Book Time

As I've mentioned before, I'm a pretty huge bookworm.  I don't remember specifically learning to read, but I know I wasn't some baby prodigy; still, I was always surrounded by books, read to, in a family of readers.  In fact, I found this picture the other day:

Years before I was ever pregnant, I was too superstitious to buy things specifically for a baby that was still just a dream, but here and there I'd pick up a favorite YA novel from my childhood if I spotted it at Goodwill.  In my head, I said it was "for my potential future children, maybe, but otherwise I might re-read them."  When we did decide to actively try for a baby, I was still too superstitious to buy anything more than prenatal vitamins - and this book in hardback: 

However, other than that book and a few others that were gifted, I didn't think much about reading when I was pregnant, and then when I had Thumper I was on survival mode - and suddenly I realized he was two months old, I hardly had anything to read to him, and I was hardly reading to him at all.  

In retrospect, this seems like a silly thing to get upset about; he was only a few months old and only recently could he probably even focus on a book.  Still, with the hormones and stress raging, I felt like I was a Bad Mom who was failing to do any of the things I'd always dreamed of.  Over the following months we've bought more books here and there, and received even more from family.  

At first I just randomly read him a little book here and there, but as we actively attempted to get a bedtime routine going, it became centered around Book Time.  Now Thumper pretty much only plays with cloth or bath books or the smaller board books during the day - the physically light stuff I don't mind him chewing on, ones that I consider toys more than books (though I'll read them to him, too).  

At bedtime we read two or three real books as a family, and I think it's possibly everyone's favorite time of day.  Does he sit and intently listen to every word of every book?  No, he's a baby.  Most of them are full-sized board books, so he might start trying to chew on the cover or the spine by the time I get to the end, or try to crawl around on the bed, or try to climb Mt. Parent (either one).  But he's usually excited at least at the beginning, and there are some books that are definitely favorites of his.  

I never had a baby shower, because the vast majority of friends and family are scattered across the country.  If I had had the chance to have one, I might have wanted a book party; we've been trying to buy new stuff as well as the classics we grew up with, but the options are endless, and it would have been nice to get input from other sources.  

Here are two favorites that were brand-new to both the Yeti and me:  

We bought Olivia because it was a Caldecott Award-winner and I had vaguely heard that this series was a hit with kids.  Honestly, I didn't expect Thumper to go for it yet, because it's fairly long and I didn't feel like the illustrations would have been that eye-catching to an infant.  But he started to get the biggest smile when I turned to the second page (filled with Olivia doing many activities) and now, he gives a Pterodactyl Screech of Approval when it comes out.  We've since bought one other in the series, but she's much older and it's not as much of a hit.  We'll have to explore more of the earlier books. 

This one was gifted to us by the Yeti's mom.  Had it been me, I probably wouldn't have ever picked it up - the title reminded me of I Love You Forever, which I haven't liked since we read it in my second-grade class.  But this is sweet and simple, and manages to occasionally get me choked up without feeling deliberately manipulative.  

More importantly, Thumper loves it.  We've turned it into an interactive reading; I'll read lines like "I love your fingers... and toes..."  and the Yeti will grab Thumpers hands and feet, and so on.  And it's fairly quick, so it makes it into the rotation quite a bit.  It's yet another one that gets smiles and squeals, which is honestly freaking adorable.  

Since we do read two or three books a night, Thumper will probably be sick of these before he can even remember reading them - and we do continue to look for new recommendations.  But in the meantime, these are family favorites, and no matter how tired or whiny we all feel, they never fail to lighten the mood and make us all smile. 

One of the earliest hits