Reading and Writing

Disclaimer: Some ghostwriting from Emile.

Watching literacy happen is a fascinating thing. Larkin has been interested in words, letters and writing for a long time, but it seems like the last week or two has seen a real explosion in synthesis.

The "rhyming game" has been a popular one for quite a while... someone says a word and then we take turns listing other words that rhyme with it. We've also been playing a version of 20 Questions (which, for our purposes, is more accurately Infinite Questions). In the last couple weeks, one of the clues Larkin hands out (which she often likes to do even if we don't want them yet) is what letter the item in question starts with.

Reading has been a huge activity lately, for both kids. We read all of Charlotte's Web in 5 days last week. Graphic novels are very popular... we can easily burn through a "Bone" in one sitting if my voice holds out. They ask me to point to the character who is speaking as I read so it's less confusing. Last time we read the latest Bone, Larkin would occasionally stop me and point to one of the words in a dialog bubble saying something like "that must be 'close' because it has an 'o' in it."

Emile and Larkin have been reading the Harry Potter books at bedtime. I admit to being a little peeved that I am not the chosen bedtime reader. :) They're already in Book Three and a whole new chapter of imaginary play has been inspired.

Last night we were listening to some classical music (bear with me, this is not a total non sequitor). When Beethoven's 9th symphony came on, Larkin listened for a moment then threw her arms in the air and announced, "this is the best music in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!" Later, when we were talking about who wrote the music she enjoyed so much, I mentioned that his first name was Ludwig. Her next statement confounded me for a minute before I figured out that she said, "Ludwig has a 'wig' just like Hedwig has a 'wig.'" I'm so pleased that, in her mind, Harry Potter's owl and Beethoven have a wig in common.

Alphabet books have seen a recent surge in popularity, too. Especially the horse/cowboy alphabet books. Finn likes them because they have horses and cowboys... Larkin likes to find every incident of the letter-of-the-page.

Writing continues to be one of Larkin's favored art forms... she still likes to copy text that we have written. She has liked to type on the computer for a long time as well, typically making blocks of repeated symbols. Yesterday she asked Emile to set up the computer for typing and fetch her catapult (from Eli, a board with a fulcrum so you can stomp on one end to launch things from the other). Why? She wanted something with her name written on it to try to copy. After all had been arranged, and CAPSLOCK adjusted so that symbols showing up onscreen would match the letters on the keys she went ahead and copied LARKIN.

When she has wanted to type her name in the past it's mostly just been "Ok, what's the next letter?" after each one, wanting us to show her the key. This time, the first time through her first name she mostly just wanted some general hints about where on the keyboard the next letter came, and reassurance that she had the right letter once she found it. Then she wanted to copy her full name from something, so Emile typed it out and positioned the cursor one line down. This time through again she wanted the name of the letter said but for the most part seemed to be finding them from the name.

Then she wanted to know how Emile could type her name so fast. "Hours and hours and hours and hours of practice typing."

There is definitely a literacy revolution afoot.

Matrimony

One of our exciting holiday celebrations this year was Don and Vicki's wedding. Larkin and Finn were thrilled to be involved, and for their benefit it was partly a costume wedding. Larkin wore her brand new princess dress and Finn dressed in his cowboy duds. Their mission was to follow Don and Vicki down the aisle (with Emile, as it turned out) and deliver the rings to the officiants. They performed their duties with great aplomb and made their way to their seats for the remainder of the ceremony.

Finn lasted about thirty seconds. I whispered that we needed to sit quietly so everyone could hear the ceremony. He said he would just go hang out in back. I re-emphasized that quiet was paramount. He said, "That's okay-- I'll sneak." So he hopped down from his seat, assumed a half-crouched subtle, sneaking posture, and loudly stomped his big cowboy boots all the way back down the aisle to where Jim was DJ-ing in back. It's a good thing little kids are cute... and that the bride and groom in question were very tolerant grandparents.

At the reception dinner, Vicki produced an attention-getting silver whistle when the toasts started. Larkin *really* wanted to blow that whistle. I explained that it was only getting blown as people got up to say a few words about Don, Vicki and/or the wedding. Her response was immediate: "Well, then... *I'll* make a toast!" After the most ear-splitting whistle of the night, Larkin stood up on her chair, raised her glass, and announced "I'm glad Grandma and Grandpa got married!"

It was a lovely wedding, Don and Vicki made some very thoughtful allowances for the kids, and a splendid time was had by all.

Preoccupation

While Larkin was sewing buttons on a hankie, she suddenly realized that was something she could do as a job. Later that night, she asked Emile to make a list of all the things she might do as employment one day (as dictated by herself, naturally):

animal helper
baseball player
light fixer
yoyo champion
finder
builder
bouquet seller
dressmaker
rescue center worker (like diego)
teapot fixer
sewer
knitter
light fixer (yes, this one came up twice)
boardgame seller
painter

Emile asked what she liked doing most right now, and the immediate answer was "digging up buried treasure!" When Emile told her there were actually people *in the real world* (a big point of distinction in our house) who were treasure hunters, she immediately declared that was her intended vocation.

A quick web search revealed a TV show dedicated to real life treasure hunts. An episode is at the top of our Netflix queue.