It took him all morning, but in the afternoon he finally discovered it. His little reading area. First the quilt was removed. Then the stuffed monkey crocheted for him by an auntie. Then his hippo puppet. But then, he discovered his little basket of books with some puppet books that we got for him at the zoo waiting. And sat down he did to turn the pages. I sat down with him and read to him with funny voices for the animals and my heart soared as he laughed. We got through four books. Four books with my little boy. Oh how wonderful this moment was!
Ross asked me the question, "why is a reading corner so important?" I thought on that question long and hard. And my answer was that I wanted to send the message to him that reading is important. Important enough to have a space of its own. And there were so many blogs and books that moved me in that direction. Like this post by Meg of Mama Liberated and this book which has a whole chapter on creating learning spaces.
There was so much baking done during nap time! Baking and present wrapping. And yes, a birthday crown. One that has an elastic in the back so that it will grow with him as we celebrate more and more birthdays together. The pattern was from here if you are interested in making one of your own.
There were a few toys added to the toy library to be rotated in. But mostly my favorite thing was watching him have an evening of fun. Everybody was so eager to play with him. Catch and blocks and peekaboo. Yes, oh this little boy had fun. And laughed so loud.
It was such a lovely day. One! Oh my. One whole year old. One full journey around the sun. Oh little one how much you have changed. How much you have changed us. Looking back it was such an amazing year. I can't wait to see what this one will bring.
I just heard on public radio yesterday that the reading authorities (whoever they may be!) are recommending that you start reading to your child as soon as they are born!! I think it's so children can experience the full richness of language and have their little brains immediately start growing with wonderful and healthy thought and language patterns. Liam is such a happy little doll-boy!! Happy Birthday Liam! Hope you enjoyed those yummy cookies and the cake Mommy made! Hugs with aloha, Ann
ReplyDeleteAloha Ann! Yeah, I read that somewhere too. We do a lot of reading. Even when he was a newborn. We would lay on the floor with him and read with the book facing up so he could see the pages. I try to even have silent reading time with him. I get a basket of his books and I sit down with my book and we read for a bit. He turns the pages of his books and looks at the pictures. It lasts for about five minutes before he's pointing at his books and asking me in his little baby language to read to him. So we end up always ending with me reading. =) So much fun! Those cookies were a thank you present for the family that came - and actually he didn't like the cake, he just wanted to eat watermelon! LOL. Thanks for stopping by! Aloha.
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