He can read! He just doesn't know it yet.

Charlie has been working on "phonics" (sounding out letters) for a few months now. He is to the point where he will look at a word and say the sound that each letter makes as he reads each letter in the word. For example, today he read the word "club". He looked at the word and said slowly, "Kuh-La-Uh-Buh", as he pointed to each letter. Cool, huh?

Okay but here's the funny part. He could just leave it at that and call it good and I'd be super impressed. Amazed, really. I mean, he's only 2! But, he then tries to repeat what the word is that he just sounded out and every single time he thinks the word he just read is "dog". No matter if he just sounded out the word "cat", "book", "best", whatever, he will then triumphantly exclaim, "DOG!" So, today, it was, "Kuh-La-Uh-Buh. DOG!!!" Cracks me up. And he is totally clueless, just so proud of himself. He must wonder why people write "dog" all the time and why there aren't any other words in the world to write. :)

Today, we went to the library, or as Charlie says, "Da libary". I've taken him in the past, but he just hasn't gotten it. Today was different. He had a great time picking out books, reading them, putting them back and picking out more. Fun! He did such a good job and I'm continually amazed at what a good-natured, well-behaved child he is. Shawn must have done something right while I was gone. The kid is an angel.

After "da libary", we went for ice cream, just Charlie and mommy. That was super fun. I have never taken him before, but somehow he knew he wanted "choclit" ice cream. Hmmmmm...has someone been giving my kid ice cream? Come on, fess up! Mom, I know it was you! Anyways, we had a blast.

Yes, those are M&M's AND sprinkles. I can spoil my child if I want to.
It's not every day that we get to go to ice cream! :)

In the end, he really only ate about 4 and a half bites anyways. Here's what was left:

Last but not least, Charlie cooked dinner tonight. Okay, well, he helped ME cook dinner. Mac and cheese. He poured the noodles in, added the butter and milk, and stirred it up real good. He was so proud of himself. And Christine, you are right, if they make it themselves, they eat more of it. I think we're on to something here.

PS: Greg and Andrea, don't know if we'll see you at church on Sunday, but good luck on Monday. We hope everything goes smoothly for you and little Aubrey comes fast and easy. Well, as "easy" as LABOR can be... :) We can't wait to meet her.