A Steel Trap.

One could describe Brock's mind as a steel trap. Seriously, once something gets in, it doesn't get out. I wish I would have known this before I told him that his teeth would turn black and fall out if he didn't brush them. Now, he WILL NOT go to bed without brushing his teeth (not that I would want him to, but if he falls asleep and we carry him to bed, he will wake up in the middle of the night and freak out that he "got forgot to brush his teeth!"). He even likes to floss. And apparently, as I just found out, he brushes his teeth frequently when visiting his Mimi and Papa. Also, he will periodically look at me, point to his teeth and ask me what color they are...just to double check that they are still white. I know this can also be described as stubbornness or anal retention, but it all stems from an incredible memory.
One night, I finally convinced my little, elephant minded child to let me read him the book, Bluberries for Sal. I got through about 3 pages before he grabbed it, and exclaimed, "We picked blueberries!" Which we had, as you might recall from last June! Over 6 months ago...I mean, that's a sixth of his lifetime. And not only did he remember the event, but he remembered every person who came along with us, 7 people. I don't think I remember much from 5 years ago, I know I got married and was in med school, that's about it. And, while we are on the book topic, if he likes a book, he pretty much memorizes it after just a few reads. We have a recording on Matt's iPhone of him reciting most of Are You My Mother before he was even 2.5 years old. His little voice is adorable, he sounds much more like a baby, rather than the little boy he is these days.

But not only does he have simple, rote memorization skills. He can incorporate these memories and use them to his advantage. Such as, last weekend, when our good friends' Gabe and Christin were over for dinner and games. Brock asked his father if he could play with his phone. Matt said, "no". Brock then turned and looked at Gabe's phone, which is identical, and asked Gabe if he could play games with his phone. Gabe said, "no, I don't have any games". Wrong move. You could immediately see the wheels spinning. Did I mention that Brock might be the world's biggest skeptic? You could tell he did not believe for a minute that an iPhone had no games. So, he sauntered off, pretending not to care that Gabe had rejected his request.

He returns moments later to inform Gabe, "You have a nice phone, I really like your phone." To which Gabe replied with a thank you. Brock then gets a little closer and says, "Does your phone have speakers?" And Gabe says, why yes. "Well, can I see them?" - HA! Are you kidding me, we were all just watching in astonishment. Brock was trying to come up with a clever way to get Gabe to hand over his phone. Gabe just pointed them out. Brock realized his plan hadn't worked and just came out with his trump card: "can I play the Balloon game?" Just as a little background, Gabe had shown Brock this game months ago. Caught in a lie. Personally, I would have accepted defeat, and handed the phone over to the kid, but Gabe said, "No, you forgot to say, please." Ugh. Darn those manners. Extremely intelligent people aren't known for their manners anyway...

...and let me add. It's a good thing Brock has fairly bright parents, because we have to constantly come up with new ways to convince that kid to do anything. Anyday he is going to start out-smarting us at every corner. I mean, he even reads the newspaper while out for a stroll. I can only hope he will use his powers for good, someday.