It Starts

Luke is amazing.


He knows all his letters and knows what they say.


When we read books together he points to the words and asks us what it says. He’s almost more interested in the words than in the pictures. Lately he follows along with his finger as we read. He starts at the upper left and goes from left to right, and then back to the left when we start a new line. ... He turned 3 last week.

(I love finding the two of them like this. And I love Ellen's studious look...)


And tonight he really blew me away. We were reading a board book about colors. There was one page with a baby wearing a bow, with two words on the page. He was thinking the word was going to be “bow.” He started with the first letter, “starts with a ‘r’, mom,” and said rrr, then moved his finger along to the e, said “ehhhh,” then moved his finger to the d and finished with the d sound. Then he put it all together (unprompted) and realized it what it said! “It says red!”

But he was upset, because he was expecting to read “bow,” which was the next word. I pointed that out to him, and he was relieved and satisfied. But he had sounded out and read and understood “red” without knowing beforehand what the word would be! He followed along with his little left hand pointer finger for the rest of the book too, pointing to the letters as we got to them in the words.



This is what comes of having an older brother in kindergarten. Letters and reading are all the rage, and Luke can’t help but pick up on some of it. Amazing.


Right before hair cuts, clearly. But as a side note, it's a cryin' shame that the girl has the shortest hair of the whole bunch. She could take a lesson or two herself from her older brothers. :)