The Lady and the Girl

Lately, Bow has not been saying that much. On the average day, he tells us what he wants to eat, asks to go outside, spells the names of all his foods and asks for his blanket, but there is not a lot of spontaneous communication about much else.

This is different from how it was at first when he started spelling. In those early days he used to talk more about his feelings,  or he would tell very tall tales about the neighbors and people prowling around outside or kidnappers who came to get him when I was away and he was alone with a sitter. In time, all of that died down, because he realized nobody believed him, and since the lies made no real impression, he just went into routine mode. "Give me an apple... I want my blanket."  When the things he says are that predictable, we sometimes question whether he has language at all.

People who start reading this blog can go for a long time and not even know that Bow can write and that he has language, because I just tell about our day to day experiences.

Well, yesterday was a Wednesday, and in addition to telling Lawrence what he wanted to eat, ("I want an apple"),  Bow also spelled: "And the lady is coming to see me."

There is a woman who makes deliveries here, and she and her little girl have been coming on Wednesdays around noon for the past few months. The little girl is very interested in Bow, but Bow usually hides in a corner and refuses to interact when they come. You would think he didn't like them, the way he has been acting.

Today, they were late. I was waiting for them after lunch, and since Bow had Lawrence, I thought I would meet them outdoors so as not to disrupt Bow's lunch.

Bow, seeing me outside, and having the idea that I was planning to intercept them before they came in, spelled to Lawrence: "Tell Momma to come in. I am done eating, and I want to see the lady and the girl."

Lawrence told me, so I asked them to come in and talk to Bow, and this time he did not stay hidden in a corner. He came to the door and interacted with them through the grid, being sweet and gentle and showing an affectionate interest in both of them and especially in the little girl.

Bow can surprise us. He does say spontaneous and unexpected things. It just doesn't happen every day.

This picture has nothing to do with the story I just told you, but it helps to always have an image in every post!