When babies are a year old, they're learning to walk and talk.
But in Lubbock, Texas, there is a 17-month-old girl with curly blonde hair, a beautiful smile and an incredible gift.
Elizabeth Barrett is 17-months-old.
She looks and acts like most babies her age, but Elizabeth is different.
"She can read sentences," says Katy Barrett, Elizabeth's mom.
"She can read more words than we can count."
Katy, a speech pathologist, is married to Michael, another speech pathologist, and they say most people don't believe their infant is a reader.
"The joke is since we see kids with language problems, we think anybody with normal language skills is a genius," smiles Katy.
"But as time goes on, it's harder to deny that she's exceptional."
The Barretts have been reading to Elizabeth since she was born.
Now, she reads along.
During play time, Katy writes a word on paper and Elizabeth figures it out.
"What does this say, excited."
Katy is convinced that sign language helped launch her daughter's reading skills partly by watching shows like "Signing Times" on public television.
I feel like such a slacker now hearing that story. I was 3 when I was fully able to read -- self-taught, no prompting from my parents. I just happened to watch a lot of Sesame Street and The Electric Company as a child, so blame PBS.
However, to the parents of the child -- I highly doubt that they will see this, but I do have a word of advice.
As she gets older, make sure her comprehension skills are up to par. She may be able to read the words themselves, but I guarantee she doesn't understand the meaning behind them. When I got to high school, I had a hard time picking out themes and ideas from books that I read, and only really learned how to do it through watching films.
But an incredible story, no matter how you slice it.
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