Reading Is Fundamental

Boo and I beat the winter blues on Monday by hitting the Barnes and Noble after naptime. It was fun (at least until she started trying to dismantle the Beatrix Potter display). We picked up some new reads, which is more for Jeff and I and for her-- it's easier to keep up the important task of reading to your kid when the books aren't the same ones you've read a million times before. We picked up Make Way For Ducklings, The Giving Tree, and one about a dog called-- savor the irony-- Sam Is Never Scared. That's her new favorite.

She's REALLY starting to respond to her books, in a way that makes us suspect that she's actually understanding some of the story. In The Giving Tree, when the boy cuts down the tree's trunk to make his boat, she pointed to the picture of the stump and burst into tears.

Just now I read Ruby and Bubbles to her (I'm trying to read to her before naptime as a way to have some "quality time" with her after daycare while keeping her simmered down for naps) and when I reached the part where Ruby gives Bubbles his name, I read, "Bubbles! Yeah, Bubbles!" and Alison crowed "Bah-bah!" while pointing at the picture of him. Awesome.