Sometimes, the Boy tries to be cute. He sees the camera out and decides to scrunch up his face into a silly expression. But sometimes, it seems to come more naturally. And sometimes, it’s positively eerie — in a positive way, of course.

Today, while sitting on the bed waiting for the girls to get ready so the three of them could head to a friend’s for a birthday party, E and I decided to read a book. And he selected his new favorite, a book on colors from the library. He knows red. He wants to know them all. But he knows red.

We began.

Pointing to the strawberry, he said, “Red!” No hesitation. We turned to the next page.

E was a bit hesitant, but wanted to do well.

“Um, red?”

“No, purple.”

“Urple?”

“Yes. Purple.” And we turned the page.

“Um, red?”

“No, buddy, it’s green.”

“Green?” And we turned the page.

“Um, red?”

I started wondering at this point if it was a game. He does like to be silly. Still, I played along, game or no.

“No, little man, it’s yellow.”

Next page.

“Um, red?”

I realized at this point that perhaps he doesn’t know red. Perhaps it’s the only color name he knows.

He knows blue. He’s used the word before, and correctly. I was expecting “Um, blue?”

“Um, red?”

No, he doesn’t know red. Or blue. Or yellow. Or green. He doesn’t know his colors.

We turned the page.

“Um, red?”

We turned the page.

“Um, red?”

“It’s not funny anymore,” I wanted to say, even though it was.

Yep — red.

We turned to the final page. Pink. Close to red. “Red” would be a close enough answer, especially to a colorblind daddy like me.

“Um, yummy!”

No, it wasn’t a game, but it sure seemed like a set-up.