He IS listening!

I need to stop expecting my child to not "get" things. He clearly can. Here are two examples.

The boy really loves the computer. He loves to go on Kneebouncers and play the games on there as well as some of the ones on Fisherprice. Last week he wanted to use the computer but it was just before dinner and I was cooking. I told him that if he behaved at dinner, he could use the computer. He sat nicely and even tried a bite of food. When he was done he said "I'm finished" and got down from his seat. He looked me square in the eye and said "computer". Did he really remember or did he just want to play computer really bad?

Again, last week, I was trying to get him to take a No Thank You bite of food. He did not want to go along with this and made a huge fuss. Finally, I decided to try a bribe. I told him if he took his No Thank You bite, he could have some goldfish. I have never seen a piece of food tossed so quickly into his mouth before. He swallowed it whole and got himself a handful of crackers. I was stunned.

For now on, I'm going to assume he understands what I'm saying, even if it takes a few minutes to register. I'm also going to assume that when he doesn't do what I ask or say, that he's just being 3 and learning what he can and can't control. That's what we're striving for. Each day, he's making a comeback and it's the greatest thing to watch.