Sunday, June 03, 2007

Books, Books, and More Books (or maybe Max, Max, and more Max)

I mentioned the other day that I have been able to renew my interest and love of books and reading now that Max is older, more independent, and able to play on his own for periods of time. However, I was wrong about being about the start the last book in the Left Behind series. I started it on Saturday morning and was very confused. I didn’t get past the first page before I did a quick internet search and realized that there was one more book between the one I last read and the one I had just started. Luckily, browsing the public library web page indicated that it was checked in at a local branch so Max and I headed out to pick it up and I’m about half way into it. Truth be told, I find that it is a getting a bit to preachy with not enough story at this point, but I figure that I may as well finish the series since I am so far into it at this point.

In cue behind that are a few books I just ordered that came in yesterday’s mail and I had a friend give me a whole bag of novels (mostly romance I think) when I need a bit of mind candy interspersed into the reading mix.

One of the books, Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos, A guild to choosing, reading, and loving books together, by Susan Straub and KJ Dell’Antonia I read about on the Ask Moxie blog (actually both the books I purchased I read about on that blog) and it intrigued me enough to get it and check it out. The first sentence of the first two paragraphs in Chapter one called to me. “Before life presented you with an actual baby, you had a mental vision: A small, cuddly bundle in a blanket, sucking a finger and nodding off to sleep as she listens to you read.” “Sure, that happens -- about once a year”. It just called to me.

I am letting Max watch more TV/DVD’s and reading to him far less than I ever thought I would as a parent. Sure, Max and I read together, but not for nearly as long as I think we probably should. And, he just goes through phases where he just isn’t interested (with the TV as well as books). I mostly just go with the flow and don’t push too often. I’m really not worried about his vocabulary or comprehension. Both I think are very good.

He is very much a “labeler” if that is a word. He’s always asking “What’s that”. And, will keep asking and asking and asking if I am not paying close enough attention and don’t get it right. Oh, that’s a piece of hair (as opposed to his fingers) let’s say. Or, an ant (as opposed to the sidewalk/cement that is walking on). I know he often asks “what’s that” to objects he already knows just to hear me repeat it and repeat it to him and often he will try to repeat it back to me. If he is in the mood and I ask him, he will go find his Christmas I spy book and find the apple, or train or whatever flipping pages until he finds it. We have an English/Spanish Children’s Dictionary and he can correctly point to more pictures when I say the word, even flipping pages if it isn’t on the one we are looking at until he finds it. Books are incorporated into our day, just not really in the way and manner that I imagined when I had a child. Now that Max is older, we often don’t do the book thing before bed (or a nap on the weekend when I’m putting him down). That actually seems to be the worst time. He’s tired and it’s like he is overloaded and just can’t take the extra thinking and stimulus. On the flip side, mornings are often the best and we can spend up to 20 - 30 minutes browsing books (won’t go so far as to actually say read). I’ve also found that the more rhyme in the book, the less he can tolerate me reading it.

It’s not as if I’m expecting him to sit and look at the pages, or cuddle with me. I’ve given up that expectation long ago. He tells me “No”, “No, No, No” . He actively and vocal protests. If I don’t stop, he comes and takes the book away. My boy, he is not subtle. On a side note, he also does the same thing …the whole no, no, no thing … in the car with the radio. Sadly, it is only rare occasions that I get to listen to music in the car and most often that is only one of his music together cd’s. Yes, I could push it, but it is so clearly not what he wants right then that I feel like I need to respect his wishes. Anyway, I didn’t mean to go on and on, but I’ll be interested to see if I can learn anything and make improvements while reading this book. And, hey, I figure Max seeing me read so often has to help and it has. He does want to touch and feel and page through the books I’m reading. When he asks “What’s that?” I tell him that’s the book momma is reading or if he is touching the words on a page I tell him those are the letters, that make up the words, that tell the story. I use that line a lot.

Thinking about that, I have to laugh because I sing Max a lot of songs and have ever since he was born. Many of them made up, but not all like the ABC’s, but then I always feel compelled to add AEIOU and tell him those are our vowels. LOL. I kid you not.

Anyway, the other book I ordered is called The Dangerous Book for Boys, by Hal Iggulden and Con Iggulden. It is actually a book for a much older boy, but it seemed interesting enough, was only $15 on Amazon, and I didn’t want to forget about it by the time Max was old enough so I purchased it. A quick browse through it and I’m not disappointed. I think, in time, Max will find it interesting. Plus, having it now gives me a chance to read ahead and prepare myself.

I’ve been saying since Max was small that he is going to give me a run for my money and as he gets older, I get more and more sure of that. The kid is smart. I’m no dummy, but I just have this feeling that he is going to be smarter than me and I’m going to have to pay attention and stay on top of things. I’m not talking gift or genius smart. He just seems to be able to piece things together and figure things out well. Sure, he gets frustrated when he’s trying to do something he can’t, but if I show him how to do it once or twice he gets it.

And, his problem solving seems to be decent. We moved his DVD’s up to a higher shelf on the entertainment center because he is tall and has a long enough reach that he could get to them from the ground all of a sudden. I actually don’t mind if he looks at the cases, which he does…studying them like a book in fact…pondering which one he actually wants to watch, but I do not allow him to take them out of the case because as you know they will get scratched and damaged. After this happened a few times while I was working and finding DVD’s on the floor slid under the TV etc and telling Noemi more than once that she could not let Max take them out of the case, she asked if she could move them up and I had no problem with that. Except now, I get an up, up, up, up, up request to stand him on the entertainment unit while he looks and browses and picks. The other day, instead of asking to get up, he went and got a small stool from his bedroom, moved it in front of the entertainment center, and I came in the room to see that he had climbed up himself. Then again, today when my cell phone rang while I was going to the bathroom, I came out to find Max had apparently climbed up the counter drawers and was sitting on the counter where the cell phone was, having gotten distracted by other things on the counter after the phone stopped ringing (and not the sharp knives blocks that sit up there thank goodnes). No, what interested him was the Children’s Benadryl and Infant Tylenol I had sitting there, properly closed so he didn’t actually get into them. But, he did hand me the Benadryl saying “more, more, more” and when I told him he didn’t need any medicine, he started scratching this rash he has had on his leg saying owie. I had already been wondering if he was having an allergic reaction to something because of the rash and a runny nose. I think it is unlikely that he really does understand yet what Benadryl is for and more than likely he just really likes the taste, but it was almost nap time and I figured it wouldn’t hurt and could help (and it did) so I gave him some. See that’s what I mean about keeping me on my toes and that is just one example of many.

Since I seem to be doing a big Max update post and have already mentioned several examples about how he really knows his mind and what he wants and doesn’t want. Here is another example, we went to Trader Joes after to library to pick up a few things. They had a display of soft pretzels and Max was just sure he wanted them (even though he has never had them before to my knowledge) so to keep the peace since I dragged him out to the library and it was getting close to lunch, I got them for him and let him eat some while waiting in to check out and in the car. Sure enough, he loved them. He had more with/after dinner asking for “more, more, more” several times.

And, it is funny to hear Max say things and wonder where he picked that up and then realize it was me. For example, he has started to say, “No, mmmm mmmm” (hard to type that sound and the inflection in it) and shake his head and I couldn’t figure it out until I realized that I do that to him. Oh, my wonderful sponge.

Another funny from the day is about moles. A few weeks ago, he asked what this bump on my stomach is and it is a mole. He was very intrigued by that, can clearly say the word and has asked to see it a few times. This morning he was climbing all over me and my back and came across another mole on my neck and another on my chest. He kept touching them and saying mole, mole, mole. Later in the day, after his nap* he wanted to go swimming and it was already shady enough that I just stripped him down naked. He pointed to his chest and said “mole”. I laughed and told him he didn’t have any moles, only momma had moles, and he put his finger right on his nipple. I explained that wasn’t a mole, but a nipple and labeled his and mine a few times showing him. He nodded, then moved on.

* Another Max knows his own mind story. Max woke up crying from his nap today, which is pretty rare. When I got him out of the crib, he wanted to be cuddled a bit and then slid out of my arms from the rocking chair …to read books actually …and when I asked him if he wanted his sleep sack/blanket off, I was told no, mmm mmm with the head shaking and all (and normally he is asking for it off, off, off before he is even taken out of the crib. The kid wanted it on until he decided he wanted to go swimming at least 30 - 40 min. later. Other than being a bit concerned he would fall and crack his head open on the tile floor while trying to walk in what amounts to a sleeping bag, I couldn't see the harm and let it go.

And then, there was the small styrofoam container of grapes left from our lunch out after church that he climbed on the counter to get this afternoon when he was hungry prompting me to look at the clock and realize I should give him dinner. I went to throw it out once the grapes were gone, but no, mmm mmm. Apparently, he was not done with it yet and used it to hold his precious soft pretzel for the rest of the night and it is still sitting upside down on the coffee table as I type. I’ll probably leave it and give him his morning snack in it now, just because he seemed so attached.

I’ve thought on more than one occasion recently that it would be really hard for Max to have a sibling right now or to be a younger sibling or a twin…not so much because he would have to share me as much as I could not be as accommodating to him and his needs as I am right now. He seems to really need it. It reduces the amount of tantrums around here and I figure why be a stickler about things I could care less about and save my hard stance for those things that really matter to me like safety issues, hitting, or taking a DVD out of its case.

I guess this ended up being more about Max than the books, but I guess I haven’t really went on and on and on about him in awhile. While I do find this stage a bit mind numbing, I also find it a lot of fun and interesting because he can do so much more. He (just like all kids I’m sure) just has so much personality right now. I also find it interesting to watch his solo play where he rides his cars through his little people farm and takes the animals from his farm for a ride on his bus and how he figures things out.

He dumped is wooden blocks yesterday and was sorting through them (hasn’t really ever been into building or stacking yet). I was reading or on the computer or something and he starts yelling choo choo. I said, train? Not knowing what he was talking about and he got up, showed me the block, which did, in fact, have a choo choo train on it. He was so happy.

I guess I could go on an on tonight about him tonight. He’s had me laughing this weekend about how into the Little Einstein’s he is….pat, pat, pat, pat…BLAST OFF. In fact, physically, he is trying to do what he sees just as much as verbally he is trying to copy what he hears. But, I’ll stop. For now…. REALLY!

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