Nik’s latest thing he likes to do is make patterns on the inside back door with his magnetic letters. He does it in a very deliberate and methodical fashion, humming the letter sounds he can make as he goes. I watch, fascinated, trying to figure out if there is a rhyme or reason. There is, I can tell, but it may not always be the same.
Some of the elements remain constant— his desire to group letters together or to alternate the capital and lower case letters. Sometimes, there are linear pairs of letters marching up and down the insides of the door frame. Those patterns are usually pretty distinct and I can see that, perhaps, they reflect a need for order and control.
Others? Crooked lines and clusters of seemingly random groupings of letters turned in all directions —some of them aren’t even “complete” in that they don’t contain all of the same letter. For instance, in a grouping with the letter S, Nik may have them arranged in some pattern either by direction or size. But there will be a renegade S on the periphery of another group…slightly out of place. Or is it?
Still other times? Words. Hidden within the clusters and the seeming randomness there is meaning. So much like my boy himself.
Oh, to know for a fraction of a second what goes on inside his beautiful mind…
I love these pictures. And the patterns. And that amazing boy of yours.
First word I found was HP … as in, HAPPY. Followed by XQ, which could be XO.
Which is how this post made me feel.
Happy XQs to you and your wonderful boy, my friend.
Looks like he’s having fun. TH does this still, except with nuts or Pokemon cards.
It fascinates me, Emily, that he can do this for twenty minutes or so at a stretch and is so incredibly focused. 🙂
I’m with Alysia…Love.
love his patterns
He sees all, knows all…..
He is such an amazing little guy. I love these pics. So glad you’ve documented this time in his life.
Xoxo
Brilliant, beautiful boy…
What I love most is the flow that you described in the comments, that he can spend 20 minutes in complete focus. That is a description of joy – and I’m so glad he’s found a way of joy.