Spelling and reading

Here is a sampling of words that Rebecca has asked us to help her spell. You can see I've started teaching her Spanish (just colors, numbers, and a few other words). She can also spell several words by herself: Rebecca, Rizzotti, Mommy, Daddy, Lamby, David, joyful. She can sometimes spell Stephen correctly, but occasionally leaves out a letter. She also knows the first letter of many additional words. She can also read the words that she knows how to spell, as well as a few other words that she can't spell correctly. Other words that she frequently asks us to help her spell are "silly" and "funny" and "kangaroo." I think this gives hilarious insight into her personality. Also notice that she has an affinity for all the green letters...we're not sure why.

Last week she saw the word "Good" in her Bible and thought it said "God." I explained to her the difference, and ever since then she usually has been able to distinguish. The most impressive thing she can do right now is find four verses all by herself in Mommy and Daddy's Bible. (Again, this is something she initiated, not us.) Two of them are the first two verses she memorized: Proverbs 17:22, Galatians 5:22-23, 25; the other two are Matthew 19:13-15 and Genesis 1:1. Last week we were in the grocery store, and she pointed up, and said, "Look, Mommy! There's joyful heart!" I was looking all around for a heart, and didn't see one, and I asked her where it was, and she said, "There's seventeen! That's joyful heart!" (She saw the aisle number 17 and connected it with the chapter reference of her favorite verse.) It's so much fun to watch how quickly she is learning all sorts of things!

The gospel according to an almost-two-year-old

Rebecca is becoming more and more capable of combining words. It is especially fun for me to see her repeating ideas that we have tried to instill in her, particularly biblical concepts. Her first exposure to Jesus dying on the cross was in her rhyming toddler Bible, and she picked up on the symbol of the cross pretty quickly and would identify it whenever she saw it (in books, on church buildings, even the letter "t", and the underside of her Mega Blocks).

The past few months we have added a short explanation about the cross whenever she sees one and mentions it, and now she has her own almost-two-years-old version of the gospel that she spouts off whenever she sees a cross. It goes like this: "Cross-Jesus-died-sad-then-rose again-happy!" I know she doesn't fully understand what death is or why Jesus had to die, but it is still encouraging to me to know that she is listening to what we are saying and that God is already at work in her heart.

She also has a very good understanding of obedience and disobedience, and whenever she obeys, she says, "Yea, Rebecca! Obey! Jesus happy! Mommy happy! Daddy happy!" and sometimes extends the happiness to her stuffed animals and/or various aunts, uncles, grandparents, and even babysitters, even if they are not present at the time. And whenever she disobeys, she recognizes that all these same people are sad. Then I pray with her and ask Jesus to help her obey, and afterwards, she says, "Better now." I think this is my favorite part of parenting so far!