My Little Planet

Adria continues to impress me with her talent for — and interest in — the English language.  She loves books.  She likes to have them read to her, and she’ll also sit quietly and flip through them by herself.  She will point to words on a sign, or a page, or a package, and ask, “Daddy, what do these words say?”  Amanda likes to tell the story about how, before she learned to read, she thought that other people could know what words went with a page “by magic.”  Not so with Adria…she already knows how letters and sounds make up words, and I’ve helped her sound out a few simple words (really simple, like “me”).

Yesterday, she told me that she wanted to write “orange” (no, I don’t know why).  She asked me what it started with, and then as she drew each letter she asked me what was next.  This what she ended up with:

O is for orange

Hey, not bad for a 3-year-old who clutches the pen in a white-knuckled fist, all the way up by the cap.  

She also continues to practice and improve on her name.  Tonight she drew this butterfly (with no help at all…it’s quite pretty), and then signed her name to it:

Another signed original by Adria

She is one letter transposition away from a very passable signature.  She came to show this to us, giggling that one of her A’s was upside down.  She thought it was funny that if she turned the paper over, then her butterfly and one of the A’s were right side up.

I’m not sure yet if Austin has the disposition for language or not.  I’m going to go out on a limb, though, and say yes.  He seems to really delight in the noises that he makes, and I think that he’s well aware that he’s communicating with his sounds.  He’ll make some kind of noise, and then stop and watch his audience intently to see how they react.  If you respond in kind, he’s delighted.  This works especially well with Adria…he will make a high pitched squeal, which will make her giggle, which will make him laugh.  And over, and over, and over again…  

Upright butterfly and one A