Monkey See, Monkey Do

Score another developmental jump for Finn: he's now engaging in pretend play and imitation.

Yesterday he toddled into our room, grabbed the remote from the shelf below the TV, held it up to his ear and started walking around talking on the "phone." I was truly floored; I rarely talk on the phone (with six kids? It's pretty near impossible), so it's unlikely that he's copying me. More likely his older brother, Kevin, who is on the phone quite a bit. In any case, he's copying someone, and I was flabbergasted that he made that connection - that he found something that resembled a phone, and did with it exactly what a person does with a phone.



Now it seems to be his new thing, wandering around the house chatting away on the "phone." I love it!

Then tonight after dinner, as we were clearing the table and doing dishes, Finn went into the kitchen drawer where the dishtowels are kept, pulled one out, and began wiping down the cupboards - and then he tried to hang the towel on the oven handle where I usually hang a towel!

Seriously, this kid never ceases to amaze me.

Other things he's started doing are "reading" books and taking his sisters' purses and hanging them on his shoulder. Like, he really gets it. I can almost see the wheels turning in his little head.

I know that when I learned that I had a child with a developmental disability - a child who is clinically deemed mentally retarded - it devastated me and scared me so much. What did it mean? What would it mean as he grew up? Would it mean that he would never be able to learn, to experience life? And I see all the time that that's not what it means at all. He's soaking it all up like a little sponge.

Not to overestimate all this, but I know that this type of play is developmentally significant. And it makes me feel like he is going to be just fine.