Books are now real

Something happened yesterday and a book stopped only being something the baby wanted to gnaw on, but became "alive". 

I read him "I Love You Through and Through", which means he squirmed in my lap and tried to eat it but liked one part--when I gently rubbed his head when it says "hair".

So he's been walking around, occasionally rubbing his head and looks at me to say "hair", and does it if I happen to say "hair". Or he'll pick up that book and bring it to me and touch his hair. 

He's started to pick up other books for me to read, too. It's barely a page here and there but it's a huge change from before. 

I feel relieved, actually. Knowing he will be teachable and not in his oral stage forever. (I realize that's not going to happen anyway, but the glimmer of progressive change was reassuring just the same.)

In other news, his sister loves, loves going swimming with her grandmother. Just the two of them. And she's back on her Tiny Titans kick. This means nice comics to read and look at and a calmer Carolina who wants to "read" on her own. Love those Titans!!

Reading us a bedtime story

Last night, Carolina decided that she needed both of us in the room at storytime.

So after I read a story, she picked one in Spanish. When I asked if papa should read it she said, "No. I do it." And proceeded to read to us in Emglish by turning the pages and saying "(some kind of babble that had a good cadence and then) Ha-old purpa cayon." because it was Harold and the Purple Crayon.

It was very exciting.

Good days and less good days but mostly fun

I have to say, having a two-year-old in the house can be amazingly fun and amazingly tiring. Today, for example, was great.

I figured she'd be climbing up the walls by this afternoon as it was too hot and humid to go to the park this morning and rained all afternoon, but she wasn't. She was pretty content, and we had a good time coloring, dancing and playing.

Her favorite new thing is to dance like a ballerina and tell me, "Look Mommy! Angenina!" For Angelina Ballerina, a cartoon she likes. (I don't really like it very much since I find the voices annoying but we watch it sometimes just for a change of pace.) I've taught her what I remember from ballet classes I took when I was little and she finds it hilarious that we dance together like so.

When she gets a little older, and if she still likes to dance, I'll sign her up for a dance class.

A new-to-us book we got from the library recently is "Stick" by Steve Breen. It's great because it's not very long and there aren't many words. (I basically make up sounds for each frame where there aren't any words on the page.) The illustrations are very nice and there's a map of Stick's journey on the inside covers. Stick is a "baby fog" (baby frog) who likes to do things on his own and has an adventure around the New Orleans bayou area when he tries to eat a fly and gets stuck on a dragonfly. I really like New Orleans, and so that makes me happy to get to read it to her repeatedly when she asks.

I had to do some hunting for a hardcover copy of it, and finally found one (an ex-library copy) on Alibris.com. Here's the link in case anyone else wants one:
http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qisbn=9780803731240&qwork=9901570&author=steve+breen&qsort=p&matches=11&cm_sp=works*edition*buyused

I wanted to make sure that we had a copy with the map on the inside covers since Carolina and I talk about the journey using the map. I wasn't sure if the paperback one they had on Amazon and BN.com had it.

Anyway, if you have a 18 month or older kid, and that kid likes animals -- I have a feeling that kid will like Stick:
 

Another current favorite is anything with Madeline in it, and Chicken Soup With Rice. Madeline is "Mad-eh-mine". She likes the first Madeline book best and we've read others. She even read enough during the Queens Library summer reading program that she earned a 'free dessert' from Applebee's. Of course we have to buy an adult entree, but it'll be fun to take her since she likes the little card they gave her with the 5 stamps on it saying she read 5 books.

Honestly, it's probably more that the card came in a little orange-plastic cover, and she can slide the card into and out of it.

Reading and walking

I should have mentioned this awhile ago. She loves to sit with a book and flip the pages. She has been doing this for about 4 months. The past two months have been where I've noticed her taking the most concentrated time to look at the pages. I dint know if she is going over how we read them together, or just studying what's on the pages. Many times the book is upside down. It's terribly cute and endearing.

Today she took about 3-4 steps going between us, about 4 times while we were on a skype video call with the Abuelos. It was very cool. We clapped everytime she did it, so she clapped too and looked very proud of herself. Still, it's mostly one leg being dragged type of walking.

I've been reading Michael Palin's "Diaries" from 1969-1979. It's very interesting to read about how a creative, comedy writer fills his days. And I'm envious of that kind of life. Also, all the while he's having kids. He not once writes about the babies keeping them up all hours and being too tired to work. AND he and his wife seem to travel all over with them AND go out to dinner. Even when they are quite young. I'm going to write to Michael Palin and ask him if they used a neighbor as a babysitter or how they did it. Maybe he and his wife are less high-strung than me, or all his kids were able to nap anywhere or some combination of personalities that lent to a much different life than we have. OR he just never complained about it all but it did happen.

Anyway, yes, I really intend to write and ask him these things.