Penny's been helping me read her books for some time, now. I'll pause for her to fill in certain key words, or count things on the page, or provide color commentary. Whatever works to keep her involved, right?

Last night, somewhere around, "Would you, could you, on a train?" she decided that it was not sufficient for her to simply fill in one word a page.

She put her hand on my mouth, and left it there for the entire rest of the book. Which she read to me. Well, recited from memory, as best she could. Even granting that she was taking her cues from the pictures, it was pretty impressive. She didn't do so well at the full recitals of boat/goat/rain/dark/train/tree/car/fox/box/house/mouse/here/there/anywhere -- but there were key elements that she did remember, even without obvious visuals. "Try it! Try it! And you may! / Try it and you may, I say."

So I was both astonished and highly amused, and she's a little baby-step closer to learning how to read. How cool is that?

Alexis is leaving. She's only been here half a year, but she was offered a job elsewhere, up in DC, for quite a bit more than she's making now, with work she thinks she'd rather be doing, for a manager she doesn't actively loathe.

So there she goes. Or will go, after the first week in December. I encouraged her to take the job, and I think it'll be good for her, but I'm going to miss her.

--Liz