Singing and Reading

(October): Eliza sings. I found this out early September when she sings “Ginko Ginko” little “star, how I” wonder what you “are; up…Ginko Ginko … are” In August I found out she can read “Are you my ‘muh-er?’” she asks it over and over, and says, “NORT!” at the snort. So cute. 9/28 She was saying the baby bird jumped and jumped and jumped, while jumping at the same time on her bed. About June she started reading Go dog go, or at least saying the title. She reads lots of books now, like hop on pop she’s been reading for a month or so. “Hop Pop, Up pup cup, all ball” she’ll say all the words that go together, and “owie” for pat sitting on a cactus. She loves her hospital book and library book called “Friends” with pictures of people with slings or casts. 9/20 she reads “swish swish eight fish swimming past the hook, swish swish wise fish”… and “waddle waddle waddle” for her counting book. She’s really repeating everything we say, and I can’t keep up with her words, because if she doesn’t know it, she learns it. As a sidenote, Ben put her cast on one of her dolls one night he was with her. She brought it out and showed it to me, and I was amazed because I thought she had done that.

She sang "Happy Birthday to You" while reading Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw early October (cute book). She also sings I Am a Child of God at FHE, loves ring around the roseys, sings wheels on the bus, goodbye friends (that's real funny. Its a calm song at first, and she goes wild in the end).

(Present): I've tried to sing Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam to her, but it didn't seem to familiar to her. Tonight she wanted me to sing it, and she sings it sun "Beep!" which makes total sense, since we all jump at the "beam" part, but its pretty funny.Eliza studies the title of her story “fire station” and asks and tells what sound each letter makes. She says the “R”, tells me what sound “O” makes, the S, T, and N. Then, as she opens her book, she studies the pictures: the planes overhead, all the details. Daddy has trained her well. Its all his doing. Every night at brushing teeth he has her repeat her ABCs, and he bought stuffed alphabet letters in varying colors for her to play with and quiz with. She quizzes me sometimes, and enjoys them. She'll also tell Ben what letters are on his sweatshirts or tee-shirts, and started reading my Super Saturday signs, "Hhh, Hhh...Sss,Sss, RRR..." on "the stockings were hung..."

Eliza talks in motherese to Josiah. "Cute, are." (Imagine that in a cooing voice over and over. She was saying that one day.) Today she told me, "Watch your fingers," as I was cutting grapefruit, and some other fun words we've liked are: Josiah, boy, why, Ben, Erin (she always calls us by our first names (its crazy) and calls Josiah "boy," and Ben "mamadada" sometimes), window, leaves, Desmond, pillow, friend, other way, wash hands, funny, cut it up.