I realized a few months ago that Toby was beginning to learn the letters of the alphabet. I thought it seemed a bit early for him to be recognizing letters, but decided to encourage it. What could it hurt?
For the past month or so, Toby and I have been practicing letter flashcards during our daily "learning time" and we sing the "ABC song" every now and then. He LOVES flashcard time and insists on sitting in my lap as we flip through the letters. We go through the stack of cards 6...7...sometimes 8 times before he gets tired of it. The only letters he has a hard time with are D, R, V, and W. It's really impressive to watch.
I had about 20 minutes to fill before it was time to pick Sam up from school this afternoon, so Toby and I stopped by the new Marshalls in Uptown Charlotte to pick up a baby gift for some friends. I put Toby into a cart and headed to the baby section. As I was looking at a jacket that caught my eye, I heard Toby begin to recite letters.
"U...O...Y...K...N..." he was saying.
I looked down to see Toby pointing at letters on the handle bar of the cart and reciting each one...even though they were facing me and UPSIDE DOWN to him.
"A...H...T...Yay!!!!!" he concluded, clapping for himself and grinning from ear to ear. I caught myself looking at him like he was an alien from outer space. My eyebrows were scrunched together and I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the floor, too.
The child had just spelled "THANK YOU" backwards and read the letters upside-down. How many not-quite-two-year-old children do you know who recognize almost all of the letters of the alphabet right side-up and upside-down? HUH?
After a few seconds of processing his newest feat, I said, "Good boy, Toby!" and kissed him on the cheek. There's nothing like a little positive reinforcement to encourage new talents :)
As we were sitting at the stop light at Charlottetown Avenue and Third Street on our way to pick Sam up from school, Toby started spelling again.
"S...E...C...U..." he declared.
I looked to my left and saw the State Employees' Credit Union. The child is amazing.
Now...if we could just get this potty-training thing rolling, I'll be really happy.
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1 comment:
I've read your blog for A LONG time and never commented but this one reminded me of Sam. I used to be the director at the day care the boys went to in Oklahoma. Sam was VERY smart as well. I can remember him saying all the alphabet before he was two. You are blessed (as I'm sure the Waller's are with you too) to be apart of such a wonderful family. I moved to Texas before they moved away. I miss them dearly but love hearing about the boys through your blog.
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