Sometimes He's a Swinger
Leelo has a love/hate relationship with swings, but we continue to encourage him since swinging is a nice, sensory-satisfying, independent way to play. Occasionally he will jump off the swing and run away howling; at other times he will plant his butt in that little yellow bucket and refuse to leave for upwards of twenty minutes (which is an eon in Leelo-time). He still insists on being pushed, but as Iz and several of her friends were late-erupting swing pumpers, I'm not too worried about that skill.
Yesterday Babysitter A and I were prompting Leelo to use language while he was swinging. Babysitter A modeled, "I like to swing!" and I chimed in with, "I like to swing, too! Do you like to swing, Leelo?"
And, clear as a bell, he replied, "Sometimes."
We both almost fell over.
It is instances like this that give me hope for him and his future ability to communicate. For a moment everything was aligned and he could tell us exactly what he was thinking.
Hearing him give such a "normal" response also makes me sad, because it demonstrates that the problem is not just whatever systemic anomalies are handicapping Leelo's ability to communicate. My inability to figure out how to reach him consistently, that is also a problem.
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