Broken Chopsticks

This was Megan's third day. All is still calm and nearly idyllic, but Bow has drawn an invisible line in the sand -- or rather the concrete. He won't spell. He won't ask for things that he obviously wants. And he's been breaking chopsticks.

The first chopstick he broke today was on my watch. I took over for lunch, and as I was out in the kitchen getting lunch, the chopstick having been inadvertently left in the pen alone with Bow, he broke it. This got him in trouble, and he did not get as big a lunch as he might otherwise have had. But I saw this as an opportunity, so I told Megan about the chopstick incident, gave her a brand new chopstick for Bow to use with his touchscreen, and suggested that I would bring a snack for Bow to select around 3:30pm. 

Bow hasn't been using his touchscreen computer much, and in a way, it's hard to blame him. It's not easy work spelling out words on that screen. We need help programming a more user friendly text-to-speech program for him, and with that end in mind, I posted an ad for a programmer today.

Anyway, at 3:30 on the dot I brought out three possible snacks: grapes on plate, a red apple and a small glass of pomegranate juice. I put them outside the glass door and spoke out their names for Bow and Megan to see and hear. Then Bow was to select one. Only he refused to spell anything, on the glass or on the computer. I left the snacks out throughout the day, but he never did ask for one. When I came to relieve Megan at 5:00 pm, the three snacks were still there, untouched.

It still didn't seem so bad, as Bow was gracious and gentle with Megan all day, cuddling with her and using the potty properly. No accidents. But just when I thought he had been perfect, I saw the broken chopstick --cleanly broken in two, no shards -- on the side of the glass away from Bow.

"Did he break another chopstick?" Sword asked at dinner.

"Yes, but I don't know how it happened. Did you break it when Megan didn't see?" I asked Bow.

"No," he spelled. "She just didn't tell you."

Wednesday: A very good second day

Bow really likes Megan. He's told me so. He's told Lawrence so. He hasn't told Megan in so many words, but the proof is in his behavior. He hasn't given her any grief. This is her second day, and it went off without a hitch.

Megan stayed with Bow for three hours in the morning. Then Lawrence came in for a long lunch with Bow, and afterwards Bow spent another three hours with Megan.

I knew I could leave Megan and Bow alone when he agreed to use the potty with her. So far, no accidents. Not much language use, but he did write a little. He asked her to go outside, although he spelled it funny, not because he can't spell correctly, but because this is another way he has of testing people. He is reluctant to give too much away too soon. But they did go outside, and they came in again when Bow needed to use the potty.

Bow knows that he likes Megan, but he has trouble expressing what he likes most about her. When Lawrence asked him that, Bow let the sentence he was trying to form just trail away.

Bow likes Megan

Today Bow met our new intern, Megan. He liked her right from the start. At first, they got to know one another through the grid, and only after quite some time did Bow say it was okay for her to come into the pen with him. I went out one door, and Megan came in through the other. She sat quietly and allowed Bow to examine her. He hair, her feet, her nostrils. All interesting stuff. Later they groomed and even played a relaxed form of chase. He was very nice to her, and there was no pressure. The only thing is, he wouldn't use the potty while she was in with him. So every once in a while she would go out, and I would come in, and Bow would immediately go and pee in the potty for me. Then I would go out after emptying the potty and returning it, and Megan would go back in to play with Bow. I think Bow is embarrassed to pee in front of a new person, but it would be even more embarrassing to have an accident, I would think. He will have to get over this shyness, but we take things one day at a time. Today was a good day. We met a new person, and we hit it off well. After Megan went home to Orchard House, I asked Bow: "Did you like her?" He answered: "Yes. All ladies are good."