Future Reader

Ever since I first found out we were pregnant with Jax, I have been accumulating a pretty large children's book collection.  I started reading to Jax when he was just a newborn.  Actually, it started before then while I was still pregnant.  I had Jasper and I take turns reading at night to my stomach.  Sometimes we read children's stories, other times Jasper read the news or sports to him.  :)  Once he grew out of the sleepy newborn stage (which was very early I might add) he had a pretty limited attention span and we could only make it through a few pages before he was no longer interested in the story.  Over time we have continued to read to him, but he never noticed the pages other than to try and chew on them making some of the board books look more like teethers.  This month however, something has clicked and Jax has discovered a love for books.  Of all the books in his little library, there is one particular book that is his favorite:  Brown Bear Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  

One morning he grabbed this book and handed it to me so I pulled him up on my lap and started to read it to him.  It was like he was noticing the pages for the first time.  He let his finger linger on each animal as we flipped the pages.  After we finished I put the book on the floor and he crawled over and grabbed it again, shoving it toward me.  So we read it again, and again and again.  Jax soon mastered the art of turning the pages which he thoroughly enjoyed doing.  Sometimes I would be able to read all the text before he turned the page, and sometimes we had to do the cliff note version.  I must have read Brown Bear 13 times that first day and it has been his favorite book every day since though we have added several other books to the rotation including "What Do Animals Say," an ABC book, many Sandra Boynton books, and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."    

I just love that Jax has discovered books and hope to foster this this interest in them as he gets older. 

 

 I should add that I shouldn't be surprised by Jax's interest in reading, as it is probably genetic.  My mom not only spent much of her career teaching the children in her classroom to read, but now has a career doing Reading Recovery with teachers and students across the state.  To say childhood reading is a passion of hers is an understatement.  It should also be noted that my mom is the one who gave Jax this onesie.  So this post if for you Madre. :)