I've been teaching my son the alphabet--not so much because I want him to say his ABCs at this tender age, but because he's shown a natural curiosity about it, pointing at letters and looking at me to see what they're called, playing with various toys that feature the alphabet almost obsessively.
It's a sheer joy on my part as well, to see how he responds to my instruction. "D--stands for dog!" I say and enthusiastically grab a huge stuffed dog that we have sitting in a chair near the dining room. "O--stands for ocean!" I also say, and he points outside (vaguely understanding that the ocean is out there, way off in the distance). And when I ask "Show me 'X'!" and he finds "X" on the ABC chart that I've taped to the wall, his grin of pride is so spectacular that I feel like every late night I've ever spent with him is worth it.
Beyond that pride--his simple joy and sense of humor and amazement about learning new things (yesterday he was in stitches watching me unscrew the lid off the cinnamon jar) reminds me of what an incredible high it is just to learn.
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