How does the writer use language to describe his son?: With every tiny development – every new step he takes, every new tooth and sound and reaction that comes along to ambush us – we’re confronted with a slightly different child.

There is a semantic field of words linked to growing up or changes in various stages of life such as 'development', 'new' and 'different'. Evidently, this describes the son growing up, most likely from an infant to a child. This combined with the sudden jolt the repeated use of hyphens create, suggests that the narrator is almost surprised by the occurrence of these changes. The narrator does not seem to be at ease with his son growing up, it does not seem natural to him.However, these changes do not seem to be sudden, they appear to be an ongoing perpetual process. This is emphasised by the repetitive use of 'every', the synonyms of words to do with small such as 'tiny', 'step' and 'slightly'.Nevertheless, this ongoing process of change is portrayed as somewhat negative as the narrator appears to feel attacked. This is demonstrated by the hyperbolic use of the verbs 'ambush' and 'confronted'. There is a implication of a sense of discord. Additionally, the use of the inclusive pronoun of 'us' and 'we' used by the narrator, to presumably include himself as well as the mother, further creates a barrier and a sense of being outnumbered by their incomprehensible son.