Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Power of Words



So I don't know what it is about Isaac and language, but it's as if his speaking ability has appeared over night. He hears us say a word in a sentence and feels like he can and spits it out clear as a bell, it's effect ringing between us as Kent and I look at each other in disbelief. "Did he just say ...I thought I heard him say..." He generally never repeats the word and goes on as if nothing big happens. It certainly has made Kent and I a little more watchful of what we say. The ones he does repeat have become favorites such as blueberry (blu-blerry), down (Dow!), help (Hop!), apple (ahhhhhh-ple the 'ah' being held in ascending agumented tones, kinda like chinese opera) and Cha Sui (ta Sue). Obviously actions words and food are top priority as they tend to become a never ending chant until we respond the way he wants. He enjoys the power of the words and when I think back about being a child and how small I felt in such a big world, I'm glad for him.

He also love books and remembers them well, probably due to the fact that we read at least 30 minutes a day and it is the same books for the week. They end up playing a big part of his daily life. For example, today he found a small seed and he held it up. I reminded him of the book we read where they planted seeds to grow vegetables. He carefully held the seed and 'planted' it in a nice watery place since he knows all seeds need water to grow. When it rains now, he yells 'Ball!', which is from one of the Ruby and Max books where Max insists on playing baseball even though Ruby tells him it's raining outside. It's amusing to me the associations that he makes.

That reminds me, the other day Isaac and I visited the Roberts. Eden had me read a book to her about the tyranny of a lunchroom lady and how she abused everyone taste buds with burnt peas and turnip. The following day, our families went together for dim sum and the first thing they served was a pan fried turnip 'cake'. I was explaining to Emily what it was while serving up a small portion to Eden. This little girl does not miss anything and when I looked down she had the most horrified expression on her face. She was obviously disturbed and wouldn't touch it on her life. Isaac on the other hand, having no negative associations with 'turnips' kept gesturing to her plate, "Uh,uh..." as in, are you going to eat that? I had to laugh. It's a warning to me though, they may be small, but not much gets past them so I had better be carefully of what I read or say.

As to updates, Kent had his official interview with the Methodist hospital yesterday and it went well. It's not exactly what he wants though. Tonight he flies our to AZ and interviews all day Wednesday. He'll get back late Wednesday night. We shall keep you posted.

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