love. thumbs up.

driving in the car, listening to the radio. or music. whatever. she will pick words out of the air and ask me how to spell it. i sound out the syllables, ask her what letter makes that sound. slowly make our way through word after word. i hear myself explaining how the 'c' and the 'k' sometimes make the same sound.
yes, mommy. but sometimes they don't.
she likes to practice her letters. she will ask us to dictate the spelling of words to her and she will write them out, noticing how the certain letters strung together make a garland of words that mean one thing and sometimes another. she is a gust of wind away from reading. i can see it rounding the corner. like a large bristled broom moving letters haphazardly into a pile. pretty soon she'll be able to look at that pile, leaves in the bottom of a cup, and see stories.
until then, i will always answer when she asks me how to spell love.

and thumbs up.