I'm On a Mexican Radioooo
Fa the boulder!
Fa the boulder!
-- Erik's version of "Bob the Builder"
The last week has been wonderful, albeit extremely intense. I have spent a great deal of time with Erik with my work being slow and Brian being away working on a project nearly every day.
I asked Brian last night if he has noticed that Erik's budding language skills seem very different from other children. To my surprise, he admitted he has. Now that Erik has a lot to say and is discovering the language to express himself, I find myself fascinated by what occurs. I am unable to adequately explain this, but when Erik speaks, people sometimes freeze in their tracks.
The other day I decided I had cabin fever and that we needed to get out of the house. I loaded Erik in the Jeep and headed for the shopping center. When we arrived, I placed him in the cart and pushed him past the customer service counter. Erik turned his head, spotted a rather attractive woman working there, and loudly blurted, "Hi, sweetheart!" Being used to this now, I smiled and kept going. As we made our way across the store to enjoy the luxury of wandering the aisles with no time constraints, two teenage girls approached us from the opposite direction, deep in conversation. Erik straightened up in his seat and smiled his best smile. Just as they passed, he said, "Hi, girls!" They came to a sudden stop, seeming to be unsure at first where this booming voice came from. Giant smiles stretched across their fresh faces, and as my cart rounded the corner I heard one of them said, "Oh my gosh. How cute!" He went on to greet another man, and when this gentleman smiled and asked Erik how he was, Erik replied, "Good! Hallelujah!"
It's simply strange. One moment he protests and says a perfectly age-appropriate "No want it," or completely mangles the lyrics to a children's song, and the next he is spouting out phrases he has learned to use with perfect diction and inflection, following this up by suddenly belting out a perfect verse of "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" without any warning whatsoever. He uses words and phrases I have never heard him use before. Yesterday a friend of mine carrying Erik around stopped in his tracks and asked if Erik could have possibly uttered a simple phrase in French. I laughed, unable to deny that he had. Sometimes it seems as if he is picking up some sort of radio station from airwaves far above us, as he can suddenly sound like a sports announcer, a surgeon, a professor, a television evangelist, a or a stand-up comedian. It's halfway spooky. There are even times I suspect he is channeling the spirits of some very interesting old characters.
The other day I took Erik outside to enjoy a very sunny afternoon. He has two tricycles, both of which he has refused to sit on and has screamed when we have tried to place him on them at all. He does enjoy pushing them around and watching the wheels turn. On this particular afternoon, I glanced up from the chair I was sitting in enjoying the warm sun just in time to witness him swing one leg over the thing and slide down into the seat for the very first time. I bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from releasing the two thousand decibel hooray I felt bubbling up from deep inside of me and scaring him half to death. As he began to propel himself forward with his little sneakers against the walkway, he mumbled to himself, and I was able to catch a few words.
As he pushed himself away, he said, "Here comes blue sky!"
Fa the boulder!
-- Erik's version of "Bob the Builder"
The last week has been wonderful, albeit extremely intense. I have spent a great deal of time with Erik with my work being slow and Brian being away working on a project nearly every day.
I asked Brian last night if he has noticed that Erik's budding language skills seem very different from other children. To my surprise, he admitted he has. Now that Erik has a lot to say and is discovering the language to express himself, I find myself fascinated by what occurs. I am unable to adequately explain this, but when Erik speaks, people sometimes freeze in their tracks.
The other day I decided I had cabin fever and that we needed to get out of the house. I loaded Erik in the Jeep and headed for the shopping center. When we arrived, I placed him in the cart and pushed him past the customer service counter. Erik turned his head, spotted a rather attractive woman working there, and loudly blurted, "Hi, sweetheart!" Being used to this now, I smiled and kept going. As we made our way across the store to enjoy the luxury of wandering the aisles with no time constraints, two teenage girls approached us from the opposite direction, deep in conversation. Erik straightened up in his seat and smiled his best smile. Just as they passed, he said, "Hi, girls!" They came to a sudden stop, seeming to be unsure at first where this booming voice came from. Giant smiles stretched across their fresh faces, and as my cart rounded the corner I heard one of them said, "Oh my gosh. How cute!" He went on to greet another man, and when this gentleman smiled and asked Erik how he was, Erik replied, "Good! Hallelujah!"
It's simply strange. One moment he protests and says a perfectly age-appropriate "No want it," or completely mangles the lyrics to a children's song, and the next he is spouting out phrases he has learned to use with perfect diction and inflection, following this up by suddenly belting out a perfect verse of "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" without any warning whatsoever. He uses words and phrases I have never heard him use before. Yesterday a friend of mine carrying Erik around stopped in his tracks and asked if Erik could have possibly uttered a simple phrase in French. I laughed, unable to deny that he had. Sometimes it seems as if he is picking up some sort of radio station from airwaves far above us, as he can suddenly sound like a sports announcer, a surgeon, a professor, a television evangelist, a or a stand-up comedian. It's halfway spooky. There are even times I suspect he is channeling the spirits of some very interesting old characters.
The other day I took Erik outside to enjoy a very sunny afternoon. He has two tricycles, both of which he has refused to sit on and has screamed when we have tried to place him on them at all. He does enjoy pushing them around and watching the wheels turn. On this particular afternoon, I glanced up from the chair I was sitting in enjoying the warm sun just in time to witness him swing one leg over the thing and slide down into the seat for the very first time. I bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from releasing the two thousand decibel hooray I felt bubbling up from deep inside of me and scaring him half to death. As he began to propel himself forward with his little sneakers against the walkway, he mumbled to himself, and I was able to catch a few words.
As he pushed himself away, he said, "Here comes blue sky!"
Labels: language, Williams syndrome
posted by Nancy at 5:35 AM
17 Comments:
I read a book called "Proust and the Squid," by Maryanne Wolf. It is about how the human brain reads. Very interesting. I don't remember much of the book - it was a bit over my head, but it talked about mapping neural pathways.
Maybe you are seeing a gift revealed.
WOW! I'm so impressed with everything he's doing. And those phrases, amazing!! I can just imagine him saying "hello sweetheart" to women. Classic. I love it!! YAAAAAY Erik!
Nancy, I've been reading your blog and first, I hope you do keep blogging if you can because it seems to be a good release for you. It's that way for a lot of us, and it also serves as a journal of sorts to document our thoughts, feelings, changes, growth, etc. As long as you feel comfortable & comforted with blogging, then post when you feel the need. That's my 2-cent advice :)
Second, I agree with those girls, Erik is a cutie!
I don't know much about W.S., but it sounds like he has a level of higher intellect too to respond on those levels that some adults don't respond on. You may have said this before.. but has he shown any skill yet towards drawing, singing, or playing music, etc?
Oh my gosh I love it. He sounds like a little flirt. Noah is too. Great job on the tricycle.
You know he has a fabulously smart & charming mother, so no doubt he will be just a fabulously charming in his own way. Watch out world!
XOXO
Amy
Nearly in tears of joy reading this. YAY ERIK!! Sharing your hooray, hon!
so cute!
He is just too sweet.
They are curious creatures, our kiddos!
I would have loved to hear him respond to that man, "Good! Hallelujah!" :) LOL What an adorable little man
Bless you Eric, gorgeous little man LOL
Jai cracks me up with similar things - he was asked by the Opthamologist how he was today and replied "im extremely very good and are you very, very good too?" this came approx 15 seconds after a rather loud meltdown proclaiming "done wanna go dopter!" and took everyone by suprise.
What a little flirt! He does seem to have a gift doesn't he? I find it facinating to read the different phrases/sentences he comes up with. Amazing
And don't forget... last week when I walked him down your porch stairs to our car, he turned, smiled, and said, "Bye bye, Mamma. Have fun watching tv!"
Love, Mom
Erick is too cute! Enjoy every minute of his amazing personality!
I love the pictures of Erik. He's a little flirt already! I can just picture it :)
Good to have you back on the blog, Nance!
I love to hear what Erik is saying next!! Hallelujah!
What an adorable photo of Erik! Could you send some of that sunshine this way please!!!! It is cold and snowy here!
Erik's one liners and that awesome personality... he just might be a writer for Hallmark! All the laughs and warm fuzzies people would experience reading his cards!!
Certainly save this post about his phrases and perfect mimic. It's funny, but I'm thinking this could very well turn into a lucrative gig for him. We never know do we!
My daughter started riding her bike this month or last (can’t remember) and has finally perfected her steering. Thank goodness! Now it’s all about her tricycle.
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