking!🥤

05/13/2025

Without further ado Mikka Nichols, the right person at the right time ...

We believe in hiring the right people at the right time, and we couldnt be more excited and confident that Mikka is the right person at the right time to join our Family Chatterbox Family.