Bookworm in the Making

We have a bookworm in the making here in our little family. Even in her infancy Ellie loved books. This love affair has continued to grow (and I hope it keeps growing!). We are doing our best to encourage this exciting and wonderful pastime/ hobby/ love. Our family is definitely tuned-in to this. For Christmas, Ellie received about 15 new books from great-grandparents, grandparents, and her aunt and uncles. It was amazing! We loved seeing these gifts come to her because we know how much they will be loved. And to be frank, she'd often rather read and laugh along with a book than play with toys anyway. Don't get me wrong she certainly loves her toys and babydolls but she holds a special place for books. We, as parents, are happy to see so many books in her library already and we're actually thankful that she has more books than toys-- again, let me clarify-- I don't think she's deprived of toys by any means!

There are three ways Ellie will let you know she wants to read: The first, and most common, is for her to hand you a book, turn around, and sit in your lap. If you're not already sitting cross legged on the floor you had better get there because she is ready! The second, and the one I find most endearing, is for her to grab a book and find you (wherever you may be, whatever you're doing), hand you the book and sit down and smile right then and there ready for, and sweetly demanding, her mini-adventure or silly little story. And, I do mean she will come searching for you wherever you are or whatever you're doing. She has approached me while I've been cooking dinner, cleaning, in the bathroom, taking a shower, doing laundry, watching TV, or just talking to Randall. I love that she knows I'll always drop whatever I'm doing to read to her-- even if we have our coats on and are walking out the door to daycare/work (late because Little Bill has already started). Reading is just that important to encourage. The third, and most recently developed, way of letting us know she wants to read is for her to select her book, and then either run to her new purple chair, or stay seated where she is and then sternly say "Sit! Sit!" until you come over. She is becoming more comfortable testing out the words she knows. I like that she is confident enough to try it out and remain persistent until she gets what she wants. She's not bossy, she's just clear about her wants and wishes (it will be interesting to see if this trait sticks with her as she grows up).

I love that kids have their favorite books. I remember having my favorites-- who doesn't? Picture books are great. Ellie was blessed with a wonderful gift from all of my and Randall's friends and siblings when she was born. Laura had coordinated an amazing effort for everyone to give Ellie their favorite childhood books. A few great friends even went to such great lengths as to find out-of-print books in odd places, and on eBay. We are so lucky to have such awesome friends. Ellie's favorite books (at least for the last few months) which we have read over, and over, and over, and over again, are "Hush Little Polar Bear", "Soon Baboon, Soon", "10 Little Rubber Ducks", and more recently Sandra Boynton's "Blue Hat, Green Hat", "Moo, Baa, La La La", and "Are You a Cow?". We happily know these books by heart! We had read "Soon Baboon, Soon" so many times around Christmas that when I made Mickey Mouse Christmas cookies all Randall could see when looking at the cookie was one of the chimps from the book! It was pretty funny, I took a picture to capture the likeness. Ellie's reactions to and interactions with the books are just priceless and would make anyone fall in love with reading again. No wonder so many kids love reading, children's books are just magical! Now, to continue nurturing this love so it always stays with her. Who knows? Maybe she'll be reading full picture books by age four like her daddy was!

January 20th-- Update :)
Tonight Ellie threw a full blown temper tantrum. After trying almost everything like food, juice, new diaper, milk, even resorting to a paci-- what was the only thing that stopped this tantrum? A book. I picked up "Are You a Cow?" and read the title. The crying stopped and I heard "no". Randall and I smiled and quietly laughed. So, I read the book and the tantrum stopped. The girl loves books!