A (little) man possessed
The
Exorcist. Classic horror movie featuring child possessed
by demon. During the scarier moments, the child speaks in a horrible
voice,
turns its head all the way around and vomits pea soup everywhere.
What does this have to do with us? Jasper has finally begun moving of his own volition. Unfortunately for all of us, he can only move backwards. Which is kind of creepy.
Added to this is his ‘sound of the week’, which is a deep-throated, gutteral growling that, in the right frame of mind, can remind one of a demon-infested child. Lately JD has been eating peas and sometimes throws them up.
He has yet to levitate, use telekinesis to throw kitchen utensils around, swear at priests (though none has yet visited, to be fair) or start spontaneous fires. So the jury is out on his supernatural abilities.
We can but admire his limitless capacity to repeat his very painful-sounding growl with no apparent ill effects, and amuse ourselves as he explores the environment from his new-found ability to gain slight, but significant, momentum. This raises the old issue of child-proofing the house; more or less impossible while we are still renovating.
Jasper has a way of moving in large circles, always backwards of course. This means he is quite capable of getting at anything within five feet of his rear radius, but finds it virtually impossible to reach anything more than a few inches away from the limit of his forward reach. I’ve mulled over the possibility of sewing a mop head onto his jumpsuit, so he can at least clean the floors while he’s shoving himself around.
We’re not yet relaxed enough to let him bump his little head as he practises his movements. It’s impossible to stand by and watch as he wobbles about perilously close to the pointed edge of a piece of furniture. I guess the blasé acceptance of bruises, grazes and scrapes will come in time, but right now we’re not ready to be so hard-hearted!
I’ll be taking a break for Christmas, but I look forward to telling you all about Jasper's Yuletide adventures in the new year. Be safe over the holidays and sleep well.
