Devastation, anticipation, and a dirty teddy bear

It has been a GREAT week for Michael. It's funny how we get these bursts of development when I'm feeling the most frustrated - it must be Michael's preferred method of torturing me. I'll have to try and remember this pattern so that the next time I hit a low I'll know that a burst is right around the corner. Just some new things he's doing...

He's (finally!) starting to figure out past/present/future. The recent post of our first conversation illustrated this, but actually a few days before that he told his first "story." He had just gotten back from preschool and I found a shiny dragon sticker on his shirt. I started exclaiming over it and asking how he got it, was it special for a reason, etc. He paused for a minute and then said, "Gina!" Gina is Michael's preschool teacher, and in that one word he had communicated that she had given him the sticker at school that day. It was a HUGE leap forward.

Another thing...I took the kids to a local outdoor pool yesterday and as we were getting ready to head out I kept telling him how we were going to go to a pool where there was lots of water and splashing. "Beach? Go beach?" he asked me. So he remembered our fun trip to the beach this weekend, connected it with the pool, and was now excitedly anticipating it!

He's also starting to negotiate preferences with me. Last week I specifically wanted the kids to sit down and watch TV so that I could hopefully get them to drink their respective calories. I was somewhat firm and pointed to the couch and told Michael he had to sit there. "No couch," Michael said to me. Then he offered, "Bean bag chair?" Of course I agreed.

He's also been willing to tentatively touch his teeth to an apple slice. TWICE.

We had an incident where he really truly cared about a toy. The other day he was playing with the game Fishin' Fun. Basically it is like fishing - there are two magnetic fishing poles and the kids take turn "catching" little fish with metal hooks. Michael has really enjoyed the whole magnetic aspect lately and loves to stick the two poles together and run around the house trying to break the connection on furniture (yes...he's a boy).

Anyway, I was on the computer when I heard a shriek and Michael came running to me UTTERLY DEVASTATED. I'd never seen him so sad. "Uh oh, fish all gone!" he wailed. I had had him take me to the scene, and discovered he had accidentally lost one of the fishing poles down the the floor vent in his bedroom. He was SO upset about it - his poor eyes were huge and welled with tears. Fortunately, I was able to pull up the vent and retrieve the pole without too much difficulty. But even after I triumphantly gave it back to him (because of course Mommy totally ROCKS), he still took several minutes to calm down. I don't think I'd EVER seen him get upset like this about anything. Usually if something is taken away or lost, he apathetically moves on.

He's also developed a little fear. The other day I was stripping his mattress to wash his bedding and he FREAKED out. I explained that the washing machine was like a fun bubble bath and would make all this stuff clean, but he just couldn't handle it. Thinking the teddy bear was the primary issue, I retrieved it from the laundry basket and loaded the rest of the stuff into the machine. Michael, clutching his teddy, watched me for a bit, but when he saw his blanket go in he started crying - in fear. He actually ran from the utility room with BIG WIDE EYES.

And then he didn't forget about it (which is also something new). Every fifteen minutes or so he would sadly say, "blanket washing machine?" And I would happily exclaim about the fun his blanket was having it its bubble bath, about how nice and clean it would be afterwards. He was pretty much on edge until the blanket came out of the dryer. I'd never seen him that way before - normally he loves to help me put clothes in the washer. But now it seems he's been thinking about it and has reached some Toddler Conclusion and is now scared. Course, I don't want him to be scared of it, but it is SO COOL that he has developed the language to think about it and have fear!

All of this has given Ken and I a little more insight into Michael. I think the thing we have most wanted was to be able to talk with him and learn who he is and how he thinks. Because of the language delay, we haven't been able to connect with him that way. We've connected in many other ways, but not verbally. Now for the first time we are starting to get a glimpse of who Michael is, and it is fantastic.