When Did He Learn That?

Sometime during Advent, my son started saying "church". He would say it if we were at church or if he heard one of us mention the words "church" or "mass". Since then he asks us frequently if we are going to church. This development took us by surprise since most of the words he has learned were somewhat actively taught to him, either by reading to him about them or saying, "Look, a _____!"

Now we have been taken by surprise yet again. (When will I learn to expect the unexpected with children?) We have a book on saints which for some time he has enjoyed thumbing through, even though it is not geared toward young children like his other books. Within the last week he has started coming to me with the book saying, "Church, church."

My husband and I were amazed that without any guidance from us, he was able to tell that the stories were religious. We have started reading the lives of the Saints since he clearly enjoys it, but he is so young that we rarely get through one paragraph before he moves on the the next saint. Often he wants us to read from it as the last thing before he goes to bed. I hope this is a sign of future holiness for him. . .