TOMY

Over the Summer I'd occasionally help the twins sound out letters in an attempt to read words. This morning Caleb picked up a Thomas train and asked me what its name was. For those of you who aren't familiar, most wooden and metal Thomas trains have the name of the train imprinted somewhere on the bottom. Well, this particular train was plastic, unlike most of our other ones, and I couldn't find its name anywhere. I handed it back to Caleb and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what his name is." Less than a minute later, Caleb said, "Mommy, I think his name is Toe-me". Surprised, I took the train back from him and upon closer inspection of the engine's underside, I saw the toy brand name "TOMY" subtly embossed in the black plastic. "Wow, Caleb, did you read that?" I asked. "Yeah!" he replied, smiling and beaming with pride. I knew he must have, since it was a proper noun that he's not familiar with. So there you have it, Caleb officially read his first word all by himself, and of his own volition, too!