WEEKLY REPORTS-- M. Howe. Written during the two and one half months' experience: June 19 to 25, 1965.

Second Week Several new things developed this week.

First Peter and I got on a more sociable, physical level Peter began to be gentle with me, and allow me to go to him without the broom. He did not nip at me as he used to . . . rather he was making a thorough study of my feet, legs, ankles, knees. Doing this he is very gentle . . . the rough part being when he tries to push me around. He gets between my legs and pushes me apart. When he starts to nip . . . I make a big fuss . . . shout at him and retreat. But we are getting much friendlier . . . and I feel more comfortable with him.

Second, my earlier thoughts on Peter are coming true, Peter is more and more inclined to "play games" and speaking is going rather slowly.

I will take advantage of this . . . and use the games all I can for speaking. We will continue to play the "towel fetch" game and the "cloth fetch" game. We have gotten so far as to have three balls thrown and collected and brought back to me. From this I can start to name the number of balls, and try to get him to fetch only one, or only two. He is very enthusiastic about this game. . .

Listening to the tapes . . . I find the most encouraging thing is that Peter does seem to be working. He is taking his sweet time in really beginning to listen to me again . . . I have had several sessions where I have really had to yell at him to bring order to the lesson. One time I let him ramble on and on, but I tried to copy all of his sounds. The tape was interesting. I was surprised at how well I was able to copy at least his pitch . . . and how he seemed to test me with new combinations of sounds.

I have concentrated mainly on counting and shape lessons. I recorded one spontaneous game developed when we were watching TV. The TV is on in the background, and Peter and I are playing with the towel. Peter speaks for it, I throw it, he gets it, brings it to me, and on and on. I do not know how long Peter will stick at this game . . . I always get tired before he does. It would be interesting to just keep going until he tires of it.

Peter eats well. Only once has he refused a meal, and then he ate it about an hour later. Occasionally when I am eating something he sets up a row . . . open mouth "feed me" kind of thing . . . and I toss him a piece of whatever I am having. A sardine was the most interesting . . . he mashed it up a bit before dropping it.

I am well pleased with all of Peter's activities except his apparent vocal ability. He is more than eager . . . works hard . . . but he just does not seem to hear or be able to copy the pronunciation aspects of speech. Perhaps this will come . . . perhaps not. He has said a clear "ball"; he has worked well on the beginning of the word "one" . . . the "we" . . . and best of all he does seem to have a nice sense of pitch.

By this I mean that when I count, "one, two three," my voice will often rise on the "three" . . . and often Peter will copy this rise in the last of the three sounds. This is true of words like "triangle" also. And "hello." I try to say one word the same way each time . . . sometimes I fail but for the most part I am consistent in my inflections and Peter is beginning to pick this up.

He has been practicing with the pronunciation of the letter "M" from "Margaret," no doubt . . . and is discovering that rolling slightly so that his blowhole is just under the water gives a satisfactory "M" effect. (Pam has done exactly the same thing.)

Peter is certainly many times more humanoid vocally than he was two weeks ago . . . and some of this is beginning to creep in to non-lesson time such as when he wants my attention, he is annoyed, etc. I always reply in some form to an uncalled-for humanoid and encourage him. Peter continues to "chat" whenever I am on the phone . . . and this is mostly in humanoid. I don't think anyone has called here recently and not heard Peter in the background. I have asked people how he sounds . . . and they say that they can hear him very well. I think incidentally that Peter is quite happy. I would not have said the same thing of Pam in that other situation . . . but here the water is deep enough so that Peter is well covered . . . moves easily, can race around . . . and I see no bad effects at all. I am also quite comfortable except for the sleeping. My bed now has about three inches, of water in it . . . that will not come out . . . it is saturated. I have been on and off sleeping out of the tank . . . and I am waiting for some polyethylene sheeting to make my bed more waterproof. I will screen it in. I had a fever of 101 degrees farenheight for a day . . . and spent the day out of the flooded room in bed. Aubrey Pickering had been ill and I think this accounted for my fever.

We have not forced Peter outside yet . . . I am waiting for special workmen to come and look at the balcony to see about cleaning it and I don't want Peter there when they do. And for the moment he seems happy inside. Each day he moves farther down by the elevator . . . it may be that he will get outside himself ( see photograph ) .

Monday the sea pool will be cleaned and Tuesday the concrete will come and start being poured as was planned. My boys will continue on wall . . . and by the end of next week Pam should come upstairs. Here's hoping! The reference is to the wall around Pam's new tank outside this building referred to earlier in this report.

I am anxious to start work with Pam . . . I miss her pronunciation capability !