D-O-G

Nathan woke up this morning spelling "D-O-G, D-O-G dog". Of course, I know exactly which Leapfrog toy he's memorized it from. The same toy says "it's rhyme time" and "it's story time". When Nathan says "it's story time", it doesn't mean he wants me to read a story, it means he wants that toy. He actually gets so addicted to it, such a single-minded focus, I hide it in the closet. But Nathan remembers, and apparently dreams about it.
Yesterday he said "B-O-T-S". Bots? What the heck are bots? And then I remembered. We have a Laurie Berkner CD in the car with a song about B-O-O-T-S boots. I also heard him counting "uno dos tres cuatro cinco siete siete siete". He has so many books memorized too, and even if he doesn't know what the words mean he says them in order. He can recite much of the book "Guess How Much I Love You", complete with my intonation.
I thought memory, and especially verbal memory, is supposed to be a problem in people with Down Syndrome! Again this brings me back to the idea that while people with Down Syndrome share many characteristics, they are people, each with his own strengths. Nathan's memory amazes me every day!