When can I introduce Anne of Green Gables?

While I was pregnant with Leah, one of my concerns was that she wouldn't be a reader. How on EARTH would I relate to a child who wasn't interested in reading? I couldn't fathom.

Fortunately, I didn't have anything to worry about. Before she was a year old Leah would look at board books on her own for a surprising amount of time. Now, being read to is one of her favorite activities, and instead of napping she has a "quiet time" where she'll either listen to books on CD (with or without the book to follow along!) or play with her LeapPad or Leapster. She is a girl after my own heart, but I think she may be waaay more into video games than I ever have been.



Uncle Dean technically gave this Dr. Seuss book to Ben for his birthday, but Leah has laid claim on it. She has figured out that rhyming words end the same way, and since she knows the sounds of all the letters in the alphabet, it's not a big leap to reading "Hop on Pop". And Ben took that seriously, apparently. He was laying like this on her for quite a while during her read-a-loud.


Ben, on the other hand, waited a bit longer to discover the joys of reading. He was just too busy to sit and be read to, but when I finally weaned him at 11 months, I replaced his nursing before bed with reading a book instead, and he took to it readily. Now he enjoys being read to almost as much as Leah does. And he's "reading" to himself, too...on our 10 hour drive back from Montana last summer (above), Ben spent a considerable amount of time looking at his favorite board books.


The photo above was taken Sunday morning, after he'd already spent a solid five minutes (which is like half an hour in non-toddler time) perusing the details of the Thomas the Train product sheet. He'd be on his back, staring at it, then roll over onto his belly and stare some more. The intensity was admirable.

Now for a gratuitous photo of Benjamin and his mommy:




Also. Ben is a really hard sleeper, and sometimes he wakes up from a nap, and then decides he'd just like a wee bit more sleep. We've all felt that way. But Ben just makes himself comfortable wherever he happens to be.

Update: Aaron is now glasses-free and seeing 20/20, according to his doctor. He did have a rough 6 hours after the procedure. Once his Valium fog wore off and this eyes recovered, he emerged. I keep contemplating if I should do Lasik too, but the image of him in the fetal position on our closet floor is pretty discouraging. And have you seen the movie "Minority Report"? I think I'll need the Valium about half and hour before signing any papers, and then small doses daily until the big day. Deal? Sign me up!