Raising another book lover...

Every night, Andrew puts Davey to bed. It's their special time together and they have a great routine they do every night which involves Andrew reading to Davey.

I used to laugh at Andrew when they first started because Davey didn't always let Andrew finish reading the page to him, so they would actually fight over the book. Andrew would hold the book to the page he was reading while Davey struggled to get off his lap, turn the page, or grab the book. Davey would start fussing and Andrew's voice would get louder and louder as he insisted on finishing the story.

I tried to explain that it wasn't so much about reading exactly what's in the book, as spending time together and introducing Davey to books. Eventually I just learned to turn the baby monitor off so that I couldn't hear what was going on during story time.

One night recently I walked into the living room mid-story (the story was happening in David's room, but the baby monitor was already turned up). To my delight they were both clearly enjoying the experience. Andrew has developed wonderful story telling skills and will use all sorts of noises and voices to tell the story. Davey sometimes sits mesmerized, sometimes he doesn't like a particular portion of the story, so he'll quickly flick past that part. Or, once in a while, he'll grab the book out of Andrew's hands and read it back to him. But they both seem to have so much fun during this part of the bedtime routine.

While we were in Alberta last weekend, Davey and I were looking at one of his bed time books. It's about wheels and the jobs they do. Davey was holding the book and talking baby talk. After a sentance or two of indistinguishable talk, he yelled, "GO vroom vroom!" then continued on with the next page.

Tonight Andrew was telling me about another book they sometimes read at bedtime. This one talks about counting the stars in the night sky and making wishes. The little bear in the story wishes for a baby brother. Apparently Andrew asked Davey if he would like a baby brother, "NO!" "Well, what about a baby sister?" Andrew asked. But Davey didn't even bother answering.
So I thought I would ask Davey. He was adamant about not wanting a brother. Kind of ambivilent about a sister, "mnnn nah" but when I said, "well, what about a puppy dog?" he got an excited look on his face and "puppdah". Hmmn. Poor kid's in for a disappointment!!