Some Kitty Loves You

My girls love to receive mail. When they learn that an envelope contains mail for them they beam ever so brightly and Ria often jumps up and down, which is followed quickly by Kat doing the same. Well, my girls received letters from Mimi a couple days ago. Ria raced through reading hers to herself, then read Kat's, then re-read her own out loud for Kat to hear. Obviously, Ria loves letters.

While perhaps not obvious in the same way, Kat loves letters, too. Please keep in mind this is a case specific story, but it is generally true for each piece of mail she receives.

Okay, so I handed Kat her letter. I asked if I could read it to her. She refused vociferously (and LOUDLY). She snatched the letter away from my waiting hands (I had assumed wrongly that she would like me to read it, of course). She proceeded to hold it to her chest many minutes. Then she looked down at it and unfolded it. She continued to look at it, once open. Ria was interested in what Mimi might say to Kat, so it was while Kat was looking at the opened letter that Ria offered to read Kat's letter out loud. I guess the time between my offer and Ria's was a sufficient length of time for Kat to admire her letter without knowing what was IN it because she happily handed it over to Ria. I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with how much Ria is just the "IT" for Kat. ;) Ria read it for Kat who promptly took it back.

Kat carried the letter around a bit. She fanned herself with it. She opened it, looked, admired, closed it. Eventually she left it on the ground in her room (having tried to take it to bed with her).

This evening she found it again. She picked it up. Over a period of about an hour she spent time writing on it, holding it, "reading" it, opening and closing it, clutching it to her chest, and eventually she spent a good deal of time holding it in bed while I cuddled with Ria. The conclusion of the time with her letter today ended with her crumpling it up and tossing it to the floor. Do not mistake this for lack of interest or devotion, this is (unfortunately) just the way Kat let's things go when she's done for the day and/or that moment in time.

I will be surprised if, at some point tomorrow, I do not see her holding, "reading", hugging, and many other loving/attentive behaviors with her letter from Mimi. This sort of loving a letter in place of her Mimi happens with each new piece of mail she receives and usually lasts between 3 and 7+ days.

Thus the title of today's post. Some Kitty loves you, Mimi! Of course, there are three other gals and a guy that love you, too. But I thought Kat's behavior deserved documentation. I hope you've enjoyed this true tale of Mimi love! ^_^

Since it's mostly about Kat...
I wanted to share some neat news and my great pleasure in my 2.5 year old middle daughter. Kat and I have been "doing school" for a few months now with a good bit of regularity. Our three classes consist of Bible Character Study (with Ria sometimes), Math, and Reading. We have (in case you're wondering) begun using How To Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It was rough going in the beginning and lessons lasted about 5 minutes (if I was lucky!). But MAN has Kat progressed! We're about to start lesson 7 and she is recognizing/reading all the sounds introduced thus far with no mistakes the first time we run through them. She gets bored during the second time around and doesn't pay close attention, so she misses some, but self-corrects when I let her know her first answer was wrong. Additionally, she's reading two sound "words" correctly (including ME and AT). I'm just so pleased and impressed with her and wanted to share. I'm sure she'll finish within a year from now. So, I'll have a 3.5 year old reader! Isn't that awesome!? Of course, if life happens and she isn't finished by the time I have in my head, I'll still be pleased that she desires to learn how to read and makes efforts toward that ability!