R!

Riley melted his mama's heart this afternoon. We were snuggled up close in my grandmother's rocking chair, reading the beautiful watercolor book, Eating the Alphabet,. On each page I would trace a letter and point to the corresponding drawings of fruits and vegetables. "'A' is for apricot, artichoke, asparagus..." and so on. When I got to "R," I traced the letter and said "'R' is for..." Before my lips even shaped the sound for "rutabega," my little boy pointed to his chest and said "Ii-ee!" Now he still can't say "Riley," but his version of his name, and of course the finger point, told me that my sweet little 22-month-old recognizes his first letter. Wow!!!

It may be a really small thing, but I have never been so happy to be a mom. I could feel a warming tingle of pride wash across my chest. I exclaimed, "Yes! 'R' is for Riley!", threw my arms around the boy and squeezed him silly. I'm not sure if he shared by pride or just liked the affection, but a huge smile spread across his face and he kept point to the letter and saying "Ie-ee!" We were tickled pink.

Now I just need to get that pacifier out of his mouth and see what else this kiddo has to say.