the fine art of reading

Will is learning to read.
And I think that he is a genius. Because I am his mother and that is my job.
This morning at breakfast he brought in Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Suess
and proceeded to read the first 4 pages with a great deal of panache,
all the while, beaming with self accomplishment, as I exclaimed,
"No way! How in the world are you reading that? Who taught you?
How did you know what that said?"
and things of that nature.
Scott has been working with him
and it is harder to tell which one of them is more proud.
So after Scott headed off to school with Will and Jack,
Addison who had watched this whole exchange,
brought me the same book and said, "I read it."
And I said, "You want me to read you the book?"
And he said, "I read it."
He seemed quite sure he could do as well as his older brother.
So I started him off.
"One fish."
"Two pish."
"Red fish."
"B-yue pish." (blue fish)
"Black fish."
"B-yue pish." (blue fish)
"Old fish."
And then there was a large pause, because under the picture of an elderly fish
with a sizable beard and bifocals,
there is a picture of a mommy fish pushing her newborn fish in a baby buggy.
I wondered if he could grasp the concept of old vs. new and the
rhyming pattern of blue fish/new fish.
So I prompted him again.
"Old fish?" He looked at me and then looked back at the picture.
"Stroller." He said with confidence.
I think he is well on his way to mastering the art of reading.
Will had better watch his back.