This One Has Lots of Words

Tonight was my night to put Alyce to bed. One step in the going to bed routine is to read a story. Mom and I give her carte blanche on the story she chooses. We do try and steer her towards ones that are short or don't have a lot of words per page. Tonight, however, I wasn't so lucky. She picked out a book that we just purchased and I wasn't sure how long or complicated it was. Well it turns out the book has lots of pretty colorful pictures but it also has lots of pages and lots of words. To top it off level of reading is probably for a 3rd to 4th grader and not a preschooler. But I decided to be a good dad and trudge through the book.

About a third of the way through the book I look over and Alyce is bored out of her mind. I ask her if she liked the story and she said "this one has lots of words". I agreed with that it did and I asked if she'd like a new story. She agreed and we read a new book about a dog named Biscuit. The adventures of Biscuit are more more appropriate for a 4 year old.

Reading a book.

Last week, maybe even two weeks ago Alyce did something that left me speechless.  Speechless both from surprise and because I didn't need to say anything.  Alyce read a book to me.  Well she really didn't read the book.  She had heard it so many times she knew all the words to it and recited it from memory.  The book was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  The "Brown Bear" book as Alyce likes to call it is one of our favorites.  Mom and I like it because it is short and we can get her to bed quicker than if we have to read something difficult like Dr. Seuss books.  Fox in Sox is its own form of torture if you attempt to read it quickly.  The book comes with a warning.

As I laid next to her and opened up the book Alyce just starts saying "brown bear brown bear what do you see?" and then continues "I see a ....".  This is when I have to turn to the next page to show her the next animal.  The page after the bear has a red bird.  Once she sees the red bird she finishes the sentence by saying "red bird looking at me".  She recites the rest of the book correctly identifying the yellow duck, blue horse, green frog, purple cat, white dog, black sheep, and goldfish.  You could tell by the look in her eyes and the tone in her voice that she was proud of her accomplishments.  Me gushing with praise probably helped.