B says buh-buh-Benjamin

Benjamin has had foam rubber letters and numerals in his bath for as long as he's taken baths in the big tub — less than a year but longer than 6 months. He loves them, but has never associated the letters with sounds, and I try not to push the issue. Every once in a while, I'll try to introduce him to the idea that "The B says 'buh' like buh-buh-Benjamin." But he either laughs or ignores me and I drop it.

Tonight he grabbed the T and announced Travail! (French for "work.")

I stared at him a moment and then called to his mother, "Did you teach him that T is for Travail?" Yes, apparently she had, but he'd shown no sign of understanding her.

I was very excited. Our first hint of literacy.

Then Benjamin grabbed the Y and said something I didn't understand.

I called to Nathalie again, "What starts with Y?"

"Yaourt."

Yes! That's what he'd said. French for yogurt. I just hadn't recognized his pronunciation.

So I tried "The B says 'buh' like buh-buh-Benjamin" for the three-dozenth time — and he got it! Show him the B, get back "Benjamin."

A photo of someone else's kid (from the ad for this toy)

And that's not all. He can reliably point to the M and say "M-M-Maman," the P and say "puh-puh-Papa," the L and say "L-L-L-Lutece," and the G for "G-G-G-Gramma." Not just once or twice, but over and over again, reliably, never getting any of them wrong. The only "mistake" was to turn to the letter V, stuck to the tile wall behind him, and announce "Yaourt." Honestly, the V and Y look very similar in this set. I showed him the two letters next to each other. I didn't tell him what sound V makes. I just emphasized that it was the Y that says Y-Y-Yaourt.

It was a bit dreamlike, this experience of suddenly having the boy be able to associate letters and words, after all those fruitless (but very casual, low-pressure) earlier attempts.

Nathalie says they'll start doing phonics exercises tomorrow.

-extra proud papa