words for aliens

It's happening. Gabriel is entering the magical time when the connection between spoken words, stories, images and written symbols on a page is becoming real. He strings together letters to label and title his drawings. He asks what the word he has written sounds like, and when I say heelohzackillsss he laughs in a goofy way that is nonetheless tinged by awe. Did he really create that sound, just by putting all those letters together??

We experienced this before with Frances, in a different way that was just as delightful and mesmerizing. It's a happy discovery, learning that it doesn't really matter how many children you've witnessed opening to the power of reading and writing - it is just as incredible, every time.

Last night at Taco Sunday Gabriel made a Book of Aliens. Each page was numbered and depicted a different planet with its inhabitants. Each planet was labeled and as we looked through and added to his book this afternoon, he explained: These aliens are from the planet R-E-S. How do you say that, Mama?

I think Tintin taught him about using word bubbles with his pictures. In the Book of Aliens, on different planets aliens alternately say "hih," "ih," "hie," and "hii"- and Gabriel was beside himself when I pronounced them for him, more or less, as "Hi!". Did he really write Hi??

Pretty close, kiddo. It just gets better and better from here on out.