It's probably been happening for some time now, I just never really noticed it. Nate's Lego constructs have mostly been on the small scale, usually assembled from pieces no longer than two stud lengths. Last Friday he dragged out his mega blocks and started building with them. It seemed like he was only at it for a short while when he walked into the office to show me this.
It may not look like much to you, but to me it was vastly different from the other things he's made. It's obvious that some thought went into it. It is completely symmetrical, in form and colour. My first response was to ask him if he had made it by himself. Silly question really. I had been in the office, Patty was out of town, there really wasn't anyone else! But to me it didn't seem possible that he had done it all by himself.
Later on that same day he came and showed me this.
'A robot!', I said.
'No! It's a mask!' he said.
And so it was, complete with eyes you could look through.
I have no idea when a child is supposed to develop these abilities, I just find it fascinating that it came about so quickly, and that I was fortunate enough to be around to witness it. A few days later, I watched him as he put together a 'building' in the waiting room at the dentist's. You could almost see the gears turning in his head, as he picked through the bins looking for the pieces he needed. He almost always picked them in pairs, but sometimes he'd find one piece and add it to the building before going back to find another one. If he couldn't find another one, he would look for a new pair that would work instead.
I'm pretty sure I could have watched him for hours.
