The Super-Baby

Then there is Seymin (His name is a bit of a joke among the teachers, poor little fellow). His mother is living with us and helping to cook. He is the most incredible child I have ever encountered. He is only one, but he wears the clothes of a four year old. He is gigantic but still has the muscle control of a baby, so he lumbers awkwardly about like a big wooden puppet. He has wandered around ever since arriving from Korea with a rather stunned and upset look on his face, saying all the time, "Boi? Boi?" (This literally means, What the Hell? What the Hell?) Even in church, during a quieter moment, you'll hear, "Boi?" echo from the back.

Like a walking tank or machine of destruction, he lunges for the weakest and most breakable things. I've seen the child attach himself to the cane of a wobbling old man and try to rip away his only support. I've seen him charge the sun-glasses stand in a store. He springs again and again at drinking glasses, knives, pottery, telephones, hatchets, and other risky objects. It's phenomenal to watch the speed and precision of each attack. Nothing is sacred and nothing is safe. The first thing he did at the park was not to go near the playground structures, but make a beeline for the public garbage cans. He makes frequent break-aways, hurling himself towards danger, and is constantly rescued from death's door. I pulled him out of the lake after a nose-plant in the water. (After being rescued three times from drowning, he finally sat down on the dock and quietly pondered for a few moments....something I've never seen him do). He also doesn't seem to have any sense of pain. He will crash on his head, and there is no crying afterwards, only a startled, "Boi?" It's phenomenal.

Did I mention that Seymin cracked a rock in half with his teeth? Jonquil and I tease his mother that the father is Superman.