Write On!

Lola loves letters. She and Locke both ask me to spell words all the time. And they're very good at sounding out words. But Lola has always been more interested in trying to write letters.

She started writing her name when she was 2 1/2. And lately she's been practicing writing other words, especially "Locke," "Mom," and "Dad." Recently, she was drawing while I was making lunch. When I finished, I looked at her picture. It was Locke (I know that it was him because it said "KELOC" — she'd run out of room after the C so she finished the word to left of the beginning, as she often does in that situation). But underneath Locke's name, was the word "GO." I thought it must have been a coincidence, a little doodling next to the picture. But I decided to ask.

"Lola, this picture of Locke is really nice. What's this here?" I asked, pointing to the letters.

"Go" she said and she shrugged like she writes words every day.

I was pretty surprised, to say the least, and my pride could barely be contained in the room.

I was telling a friend about it while we waited outside of Locke's gymnastics class. I didn't think Lola could even hear. She'd been playing with her doodle board (the new etch-a-sketch) and watching the class through the window. But she did hear and she decided to bring over a visual aid. She showed us her doodle board which was empty except for two letters: OG.

"Those are the right letters, Lo." I said. "But they're backwards. That spells 'og.'"

She quickly erased the board and wrote GO.

Then she said, "Let's spell STOP."

So I sounded the word out for her as she wrote all the letters on the board.

It's so exciting that she's actually writing at barely 3 1/2. Sometimes I have to explain how to make certain letters, and sometimes I'll write down a name and let her copy it. But she's off to an incredible start.

If I can't brag on my blog, where can I?