So He Does Listen!

Ed and I have this running joke about what a genius William is. Ed's mother goes on and on about how smart William is, even though she doesn't really know what is age-appropriate and what is advanced. And while everyone likes to think their kid is brilliant, William has always been pretty much in the middle of the pack when it comes to development. So Ed and I like to talk about how brilliant William is whenever he does something, um, not-so-brilliant (like running into doors, or always saying "red" when you ask him what color something is, etc.).

One thing that does have me slightly worried, though, is how he doesn't seem to understand questions. Any time I ask him an open-ended question, he says, "Huh?" I'll ask, "What did you do at school today?" He says, "Huh?" "What did you see at the zoo with Daddy?" "Huh?" And on and on. Sometimes I want to scream, "JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION! It's not rocket science!" I know he's processing the question, because I can see the little wheels spinning in his head, the way his mouth hangs open a bit, and his forehead lifts up just a fraction. But he's not making the connection to the information that I'm seeking.

Last night, however, I felt very reassured with his cognitive development. He gets a nebulizer treatment every night before bath, and for the last two weeks or so, he's been watching a digger video during the treatment. The video shows about a dozen or so different construction vehicles at work, and as each one was featured in the introduction, William proceeded to call out their names. "Front loader! Bulldozer! Skid steer loader! Backhoe! Compacter! Motor grader! Scraper! Excavator! Cement mixer! Crane!" (Or as William says it, "Cwane!")

He is also quite adept at learning words to songs and knows the Mighty Machines theme song by heart. So I needn't worry quite yet. He does pay attention, and he is processing information. He is learning. And even if he doesn't know his colors (except for orange--go figure), or answers "Huh?" to every question, he's still brilliant in my book!

[BTW--If you have kids who are really into construction equipment, I highly recommend those videos! The Mighty Machines videos feature 3 vehicle-types each (fire trucks, garbage trucks, city sanitation trucks, and construction equipment, demolition equipment, and rock quarry equipment). ]