Memory

I was momentarily stunned last night when reading a book to the kid. It was a book about colors and had examples of 9 items on each page that were of a particular color. On the 2nd or 3rd page, I decided to ask him to point to the socks before I read any of the page. He pointed to the socks. Then I asked him to point to the tractor and he pointed to the tractor. He pointed correctly to three different objects on different pages when asked. At first I thought it might be random chance, but as he kept picking correctly, I realized he either recognized the picture, or knew where on the page that item was. Later I found out that the wife reads him that book and goes through the pictures with him. She hadn't ever had him point to anything though.

A related incident also occurred last night. We normally have been heading into town to go to Costco after picking up the kid from his sitter. This happens once a week and for the past month or so after the Costco trip we would stop and get a polish sausage and a slice of cheese pizza. The kid loves to eat cheese pizza while sitting in the shopping cart.

Well, last night we went to Costco, but decided to purchase a chicken instead of the typical polish and cheese pizza. We paid for our items and made it past the food court and halfway to the outside door when the child started fussing a bit. The wife and I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but he kept pointing behind us towards the food court. Then we realized that he thought we were going to eat there and was disappointed to not get his cheese pizza. That means he can remember specific events from a week ago, possibly more. Once we told him we were going to eat at home he seemed content. It was kind of like he thought we were forgetting something like when I forget my hat and he alerts me to the fact. He has been quite helpful in that regard.

What a smart kid!