The Count

Years ago, when I took Micah to the pediatrician for his two-year check-up, he was diagnosed with expressive speech delay. Basically, he understood everything we said. But he followed his own timetable when it came to talking. And, while he can talk your ear off when given the rare opportunity (he's sandwiched between two very verbal siblings), his strongest gifts lie in other areas.

When he was four, I took him to be assessed for speech. I was trying to get him enrolled in the preschool speech program through the elementary school. He was given a very long and thorough assessment. During one portion, the evaluators went through a large book, filled with pictures. They would ask him to point things out, name them, or just answer questions about what he saw. He was very serious throughout the evaluation and did his best to respond correctly. At one point, he was shown a picture of six fruits. The tester asked how many was half. He answered, "Three." This was unexpected. They further prodded him to point out half of the fruits. He pointed to three of them (and looked at the ladies like they were ridiculous). The comment was made, "Well, I guess we know what his strength is!"

It wasn't the first time I noticed a love of numbers in this son. As we dropped Jonah off at kindergarten each day, Micah began to point out the bus numbers. He repeatedly asked me to name the numbers until, eventually, he could name them all by himself. He memorized the three or four bus numbers we routinely passed by and knew just when and where to expect them. He was three.

Now, this translates into a fascination with patterns and arithmetic. Towards the end of the school year, he was taught to tally. Recently, I have found him silently marking during rainstorms, or as he lies on the grass looking overhead, or while digging in the garden. Some people scribble their life's happenings in blogs or journals. My boy tallies. And I couldn't be happier that he has discovered his gift so early on!