Perhaps she is a genius

About a month ago Lillian and I were having our daily bowl of cereal together in the big chair. I was still in my pajamas--plaid pants and an old Deseret News 10k/Marathon T-shirt. Lillian gulped down a bite of Rice Krispies, turned to my shirt, and with one long extended pointer finger, pointed to the O in "Marathon" and said, milk dribbling down her chin,

"O."

Huh?

She pointed again and repeated. "O. Oh. Ohhhhh."

"Yes, honey," I said, surprised, "that is an O."

And suddenly I discovered that the world of letters and words had opened up to my daughter in bright and dazzling glory.

Lillian began pointing out the letter O everywhere. And 99% of the time, she was right. She saw it in the mall when we passed "RadiO Shack." She saw it on the sweatshirt of a friend, "BrOckpOrt." She saw it in the signs painted on the road, "StOp." Everytime she saw it, she'd call out, merrily, "O!"

A near obsession with letters has resultingly ensued at our house. We now have letter flash cards and letter Leap Frog sing along thingies and letter books. So far, she's got O, C, X, Q, R, P, B, and S down pretty well. From time to time she gets F and Y and A. We're working on more.

For his part, Trent laughs like crazy as he watches Lillian with her letters. He points out every letter he can to her, delighted at her progress.

On Monday on our way into the grocery store she paused, though, at the giant spray painted "STOP" sign on the pavement. She giggled as she stood first on the S, calling out "S" and then she jumped to the O and sang out "O!" as passersby smiled. We practiced T and P, and then with a sweeping motion of my hand, I said, "STOP!" She laughed. She did a sweeping motion over the letters and pronounced "STOP!" Since these pavement style stop signs are all over our town, this has become our new routine upon entering any public location.

My graduate work has been solely focused on reading and literacy. The process of learning to read and gaining reading skills fascinates me. In my studies, I've learned that there's almost no child who cannot be helped to learn to read (I'm not saying we successfully reach every child, but the knowledge of how to reach them is most certainly out there, if only we'd tap into it). I've also learned that some children just naturally grasp the concept. Like a talent for music or a penchant for art, reading is, for some, a natural gift. For others, effort and training make it all possible.

Growing up, I was the former, not the latter. That is to say, I don't remember learning how to read. I just always knew how. It has been my one great gift, my greatest strength, and--at times--a weakness, too.

I am wild with delight that my child seems to inherited this talent.

I swear she is a genius.