Mark of Fridays: Love Letters

Mark has his first crush: the alphabet.
Letter magnets are his favorite toys. And why not? You can say the names of the letters, then carry them around and line them up on the windowsills.
His favorites songs? The ABC song and another one his Aunt Laura found on the internet and that he'd watch continuously if we'd let him. The lyrics: "A is for Apple. Ah- Ah- Apple. B is for Ball. Buh- Buh- Ball...."
His favorite thing to do in the car? Look for letters on signs and shout them out really loud. Second favorite thing? A pop quiz in which mommy or daddy says a word and he gets to guess it's first letter.
Sometimes when we read books, he even tries to sound out the letters, reading from left to right. Never mind, of course, that he can't actually say the words.

And he's 20 months old.

We realize this love of letters is not normal. Sometimes--like when Mark insists on reading the titles of the smut magazines in grocery store checkout line--it's even a little embarrassing. Strangers size us up as Alphabet Drill Sergeants.

Not to mention that his love of letters is about to interfere with our ability to communicate.

You know how parents spell out words when they don't want their kids to hear? Like B-E-D-T-I-M-E or C-O-O-K-I-E or possible trips to the Z-O-O?

If Mark's Letter Skills get any better, we're going to have to make up some strange pantomime language to outwit him. Or possibly start learning Russian.