Books

Bec was visiting friends with a son who is two weeks younger than Quinn. They were surprised that we were reading to Quinn already. I hadn't thought about it for awhile, but I do remember reading that they can't fathom the whole book thing until a later age. But I also remember thinking we'd try it anyway just for kicks. He has liked them quite a bit from early on.

He has definitely gone through stages. In the early going he was more fascinated with the lyricalness of the reading, so we read more complex books like Dr Suess that had some rhyme and meter to it. He'd just notice the book sometimes when his eye roved around the room. Then he wanted to eat the books, then whack them. A turning point occurred when someone suggested to us that we didn't necessarily need to read a book from start to finish, or even in order, and that letting them look at pages for extended periods and handling the books was encouraged too. After awhile he'd put his hands on the page as if to stop me from turning it; he'd look at the page for awhile, and then remove his hands as if to tell me it was ok to turn it now.

At first I read mostly the same four books. Sometimes it would only be one, sometimes more, sometimes I varied the order. Three were simpler ones and one was Dr Suess's ABC (which was hard to find!) in a simpler board-book edition. His attention span would vary but it definitely got noticably longer over time. Now he sits up with rapt attention and looks at the pictures, and I describe some things shown on the page. He absolutely loves being read to.

His Aunt Caitlin gave him this great gift for his half birthday - a small story book that is attached to a glove with five finger puppets; the story involves the five finger puppets. Quinn absolutely loves it. He looks back and forth from the book to the puppets, and you can see the mental hamsters running as he puts the 3D and the 2D together in his mind. It's amazing to watch his mind develop, and books have been a great vehicle for that already.