Storytime

One of the things we love to do with Livi is read to her. It’s one of our morning activities, and we’ll always read her a book before we tuck her into bed.

Sometimes they’re children’s books, or Tom and I will just read aloud whatever we’re reading:

dad and baby

Last night she learned about 357th Fighter Squadron heritage via “Two Days of Rolling Thunder.” She listened intently and looked at the pictures.. until she crashed out.

Some of the books we’ve read so far include lots of Eric Carle and Dr. Suess, “My Daddy Loves Me,” and “Look, Look!” (a gift from a very good friend).

She especially loves the pictures in this one because they’re black and white:

image Source

So much in fact that I may just ordered three similar books:

image

I really enjoy reading to Liv because even though I have no idea if she understands or not, she looks at each page and watches my mouth move as I read the words to her. I love pointing out the different animals and the sounds they make (and sound like a total goober), and teaching her the names of colors.

Some of the benefits of reading to babies:

(from this website)

Reading aloud:

  • teaches a baby about communication
  • introduces concepts such as stories, numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way
  • builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills
  • gives babies information about the world around them

Believe it or not, by the time babies reach their first birthday they will have learned all the sounds needed to speak their native language. The more stories you read aloud, the more words your child will be exposed to and the better he or she will be able to talk. Hearing words helps to build a rich network of words in a baby’s brain. Kids whose parents frequently talk/read to them know more words by age 2 than children who have not been read to. And kids who are read to during their early years are more likely to learn to read at the right time.

When reading, your child hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds, which fosters social and emotional development. Reading also invites your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions — all of which promote social development and thinking skills. And your baby improves language skills by imitating sounds, recognizing pictures, and learning words.

But perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that it makes a connection between the things your baby loves the most — your voice and closeness to you — and books. Spending time reading to your baby shows that reading is a skill worth learning.

Source

Everyone in my family read to me from when I was very small, which is definitely one of the reasons why I love to read as much as I do.

It’s funny because our first week back from the hospital, I felt like I might not have the chance to read again. Showering is a luxury. Reading? There was no way.

Finally, I’ve mastered the art of one-handed reading (and typing) so that I’ve been able to read almost an entire book this past week:

book3

Thank you so much to those of you who recommended this one!

While I am still mystified by Livi on a daily basis, it’s given fantastic insight into her personality.

This is the type of book that is more helpful once the baby is here, because it describes 5 different baby personality types and the best ways to nurture and care for each type. According to the book, Livi is a combo textbook and spirited baby. She is very clear about what she likes and doesn’t like -her dirty diaper cry is INTENSE. She lets you know instantly when she needs to be cleaned up- and also very predictable about her schedule. When she wakes up, it’s eating time.

I’ve been reading the book in snippets during pumping time and it has been extremely helpful and fascinating.

Next on the list:

book4

(I should have downloaded these on the Kindle, but wasn’t sure if they’d be the type of books I’d want to reference later- it’s more challenging to do that electronically)

Sleep is still a little helter-skelter over here, but once we get into more of a routine, I think this book will be very useful. “Happiest Baby on the Block” has also been good to us- lots of “shh-ing,” swaddling and swaying over here.

Please let me know if you have any more book recommendations- I’m always looking for late-night feeding and pumping reading material!

What was your favorite book as a child?

I was obsessed with the Angelina Ballerina books and also adored The Giving Tree 🙂

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125 Comments

  1. Dominique on February 4, 2012 at 12:22 am

    When I was a kid we had a book about a kid whose parents go away for the night and he makes so much popcorn that it overtakes the entire house. I can’t remember if the family was a bunch of bears or if it happened on Halloween (I seem to recall costumes), but I loved that book–even though I remember very little about it.

    Another book I love is Pat the Bunny (fiance got me a copy a few years ago) and Lisa the Grompet. The latter is about a girl who runs away from home because her parents are always nagging her. She runs into a grompet (a little creature) who tells her how lucky she is because no one nags him and in turn, cares about it. Lisa then goes home and is very appreciative of her parents. I still have my childhood copy of that book.

  2. Kate on February 4, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Those are my two favorite books!!! LOVED them both — although if you like the BW I would HIGHLY recommend that you get her ‘bible’ The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems. I found the first one to be a bit vague — and the Solves All Your Problems is very specific and has specific examples of babies Tracy worked with and it tackles problems down the road (first foods, toilet training, behavior issues). Anyhow, great picks! I have a 17 month old and 3 1/2 year old (both girls) and these books were a godsend. You are doing a great job — keep it up!

  3. Amber on February 4, 2012 at 8:28 am

    You must check out Amy Krouse Rosenthal books. Her cookie books and little hoot, little oink, & little pea books are fabulous

  4. Linz @ ItzLinz on February 4, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Have you gotten or seen the Pinkalicious books? They are the cutest books for girls ever!!! There is Pinkalicious, Goldilicious, Purplicious, and Goldilicious. They are a must read for girls!!

  5. Sarah on February 4, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    I used both of those books with my children and took everything that was my ‘style’ from each! I’d have to say Healthy Sleep Habits was harder to use until my kids were about 3-4 months old. My husband still says we couldn’t have made it without the EASY method!

  6. Tracy on February 4, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    I have 4 kids (ages 16, 14, 12, 12). I swear by Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I read and followed (loosely) that book and the basic premises are so true! My kids have always been good sleepers and still are. Nap time was always sacred in my house and I never regretted it!

  7. Hannah on February 6, 2012 at 2:31 am

    I LOVED happiest baby on the block. We had the swaddle and the white noise and wow, it worked! The sshsshhhh eventually became ‘heavy rain’. (we downloaded a white noise app on our iphones and our baby slept with that under the bassinet from about 2 weeks on!). Brilliant!

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