Language Skilz

So I'm gonna brag here for a second or three, so move on if that will induce nausea. Insert standard disclaimer: All parents believe their offspring are above average in looks, smarts, and personality, no matter how derranged the poor thing really is. Those rose-colored glasses are standard issue.

So we're sitting there at Fazoli's, and suddenly David says, "That's like Paris." Huh???
"That's like Paris?"
"Yeah."
"Um....WHAT'S like Paris?"
"The music."

Well, there's muzak being piped in. It's supposed to be Italian music, obviously, and has a sort of accordian flavor to it. I'm not paying attention to it, but after listening, yeah, I see his point. The accordions lend that kind of sound to it.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, you're right. I think it's supposed to be Italian, though."
He shakes his head.
"It's France."
He dives back into his spaghetti, and then comes back up and says, "The Eiffel Tower's in France. In Paris. Like Ratatoullie. HE was in Paris, and they had music like that."

Hmmmm...what a lovely application of music, film and geography. Apparently he's learning to pick up certain pieces and connect them, whether or not those connections have been specifically pointed out to him. To me, this is learning HOW to think. Good stuff. And it has a certain useful appeal as well...

...David is over with his friend who lives just two doors down, having more than just a groovy time. He is, in fact, having a blast. The friend has a set of walkie-talkies, and the boys are employing them to their fullest. All too soon it's time to go home. The kids are sad, it's hard to pull everyone away, but off we go. I'm doing icky housework stuff and pass by David's room, where he's whining in frustration. "What's wrong?"
"I can't get the channel to change on my walkie-talkie," he says. I see where he's going with this, but can't imagine it will work. I push the most obvious button and there's no effect. "That's more of a Daddy question," I tell him. "That's the best I can do for you. Sorry."

So I'm off doing dishes now, and David pads into the kitchen, extends his hand with the walkie-talkie towards me and says that his friend's mom "...wants to talk to you." Sure enough, she's there.
"Did he come up with this on his OWN? Over." she demands.
Well...technically, yes. He did. He grabbed his own walkie-talkie, turned it on and remembered the correct channel to contact his friend. He asked his dad how to switch the channel, (my attempt just ran the numbers up the scale over and over, in a loop) then hit the signal button and it actually connected to the friend's handset.

Again, it's evidence that he's taking separate pieces of information (gee, my friend's handsets work on Channel 4), and applying that knowledge to a new set of conditions and challenges (I wonder if MY handset will talk to HIS handset on Channel 4, too).

And did I mention that Lauren is suddenly writing letters out of the blue? She's professed to do his a lot, and it's always just wavy lines, so I don't pay much attention. But today she said "I want to write my name," and said she'd put down an L and asked what came next. I said A, she asked about the next letter, and I looked over and there's a perfectly formed L and A, side by side. Could've knocked me down with a feather. Tonight I pointed to a sign and asked if she knew what the word was and she said "/h/. /t/. HOT!"

Can you read that?!?!

She grins and nods proudly.

Are you READING? And WRITING? At four? And who's teaching you, 'cause it isn't me!