A Dinosaur-Two Years Later

Two years ago.

Halloweenish time though.

I dressed Dublin in a dinosaur costume.

The goal:

To get him to participate with the rest of the neighborhood kid pack, despite his disinterest in costumes, candy, people, and ritual.

In retrospect, to pass as atypical.

Today, my little D finds his dinosaur costume in the garage. 

Brings it to me.

"Help me."

I help him.

He sits on my lap, slipping his legs, arms, fingers, and head into this costume that was once stitched for the mind and body of a toddler. 

He pulls the dinosaur face over his forehead.

Runs toward the mirror,

Screams "raaaaaaaaawr!"

Soon after, he realizes he is uncomfortable.

Runs back to me.

Grabs my hand, placing it on a velcro tab,

looks at me directly in the eyes and says "help me....off...pwease!"

We took his costume off.

He's fine.

Ran off to play with his cars in a matter of seconds.

I, however, sat there still and in awe.

This very quick, fleeting happening is what I consider a  piece of evidence demonstrating striking differences between Dublin the dinosaur of 2015 and 2017.

Dublin the dinosaur of 2015 had no idea he was wearing a costume.

He fought his parents as they tried to make him a dinosaur before a tantrum escalated. 

While Dublin the dinosaur of 2017 requested to wear a costume.

He performed the body language and sounds of dinosaurs.

Today taught me that we may not always know what Dublin the dinosaur is thinking.

His limited vocalizations distance us from understanding his thought process for sure.

What we do know is that Dublin the dinosaur is remembering something.

That all along he has been and continues to collect data from the world.

He just isn't always ready to share the world what exactly he has been collecting.

In other words, Dublin the dinosaur of 2015 learned he could "raaaawr" and in 2017 he actually did it.