Read All About It

It's crazy to think back to the pre-Jason days when I would frequently stay up until 2 AM to finish a book that I'd started earlier that evening, or the early-Jason days when I'd waste and entire Saturday reading in the recliner while Jason was fishing.  It wasn't the least bit unusual for me to read two to three books per week -- and despite my husband feeling sorry for me, I loved it!

Obviously that's all changed with Charlie -- but not just due to lack of time.  Even before I found out I was pregnant, I just stopped reading.  I'm sure some of it was due to the exhaustion of the first trimester, but it was as if a switch were flipped and I just had no intererst.  Instead, I wasted countless hours watching crime documentaries on TV. I think I've seen every single episode of Cold Case Files, American Justice and City Confidential -- which begs the question, will that craving have similar results to my chocolate milkshake and chicken nuggets cravings?  Is Charlie destined to be a cop???  But I digress...

I mention my formerly voracious appetite for reading as a context for the fact that I have been embarrassingly lax at introducing Charlie to books.  I had every intention of reading to him in the womb, but that really seemed like a waste of time to me.  Then I pictured myself reading multiple books a day to my newborn...but I spent his waking moments cooing at and/or shushing him and it again seemed somewhat silly to read to a sleeping baby.

Over the past year as our routines have changed, we have somewhat regularly read to him before bed -- and yes, yes, we know that we should read to him other times a day, too, so he doesn't only associate books with sleep.  But to be honest, other than Goodnight Moon, we probably only read Charlie 2 to 3 books per week.

Which is why we are so surprised and amused by his newfound obsession with books.  It's a hoot!  Whether he's repeatedly paging through his tugboat book in the bath (Splash! Splash!,  Toot! Toot!,  Tug! Tug!), reaching over the side of the glider to point and laugh at his bedtime books, emptying the bookshelf in the playroom or tripping around the living room with his great big puzzle book -- he loves them!

Sadly, I missed the foremost literary moment of Charlie's life so far.  Earlier this week when Jason was putting Charlie to bed, he started out trying to read our new Easter book (which is fabulous by the way -- I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to explain the true meaning of Easter to kids!  It's The Easter Story by Patricia Pingry and available at both Walmart and Target.)

Anyway, Jason started out reading The Easter Story, but Charlie was fidgety and whiny, so he switched to Goodnight Moon, which never fails to calm our little monster.    After he finished saying goodnight to noises everywhere, Jason set down the book and started prayers, but Charlie reached towards The Easter Story and started his grunt/whine thing that lets us know that he wants something, so Jason picked it back up planning to try to read it again.

Instead, Charlie grabbed the book out of Jason's hands and held it off to the side away from Jason, just like we do with him.  He then opened the cover and started "reading" to Jason, "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah," turned the page and read some more "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah," and proceeded do this for five or six pages.  Next, he closed the book and looked up at Jason and smiled.  Then Jason laid Charlie down in his crib, and we didn't hear a peep until morning!  I so wish I had been there to see it!  Now we just have to figure out how he'll fit in both voracious reading and obsessive fishing on the weekends...

Our little book worm