sensory surprises

the art of articulation

one of the things that totally sucks about having a kid with a speech delay is his inability to tell you what’s going on his head.  whether it’s that he isn’t feeling good or whether it is what happened at school today, he generally isn’t good at answering any when, where, why or how questions.

i was actually laughing with a co-worker this week that since we started the wilbarger protocol i am starting to go through what most parents go through MUCH, MUCH earlier…

“mama - look at the bird!”  
“mama, i spilled, can i have a towel?”  
“mama, i closed the door!”
“mama, where’s the cat?”

all of this is awesome, as it is my child speaking in complete and coherent sentences.  on the other hand, when every three seconds you are interrupted with a sentence predicated with mama, you kind of want to pull your hair out.

despite the progress, i was reminded today that there are still some things that i can’t get him to tell me, and boy howdy, are there some things i would love to know…

a)  why my new shirt is “scary.

you see, i just bought a tshirt from threadless that says “rock is dead, and paper killed it.”  it’s just a typographic treatment.

when i got dressed this morning i asked the kidbot “do you like mama’s new shirt?”  to which he nodded and responded “ooooh!  it’s scary!”

for the record, i didn’t read it to him - so the words “dead” and “killed” are irrelevant unless he has been hiding his reading talent very well (and i doubt he groks the concept of death anyway). is it that the lightning bolt is scary?  that this font treatment is somehow spooky?

b) how he got that wicked scratch on his cheek.

at some point between bed time last night and first waffle this morning, the kidbot got a nasty scratch across his cheek.  both cats were outside all night, and i’m pretty sure there were no middle of the night wanderings. so i would love to know where/when/how he got it.  my tweeps have suggested a rowdy housefly or a toy hiding under the covers, but further investigation turned up nothing. :)  when i inquired with the kidbot - he just smiled and shrugged at me.

c) why he cries whenever he hears “oxford comma” by vampire weekend.

no, i’m not kidding.  he now starts crying within the first 5 seconds of the song.  the funny thing is, he has always loved vampire weekend.  we have listened to them on a frequent basis since he was much, much smaller than he is now.  he has always danced and yelled “hey, hey, hey, hey!” during A-Punk.  but now, whenever he hears oxford comma, he starts crying.  i ask him why he’s sad, but he can’t tell me, and he will continue to cry until i change the song.

i’m wondering if these will forever more remain a mystery, or if someday soon, my kidbot will get to explain himself in all of his childhood-logic glory.