A Diet Coke can with Lime,,,,,sounds unassuming enough. But this, Diet Coke with Lime, can was such an amazing tool for my little girl the other day.

Emma Sage and Rick were sitting eating lunch. Rick had a can of soda that he was drinking from and Emma Sage had a plastic cup of juice. First the can became a piece of fine glassware and the two of the toasted to each other, 'ding' she yells and then a huge ...CHEERS!'

Then Emma Sage sat chatting with her Daddy [he has been traveling lots so these times together are very precious].......and she says 'E......E for Emma'....and Rick responds, 'yes, Emma starts with E'...not realizing she is looking at his soda can. Then comes 'O....O is for Otto' and Rick replies the same 'yes, Otto starts with O'....but he notices that she is studying the letters on the Diet Coke can. He looks up at me with this big smile [as to say,,,WOW,,,look how smart our little girl is] and of coarse I respond with the same proud smile [thinking to myself....yes she is a very smart and cleaver little girl].

Then comes, C.....C is for Cookie and the 'ummmm,,,ummmmm, ummmm like Cookie Monster does when he says 'C is for Cookie' and eats the cookie all up!

So I stand in the kitchen just watching this interaction.....and they chat a little more [I think Rick is thinking she is done identifying letters] but I see Emma Sage checking the whole can out....then comes, "i,,,,,,I is for ice cream" and then points to her own eye and says "EYE" [she is right, they sound exactly the same and she hasn't yet mastered the sight word for eye,,,,so to her i,,,is for the eyes you have to see with]. Then she points to the D and says 'D.......is for Daddy' and blows him a big kiss. Rick looks over towards me in the kitchen and I can really see the surprise and wonder in his expression on watching his little girl identifying letters randomly from the soda can....so the game continues. She finds the K and yells 'K.........for Nini' [her name for Katrina, although when we work with our letters I always use K for Katrina]........and Emma Sage is getting very excited. She pulls the can closer to her.....'L.......for Lucy' and her Daddy says 'and for Lunch' and Emma Sage just laughs her sweet little laugh at him for his addition.......So she keeps searching to continue the game with her Daddy. She finds a T and says 'T........is for Mommy, Tara'. She finds the Z in the word oz. and is excited because she says 'O...Otto,,,,Z,,,Zorro'.....and hunting she continues. She seems to be getting frustrated and I know why....she is searching for a G for her beloved sister Greta and can't seem to find one. I tell Rick to help her look, because she is about to tip the can over looking. He picks it up and study's it and says he can't find one....then he moves the can sideways to read the wording that is positioned on the side of the can and he spots it....so he holds it carefully sideways for Emma Sage to look and asks her to see if she sees any other letters....she looks, and looks [the writing is very small] but then she finds it!!!!! 'G...........for Greta' she yells....and there sure enough in the word Georgia is the letter G!!!!

I have to tell you.....this was such a delightful scene for me to watch.....To see my dear husband so taken back by his little girl,,,,he was so proud of her.....Watching Emma Sage take a simple observation and turn it into a very fun game was incredible to me. She realized the pattern she was doing by identifying the letter of all the people in her family, and continued on till she got everyone.

Man, Life is truly a blessing and today watching a little girl and her Daddy enjoying a lunch date together was just a blast.