He is starting to process and talk more. He has been what most would call delayed. We say he is a late bloomer. He has impressed us for a couple of years with his resourcefulness. He could imitate sounds for things that he needed or wanted, which always reminded me of the character from the Police Academy movies. The sound, “shhhhh” was for the water dispenser for our fridge. “Woof” was all he would say for our dog, Harley. It was simple but we all got it.
As I said, he is starting to really bloom. I have teased that it is like watching someone who imigrates or visits here with broken English as he tries to find the right words. He is focused. He usess gestures, taps his foot and looks around saying, “eh” or “um.” If you give him time, he gets it together. He beams with pride, if you ask him the right claryifying question back. And he loses his red-headed temper when you are way off base. He is even known to cover his eyes with his hand and shake his head back and forth in dismay and disapproval. (Which cracks me up, but I would never let him see me laugh)
His two older siblings came out of the womb talking non-stop. (hmm… that is definitely hereditary if you ask my Mom) But Rhett has been much later to talk and question. He is now sharing his highlight reel of his preschool morning and it is amazing. He is starting to not just listen to books at bedtime, but repeat, sing along and now ask “why.” It is music to this Mama’s ears. Even all the whys.
You may be wondering how a 3 year old is smarter than me. It all happened as we read before bed this past Saturday. We were reading a family favorite, Just in Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado. He has heard this book hundreds of times and I am sure I have read it a thousand times or more in the past 10 years of bedtimes. It is an “auto-pilot” book. Meaning I don’t need to read it with the words. I can just recite it and I don’t often pay close attention to the meaning behind the words. We were snuggled together and he was very relaxed sitting on my lap in our chair. All of a sudden he turned to face me and took me by my cheeks. He pulled me close and I fought the urge to go into “mom-mode” of “hey, let’s get back to the book.” But something happened that has never happened before.
He looked deep into my eyes and beamingly said, “Me love you like God love you Mama!” Oh, the tears of joy I instantly had were so full of love. I covered his face with kissed until he started squealing. I told him repeatedly, “you got it buddy!” He gets it better than I do. He pulled away and said, “Me see God soon?” And I replied, “God is in everything you see.” Rhett looked around and said, “Me meet God on Tuesday.” I said, “Maybe so.” And he smiled back. We snuggled down and finished our book with a mom that was not on “auto-pilot.” We prayed and I tucked him in tight.
As I stepped out of his peaceful room, I thought I can’t wait to share this story on Tuesday.
Hope you have a great Tuesday and that you can find the blessings in the abundance we all have in our lives from God.
Love,
A Mom of A Late Bloomer
boldlyblessed 
Precious. I need to get that book!
Maggie – you really do. It is so touching. It was a gift from my sister 10 years ago to Ian.