The Alphabet

When we were at The Little Gym one day, a little boy who was several months younger than Tahlia ran across the room. For many who have toddlers, a child dashing across a room when everyone else is sitting down isn't really a big deal. What was amazing was that a child who was around twenty months old could spell his name. His name was Kai, I think, so it was only three letters, but still, it was impressive.

Of course, we wanted Tahlia to be able to spell her name as well, but the six letters seemed too many.

To aid her in this, I created a little song. It is simple:
T-A-H . . . L-I-A is how you spell my name. . .
T-A-H . . . L-I-A is how you spell Tahlia.

I know, you can't really hear it, but it is sweet.

About a two weeks ago, she started singing the song on her own. It was really quiet, and she had difficulty pronouncing the "l", but all of it was there. The thing that also surprised us was that she started begin able to identify the letters that were in her name. She did this as she sang the song, which sort of made sense.

As she has become stronger in her name recognition, she also started learning the alphabet a little better.

We'd draw a big alphabet on the playground and she would dance around on it to the "ABC" song. Which, she calls "ABCDs," and sometimes does a remix with "Twinkle-Twinkle" and "Ba Ba Blacksheep."

On Thursday, she did something that was pretty surprising. I asked her if she knew where the "M" was. "M" is a go to letter. Just like the "O," she always knows where it is. Ever since we borrowed Alfie's ABC from the library, she has known the "M." She also knows "W" because I don't like the "W" in the book. She often asks me, "Daddy, do you like that "W"? I have to admit to her that I don't like it. It looks like two "X"s side by side and I feel that it is confusing. So, ever since we've read this book, I've always had to tell her that I don't like the "W." Not to worry though, as Tahlia always tells me, "Mommy likes that "W"." My simple question was answered with a questsion, and she quickly ran to the "M" and asked, "Is that a "M"?"

It was, of course. I thought I'd mix it up a little, so I asked her where the "P" was. Sometimes, she knows the "P." More often, though, she doesn't know where it is. Today, was the usual. She started walking aimlessly around. For a moment, she was by the "S," then, over to the "X." She wasn't going to find the "P," and that was fine. All of a sudden, she ran over the the "A," and , as she took large strides pounding one foot after another on the next letter, I could almost hear as she ran through the song. She stopped, right on the "P," and turned to me hopefully and with true curiosity in her voice asked, "Daddy, is this a "P"? I lauded praise upon her. But, as will happen with all two year olds, two times was enough, and when I asked her to repeat the performance for Mommy, she looked at us with a wry little smile and started singing "Ba BA Blacksheep" as she merrily skipped along the letters.

As the days have passed, she has become stronger at identifying her letters. So much that today, she asked Mommy to pick her up so that she could look at some letters on a sign. Mommy was blessed with the pick up because Daddy was carrying Asher. To both of our amazement, Tahlia identified the first four letters of the street sign. Towards the middle of the word, she became stuck, but still pointed at the letters as Mommy read them off. We moved along and arrived at a "stop" sign. Mommy picked her up again, and Tahlia pointed at the "S."

"What letter is that, Mommy?" Mommy told her.

We knew she knew the next letter, so we asked, "Tahlia, what is that?"

When she answered, we began questioning if she really knows her letters, because evidently, the second letter in "stop" is "Tahlia."