Mommy's project 52: speaking

When my son was 18 months old he wasn't speaking tons. Now my hubby is quiet/introvert and well you know me chatty/extrovert. My son, I think, is a lot like me and felt that he should me speaking more than he was. I thought the answer was going to be tubes- ear tubes/tympanostomy tubes. I had one friend who swore that once her son got tubes he started speaking immediately. My son didn't have your typical ear infections. Many times I wouldn't know he had them until I found crud dripping from his ear or we'd go in for a well child check and the doctor would say " you know he has an ear infection". Well my son got tubes and didn't start speaking immediately. He took his time and is a soon to be graduate of first grade and speaks just fine. My daughter is 3 and a 1/2 and she has her own speak issues/development. People who meet her thinks her name is "Tate". It isn't,she just can't say a certain letter. I've been a little more lax with my second child and only after having a free speech assessment at her daycare and receiving some interesting comments "we find your child to be unintelligible". I thought this was pretty harsh and so talked to her teachers who thought she was understandable, but did feel she was challenged saying certain letters. So I decided to have our local AEA assess her. They totally disagreed and felt she was highly intelligible, but did notice she had a hard time with some of her letters, the same ones I already knew. Due to it being summer break the plan is to have her reassessed in the fall and if needed then do some therapy during her normal preschool/daycare time. Funny, but I think I already know how this is going to play out- 3 years from now she'll be graduating from first grade and everyone will know her name isn't "Tate". Speaking is something we each do at our own time.