Book Lover

Some kids sleep with stuffed animals or a doll or perhaps a special blankie or lovey.

Not our Kate, she sleeps with books.
We have to "tuck in" her books each night when she goes to bed (or takes a nap).
It isn't the same book each time. She will want a certain book for a week or so & then she switches which book is allowed to sleep with her in her crib.

The book has to be placed in the crook of her arm.
The book above is one of her favorites, Pinkalicious. Beneath that she has Purplicious. The 3rd book in the series, "Goldilicious" just came out last month. I am going to take her on a special trip to the book store later this summer so we can buy it.

Here is Kate tucked in with her Bible. Kate calls it her "Jesus Book". We try and read a story from it every night. For the past few months she will only let us read about Samuel. (Her buddy Maddie's little brother Samuel was born in March). Ever since he was born, I have to read about Samuel. It is so cute. I have that story memorized! Every night I try reading a different story from her Jesus book, and after I am done she says "Read Samuel in Jesus Book".

2 weeks ago when Kate was sick & was waking up through out the night she would say to me as I put her back into bed at O'dark o'clock, "Read me Jesus Book" and even though it was the middle of the night, I had to read her a story each time because how can you say no to your child when they are asking you to read them the Bible!?! Then after I read her a story from her "Jesus Book" she then asks for us to sing "Kate's Jesus" which is actually "Jesus Loves Me". But Kate calls it "Kate's Jesus" because we change the words to "Jesus Loves Kate" and then of course she wants us to sing "Claire's Jesus". She is such a sweet, sweet girl. I love her so much!

I have tried to replace the books with a doll or stuffed animal, but she refuses and throws them out of her crib and says, "No! I want my books!" She has loved books from when she was a baby!

As a teacher (and a lover of reading) I am excited that she loves books at such a young age. When I was growing up, I loved reading. I remember when I got my very own library card to the public library when I was in elementary school. I got the sign that back with my signature. I thought that was so cool. I carried it around in my Hello Kitty velcro wallet. I remember going to the library every few weeks during the summer with my mom and I would check out 15 books at a time. I stay up past my bedtime and read with a flashlight under my covers.

In middle school, I would keep a list of how many books (or pages) I read each summer. One summer I read over 60 (chapter) books. My best friend AK and I would have contests to see who could read the most books/pages (DORKS!!) Almost everyday we would ride our bikes to the pool and swim and read books while we tanned (with baby oil on our skin, yikes!!) Another contest we would have was to see who would be the tannest at the end of the summer. I always won the reading contest but she was always tanner than me!

To this day, one of my favorite things to do is curl up on the couch to read a good book, especially in the winter with a cup of coffee (or hot coco). Or, in the summer sitting by the pool or at the beach reading while you sip on your favorite cold beverage. I haven' t really done that since we have had kids *sigh*. I am hoping to finish books 3 & 4 of the Twilight series while we are in Tahoe later this month!

One of my favorite gifts to give people for baby showers or for their kids' birthdays is books! Kate and Claire each have a bookshelf in their rooms & they are already overflowing with books. I think it is great, you can never have too many books! I hope Kate's love of books continues as she grows up {especially her Jesus book} and that Claire also becomes a book lover! What are some of your kids favorite books? I am always on the hunt for new books for the girls!