Reading...already...sortof

So Caroline headed into the bathroom last night to take care of some business. A couple of minutes later I heard her little voice say, "Go, Dick, Go....Go go go!" So I went in to check on her. She was sitting there with her Dick & Jane treasury on her lap, "reading" to herself. I pointed to the word "Go" and asked her what it was. She responded correctly. I'm not sure she actually read it or recognized from the pictures that that was what was happening since we read it so much. But it was really fun to see her making the connection between print and pictures and words.

My "Signing" Star!

Okay, well, there are actually two signing stars in our family, but since Caroline has been signing for a while it's - not old - just something we're used to. For those of you who don't know, Caroline & Clayton have a cousin who is deaf. It is very important to our family to learn American Sign Language so that we can communicate with him and let him know how important he is to us and how much he is loved. Caroline has been signing for about 2 years now and it has been so exciting to watch her communicate with us and with Paul. Our family has used a series of DVDs called "Signing Time" that are now aired on many PBS stations. They are very engaging and interactive and both of my kids love them (they are the best way I know of to buy myself 30 minutes for a shower and I don't feel guilty at all about plopping my kids in front of the TV for that time because they learn SO much!) Anyway, I digress. So today I put Clayton's little hat on his head and over his face for a spirited game of Peek-a-Boo. He started smacking his head very enthusiastically which alarmed me at first. But then I figured out what he was doing (the sign for hat being a pat on the head) and held his hat in front of him and asked "What's this?" He repeated the sign. I'm so proud!

Sweet Teaching Moments

The other day, Caroline & I were reading the "Friend" magazine (a publication by our church especially for children). There was a story about a little girl and her mommy who were looking at a wedding picture in front of the temple and the little girl was telling her mom that she looked like a princess in front of a castle. (To see the story, click here: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=21bc9fbee98db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=63e63b4c3713a110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1)It was a perfect opportunity to talk to Caroline about our wedding portrait in front of the Monticello, Utah temple. She knows what the temple is (in fact, when we got back from my parents' home in Monticello which is right by the temple, last summer, the first thing she asked was "where's the temple?") But it gave us a chance to talk about being a forever family. Then she asked if she could see my white dress.