our little bookworm

so my independant reader now has a handful of books memorized and he likes to be able to read to us.  it is fun to have the tables reversed for a change!

he does enjoy a variety in his books, but we go through phases with favorites.  for right now it is "rexerella", "brown bear, brown bear" & "the very hungry caterpillar".

he has also taken an interest in reading stories to blaire, which is super fun because she likes to sit my lap and look at the pictures.  it is a very fun activity for them to do together!

both our kids seem to love reading, which makes this bookworm-mama's heart melt.  i finally am starting to feel like i can make a lil' time to read for myself also....

and just bought the new jodi picoult e-book, 'the storyteller' to read on my iPad.  

how about you?  do you enjoy reading for yourself?  

and if so, what is on your current bookshelf?  

i am always looking for new suggestions!

book enthusiast

Hendrix comes from a family of readers.  Both his parents really love to read and so do his grandparents, so I naturally assumed that he would love to read as well.  

To encourage a love for literacy; we began reading to Hendrix when he was still in the womb, he started attending baby storytime at the library at just three weeks old, and we gave him a pretty good start on his book collection.  

His first book was a soft book that he mostly just chewed on, but we carried it around in his diaper bag pretty religiously.  We continued reading him stories daily and let him try eating the corners of the books, hoping that he would eventually have an interest in looking at the pictures and try turning the pages.   

Now at six months old, I think he actually is starting to understand what reading a book is all about!

He likes to turn the pages himself, though more often than not he 'bops' himself in the nose with the cardboard page.

He is learning how to lift the flaps...

 ....loves the pages with textures to touch and feel....

...and also the books that have parts that you can pull out. Those must be for eating!

He got this really cool recordable book for Valentine's Day from his Grandma, and all four of his grandparents read it to him on the recording.  We love to get it out and listen to it together.  

As you can see he looks around for them as he hears their voices, and he smiles alot!  It jumps a little bit in the movie because of the way I am holding it in front of him and trying to record it with my camera.  When he is sitting on my lap and I am holding it steady, the book reads just perfectly.  What a fun and treasured gift!

In fact, many of the books that he plays with were gifts from various friends and family members, and we love thinking about them as we read.  It will be cool to tell him someday about when and where each book was acquired.   I think the Easter bunny plans to bring him a basket full of books this year!

Another Girlfriend!

Flora Joy Wellington 

was born to a dear friend of mine, Karin, this past Saturday, October 23.

This now makes 5 girls born within the last two months to friends of mine, with no other boys.  Hendrix is just going to be a ladies man I guess. ;)

Daddy was giving him some pointers on how to impress her.  LOL Hendrix really was looking pretty intently at her....it was really cute!  

She was such a little peanut to hold after being used to my growing son. What a precious bundle!

Hendrix really is growing lots.  He is 7 weeks old now, and is pretty much exclusively wearing his 3 month clothes.  Some of them (like this little raccoon sweater) are still a little baggy on him, but he has outgrown most of his newborn clothes specifically in the length.  He still isn't all that chubby, but he keeps stretching out.  I love trying new clothes from his closet on him.....it's so much more fun than playing with dolls was when I was a little girl!

I LOVE this face......I think he looks quite a bit like his daddy here.

I love this face too; it is his "seriously?" face!

The Kampman family came for a visit this weekend, and Hendrix enjoyed meeting his little (second) cousin Will.  Give them a few years, and I am sure they will enjoy playing with each other a lot more!  :)

  We celebrated the Cyclones' win this weekend!  This was at a tailgate at Ames Center for Cosmetic & Family Dentistry which is where I work.  

As is becoming the norm, Hendrix was passed around and adored. ;)  He loves the attention!

Grandma spent some time with us over the weekend.  They looked really cute snuggled up on the couch together for a nap, and then she read him some books before bedtime.  He loved it! I think that he is starting to look at the pictures more now....I'm still not sure how far he can see, but I have noticed him crossing his eyes sometimes while he is trying to focus on something so I think his vision is improving.  

Yesterday we decided to carve our pumpkins.

Which actually means, we decided to watch daddy carve our pumpkins.

And then we left daddy alone to carve pumpkins while we went and played. :)

He did a great job!