E-i-e-i-o!

One of my most firm opinions is that a child can never have too many books!  Research clearly shows that reading to children is one of the most important things parents can do for their children.  Plus, I just love children’s books!  We’ve read to Lexi from day one.  At first she wouldn’t let you get through an entire book and tried to turn the pages too fast but now she sits so patiently and listens and looks and takes it all in. 

Well, I bought her a new Old MacDonald book last week and brought it home on Monday.  She has several versions already but I liked this one better because it had more animals in it.  Lexi found the book on the table and I asked her if she knew the name of the book.  She flipped through the pages and said “e-i-e-i-o!”  I was so proud that she recognized this!  She really is beginning to read!  Later that evening we were reading a book about numbers.  At the end of the book they had a few pages where you counted objects and then were asked which item had more.  She floored me when she got them both right! This shows me that she is developing number sense and her counting is getting great too.  She now counts to 10 and we are adding more numbers slowly. 

Yesterday afternoon, I was trying to do something I never do anymore (watch Dr. Phil) and Lexi began to say “Mommy, please read book!”  Over and over!  I told her we would read later and I ended up going to cook dinner.  So after dinner we read, and read, and read.  We read two books about China.  One was about Chinese New Year and the other “I love you like Crazy Cakes” is about a woman who adopts a little girl from China.  As we read the books Lexi was just thrilled to see pictures of children that look like her and as we read the Crazy Cake book, we talked about our experience adopting her.  She was so amazing and so interested.  I couldn’t help but get tears in my eyes as I relived our experience through the story.  It was indeed a special moment.  Later we moved on to reading more books like “We’re going on a Bear hunt”.  She LOVES that one!  And others that included Cinderella  and even one that has first words in it.  She can read that one to me by reading the pictures.  We read for close to an hour and as I scanned the living room last night you can tell one thing for sure… Lexi loves books.  If there was ONE book pulled out, there were at least 25 laying on the tables and the floor.  She does have tons of books but like I said, you can never have too many as long as you are reading them! 

 

These are the ones we read last night… many of them more than once!

And yet more that were stacked on the coffee table.  I think this stack was from the night before!