My Little Letter Man

Connor and Sasha have known the letters in the alphabet before they could even speak. It started around 11-12 months. Instead of saying the letter "A", they would say "aaahhh"; instead of the letter "T", they would say "tuh", for example. Their speech therapists were very impressed with their letter knowledge at such a young age, especially that they knew the sound of each letter, not the letter itself. I guess this is the beginning of learning how to read.

Fast forward to today. They both know their upper and lower case letters. They still know what each letter sounds like. They love their alphabet.

However, Connor doesn't just love his alphabet. He's infatuated with it. He loves letters. Adores them. Wants me to write them every time we're coloring.

And, he began trying to learn how to sign the letters. He practices almost every day. (Sasha just began showing an interest in signing the letters, too!)

This boy never, ever tires of letters. My friend Kim has always called him The Letter Man. So, so true.

When I tell people he has begun reading, they seem shocked. I'm not sure if they think I'm kidding or what. This is not him memorizing a book, although he does have an amazing memory. If I write a word down, he will try to read it. Most of the time, he will get it right.

The past few months, he has been trying to write letters himself.
The other day, we were practicing on the chalkboard, when he wrote this:
All by himself, my 2 year old wrote CAT!! I swear, I didn't help him at all.
Then, yesterday, he wrote DOG. I walked him through it, but my hands never touched the chalk.

I've been meaning to post this one for weeks. Here, he attempts to write his name.
Below is a perfect example of what he does with letters. Here he is, today, playing with letters on the bench. I was on the couch reading with Sasha. Every now and then, he'd call me over and say...

"Look, Mommy! GO!"

"Look, Mommy! H. A. T. HAT!"

"Look, Mommy! Cow!"

I am always amazed at his love of letters and how advanced he is.

Here, he is attempting to spell "Grandmother". He spelled BOOK correctly, though! :)

This is cookie.

I am struggling with trying to find things that challenge him. The typical toys for 2-3 year olds are almost no-brainers for him. The ones I have bought are just sitting there. I think they're boring for him.

You know the type, "Find the letter Q....great job! You found the letter Q. Q says kwa!"

He, well they, actually, know all that stuff.

I did buy the BOB books (http://www.bobbooks.com/) and he really enjoys them. He has already learned how to read Book 1 and is almost done with Book 2.

If any of you have any suggestions on what I can get for Connor (and Sasha), to challenge them with their letters/reading a bit more, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks!