No means No, or does it?

I know that Ian comprehends the meaning of the word no. After all he correctly uses it about 500,000 times a day with Lorree and I. Yet when we use it his face changes into a look of complete befuddlement as if to say, “No Comprende”. I wanted to help him emphasize his point so I got him to start putting the back of his hand to his forehead and throw his head back while saying “No” in a dramatic style. After viewing this behavior Lorree did not think it was such a good idea.

We have yet to get him to say the work yes even though on very rare occasions he does nod his head. I think it is an attempt to hide the knowledge from us and a large wariness of what saying yes might mean.

Unfortunately for him he recently tipped his hand by accidentally showing me that he understands the If-Then statement. As in, if you take a bite of your lunch then I will sit down with you. From that point forward things have taken a slight turn for the worse as far as he is concerned.