I am excited to announce that we finally seem to be coming to a stage where Elias will sit on my lap and listen to me reading him a book! Those of you who have followed this blog know that it is something I’ve wanted since before he was born…but being a baby…and a toddler…he was more interested in chewing the books or holding them himself.
I was just glad that he liked books and was happy to watch him flip through the pages, or point out something he recognized. But I still longed to just read him a story from beginning to end.
A few weeks ago, I bought a box of Cheerios which came with a free book inside. After Elias finished off the Cheerios, I fished out the free book. It was Hello, Baby by Mem Fox. Elias absolutely loves the book! (Of course he loves the free flimsy book from the cereal box rather than the ones I’ve purchased for him). Elias lets me read this book to him from start to finish. He doesn’t try to hold the book, or tear the pages, or leave my lap. He listens, points out the eyes or beaks of the animals, answers the questions in the book….Finally! I think I’ve read it to him about 200 times already because as soon as we finish, he wants to start again. If I get tired, he takes the book to Daddy and starts the process all over again.
Most books, Elias still wants to “read” himself rather than be read to. He wants to control the pages, he wants to point out what he sees, he wants to say how long and in what order we go. But there have been a few instances where he has sat and listened to an entire book. (He let my dad read him Go, Dog Go all the way through yesterday) Mostly I am just excited that he is moving into this new stage, but trying not to rush him.