My babies can read ... yes, both of them

A couple years ago, a friend was asking for advice about getting a better routine for reading to her little ones, and I was telling her how I read to Nate at certain times of the day. She warned me that it was harder to get in those routines with the second. I didn't doubt her in the least, so it came as no surprise when I saw I wasn't reading to Georgia as much as I always had to Nate.

But there's a big difference here. As a baby, Nate couldn't walk and was happy as a little puppy to just sit in my lap listening to stories for as long as I would read them. Up until recently, she couldn't sit still long enough to get through the shortest of baby board books. Usually at bedtime, I have been reading a few stories to Nate while Georgia wanders around his room looking for trouble, pulling books off his bookshelf, taking wipes out of the box, climbing on top of me, jumping on Nate's bed, etc.

Who, me?

A couple weeks ago, we were at hippotherapy, and Georgia called a horse a "doggy." It was so cute! But I realized she doesn't know the names for any animals except doggies. Memaw reminded me that this is about the age (18 months) that I started reading the Bright Babies First Words books to Nate, so I decided to pull them out for Georgia. Now every night when we are rocking in the glider for a few minutes before I put her in her crib, she asks for "book." But she is hilarious "reading" this book. Each page has a picture of a household object or animal, and I point to it and ask her what it is. Here's how it goes:

Picture of a Girl=Baby!

Picture of a Boy=Nayyy! (Nate)

Shirt=Shut!

Pants=Shut!

Socks=Shocks!

Shoes=Shewwws!

Cup=Miwlk!

Ball=Baw!

Car=Caw!

Boat=Caw!

Teddy bear=Baby!

Banana=Nana!

Cat=PSSSSSSTTTTT!!!!! (Oh no, that's what she thinks a cat is called now, cause that's the noise I make every time our cat is around to get her to stop doing whatever annoying thing she is doing!)

Potty=Paw-ee

Dog=Doggy

Okay, great, so she is doing pretty well with all those first words! Now we move on to the animals ... we have a lot of work ahead of us, lol.

Penguin=Quack Quack

Rabbit=Doggy

Fish=Ish (we actually have fish, so that's why she knows that one)

Goat=Doggy

Butterfly=jumbled nonsense ... pretty sure she's trying to say butterfly

Zebra=Doggy

Lion=Doggy

Macaw=Quack Quack

Tiger=Doggy

Goose=Quack Quack

Kitten=PSSSSSSTTTT!!!

Pig=Doggy

Hen=Quack Quack

.... You get the idea.

Then there's another book about colors that shows a lot of different types of fruits. She calls some fruits (oranges, apples, blueberries) "baw" and all of the other fruits (pears, grapes) "nana". Still scratching my head on that one. But she cracks me up with the enthusiasm in which she answers with the wrong answer.

Georgia also likes to dress up ...

All the time, with whatever she can find.

And whatever Nate is doing ...

Georgia does it too!

Well, Georgia is not the only little bookworm in the house. Nate has always loved books, and we always read several before bed. About a year ago, I bought him some BOB books that help children learn to read. Uh, he was three. I was pushing it a little. So every few months I've brought them out for him to look at and see if he had any interest. Last month, he started getting it!!! Now he can read several of these Bob books, and when we pick up a new one, he needs a little help sounding out a few new words, but dude, he is reading!!!! I have a video of him reading an entire one of those books in like a minute, but I guess the video is too big to load on the blog. I'm so proud--I knew my little boy was smart. Reading at 4.5! (Listen, I haven't had too many chances to brag about how "advanced" Nate is in his short little life of therapies and motor delays, so just go with it.)

AND he can draw! This has been an area of major delay with Nate, but today he drew this awesome self-portrait--best I have ever seen from him! AND he can write his name! Okay, I'll stop now.

Anyway, Memaw knows just how much Nate and Georgia loves books, so when she last visited, she brought them a special Valentine's gift--a book that has her voice recorded reading it! Almost every night Nate has asked for Memaw to read him a book, so I bring it out. :) Georgia is very interested and a little confused at this. There's one part of the book where she whispers and then gets really loud, and Nate gets so excited about this part that he shakes and giggles every time.

Okay, in other non-reading news, Nate has been sick this week.

Monday evening he was very whiny ... like moaning and laying on the couch with Blake. When I got home, I saw he was running a fever. The next morning he still had a fever, so Blake and I tag teamed that day so the kids could stay home. Nate layed on the couch almost the entire day. On Wednesday he didn't have a fever, so I took him to the sitter's, but he was still very tired and clingy. I thought for sure he would get over this any minute. Then Thursday he was feeling a little better, but I checked in with the sitter all day because I didn't like the sound of his cough. She said he looked pale but he insisted he was feeling good. (Oh, by the way, he took a nap every day this week. !!! That is unheard of.) They went to the park, and when they got back, he was so exhausted he couldn't stand it. He wanted to call me, and he told me, "Mama, I'm in rough shape." :) I asked if he needed to go to the doctor, and he said yes. So I got him in that afternoon, and it turns out he has the FLU!!! Awww, poor kid! He got some tamiflu, and actually today he felt much better. I only saw him laying on the couch tonight. He kept saying things like, "It's getting late!" and "I'm I going to stay up all night?" Finally I said, "Do you want to go to bed?" and he said yes! That is just not right for a 4 year old. Now let's just all pray Georgia doesn't get it.

One more story. This evening we were all tired and it was getting near bedtime, and I was trying to just sit in my chair and check my email, but everytime I sat down, one of the kids or the dog wanted something. One would want a snack, then I'd sit down and then other would decide they wanted a snack too. Then when I sat down, one would remind me they needed a drink, then Maggie wanted to go out. Finally I said, "Oh, kids, you are wearing me out!" Nate said, "Mama, why don't you just sit on the couch and rest?" Hmm, I hadn't thought of that, thanks! Not 3 minutes later, Georgia was demanding to get down from her high chair, and when I got up, Nate scolded me, "Mama, I thought you were going to rest!"