A Day of Firsts

Yesterday when Pookie woke up she came wandering into the bathroom where I was getting ready for work. She pushed her hair out of her face and said, "Mommy, I have a loose tooth!" Knowing that several of her school friends, who are almost six, are losing teeth, I ignored her. A little later, after she had gotten dressed and eaten breakfast, she was telling Tracy goodbye and she said, "Daddy, I have a loose tooth! Feel it!" This time I decided I'd better check things out for myself. Sure enough, I pushed on her lower center right tooth and it wiggled! I am so not ready for this!

Last night, I was cleaning out the girls' backpacks and getting them ready for today. In Pookie's "FISH" folder there was a little photocopied book inside a ziploc bag labeled "Please return daily." I took it out and asked Pook about it. She said, very casually, "That's my book I have to read tonight."

I braced myself. I put her brother and sister in bed with some books to look at. I sat her up on the counter and handed her the book.

Pookie: "Cat sat. Cat...runs?"
Me: "Sound it out. R - a - n."
Pookie: "Cat r-a-n, ran. Cat ran over to the food."
Me: "No, look at the words and sound them out."
Pookie: "Cat ran in...to the pot...pan. Cat ran to the man. Cat runs and runs and runs."
Me: "No, that's the same word from before."
Pookie: "Cat ran, ran, ran. Cat sat! The end!"

I told her what a great job she did and then she read it again, on video for everyone to see, and then she read it to Beanie and Bitty. Yea! Pookie can read!