And, just like that, she reads.

Nora knew most of the alphabet by sight at about 18 months old.

We wondered when she'd shift from knowing the names of those shapes, to understanding those shapes had sounds attached to them, and that those sounds were the weft and weave of language.

Surrounded each day by older children learning to read, as they trace sandpaper letters with their fingertips and arrange a moveable alphabet, it didn't take long for the code to begin cracking. At the dinner table, just before Christmas, Nora sounded out her first written word. KOALA. Astounding. A five-letter word with three vowels? Our jaws dropped.

For Christmas, a word-puzzle game. Video below.

Oh, words! How we love playing with you!