How many

Whenever I asked Calder for a number, he would start counting. How many paos did you eat? He would say "one two". How many chips do you want? "One two three." I've had to ask him to repeat after me: "I ate two paos."
Yesterday, there was a breakthrough.
"How many cherry tomatoes do you want to bring to school?" I asked as I prepared to wash them at the sink.
Calder replied, "Five."

Thank you

This morning, a young girl in primary school uniform kept the lift open for us as her Mom and other adults stepped out. I said "thank you!" Then I heard her say "thank you!" I turned back and realised she was speaking to Calder, who upon exiting had gone to the outside lift button, keeping it pressed for her to exit "safely". A beautiful scenario to start the day!

Tell Mei Mei

Before bedtime, I got Calder to hang the laundry. When he had finished, he went as usual to the washing machine to check that he had not missed out any clothes. Upon leaving the kitchen, he turned off all its lights, not realising that Ethel was brushing her teeth in the kitchen toilet.
Ethel: Calder!
Calder quietly turned the lights back on. When I met him in the Iiving room, I decided that he needed to learn to apologise in situations like this.
Me: Calder, tell Mei Mei "sorry".
Obediently, Calder turned back to find his sister.

And he said to her:
Tell Mei Mei sorry.

Prefer

Teaching Calder to use the word "prefer" and wondering how much he understands.

Me: Calder, do you prefer apple or orange?
Calder: Apple.
Me: Do you prefer orange or grapes?
Calder: Grapes.
Me: Do you prefer Mei Mei (Ethel, who was sitting beside us, supposedly doing homework but really listening with a spark in her eyes) or Mommy?
Calder: Mei Mei.
Me: Do you prefer Mommy or Daddy?
Calder: Daddy.
Me: How is Mommy feeling?
Calder: Happy!

Baby Shark

The Baby Shark song has such a happy tune that I adapted it into a love song for Calder -

Mommy love you doo-doo-doo-doo-doo X3,
Mommy love

Busy teaching at the Singapore Institute of Technology, I hadn't sung this song to Calder for a while. Yesterday, he was wandering around the house while I was engrossed in an autism post (listing places I'd shared about autism). The next thing I knew, he had sauntered out of a room singing our sharky-love song and meeting my eyes in a radiant grin.

Life is beautiful.

Ostrich

Calder knows he mustn't laugh loudly and continuously because it disturbs other people, especially in a quiet place. But the laughing fits still come. Recently, I saw that he would put his hands over his ears when he starts laughing. And press harder when the laughing gets louder.

Excuse Me

Calder is speaking more these days, using words we have taught him. Yesterday evening, he came to me as usual, waiting for instruction what to do next. Since he had already practised piano and watched TV and played on his tablet, I suggested that he go look out the window (he likes to see traffic). There was a clothes rack in front of the big window in our living room. As Calder manoeuvred his way around the clothes rack, he actually said, "Excuse me, hanger."