Top 10 Books for a Boy's First Year

I don't know if all babies are this way...but our little guys LOVES books. From very early, just a couple weeks old, we started reading books to him. We would lay on the floor next to him and read with the book overhead so he could see the pictures. When we started a bedtime routine, my husband included reading a story to him and still does it for every nap time and bedtime to this day. 

   Now as an 11month old, Easton seeks out books on his own. He has a basket full of books on the floor in his room and another in the living room. A couple times each day you can find him by the basket, usually knocked over, pulling all the books out and then flipping through the pages of them. He will spend several minutes lost in his own little world just looking through the books. In the last month or so he has mastered flaps and is obsessed with playing peek-a-boo with his books. He knows where all the flaps are in books and will open and close them as we read each page. 

He loves books so much that he seeks out even adult books to explore. Once he realizes there are no pictures he loses interest pretty quickly but there have been some bent pages in the process. Something he as recently decided is a fun activity is to pull ALL of the books off the bottom shelf of our bookcase. It's hard to say "no" because we don't want him to think we are saying "no" to books. Definitely don't want to hinder that love.

 

When we are in the car, we always give him a book and he will be entertained the whole drive looking at the pictures, pointing, and "reading" or babbling about what he sees. He loves to sit on our laps and read books and is very interactive - pointing and turning pages and making sounds.

Easton probably has about 75 books and we have read them all multiple times. Some he likes more than others and some we like more than others. Below are our combined Top 10 favorite books from this first year. I'll share what I love about each one but the #1 thing these all have in common is that neither of us have gotten tired of any of these regardless of how many times we have read them. I know in another year or two he will become strongly attached to some book that may or may not be one that my husband and I particularly like. I hope we can continue to find awesome books like these that we all love and enjoy.

Books are something I will always buy for my kids. I love the learning, imagination and simple enjoyment that can come from them. Someday he may lose interest in books and reading but for now while I have a very eager and interested little bookworm, I am going to do everything I can to encourage and support that love. So here are some of our favorite books in no particular order. I hope you can find enjoyment in reading these with your little ones too.

Little Blue Truck

Oh this book is so adorable! I just put ALL the others from this series on his birthday wish list. When I find an author I like, I often will go after acquiring all their books and Alice Schertle has won me over with this one. Reasons I love this book: The writing is so clever and has a very good rhythm and rhyme so it's fun to read. It teaches animal sounds. The illustrations are cute - I am not in to SUPER cartoon-y looking animations. One of the biggest reasons I love this book though is because it teaches a good life-lesson. So often, kid's books are just words and fluff and low on meaningful content. Not so with this one! I can see how it will be a favorite for several years as he transitions from identifying animals and their sounds to learning about the lesson of kindness and helping others. In my opinion, this is a must-have for any kids' library.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt
This one is fun and reminds me of a camp style "song" in that it's a repetitive chant and even can be call and answer with your kid once they are older. I love to do little hand motions with Easton and make all the funny noises. It's a very fun one to get dramatic and really act everything out.

I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love

This one might be more for me than Easton, but he does love it too. I can tell because he sits through each page and points at the animals. This is another one that is so enjoyable to read aloud because of the song-like rhyme and cadence. I think that makes it fun for kids to listen to as well. The mom appears on each page and is wearing something red each time. Once when we read it, Easton was pointing at the red he saw on several pages. I hadn't even noticed it as a trend until he pointed it out! Basically if the book is cleverly written, sweet and has animals then we are both sold!



Open the Barn Door
Easton loves looking at this one by himself. He very quickly identified where all the flaps were and how to open them. When I read it to him, he even waits for the right time to open the flap and then shuts it before moving to the next page. It's a fun hide-and-seek and teaches animal sounds. Very simple but very entertaining and he often seeks this book out to "read" to himself.




Dear Zoo
Another flap book! This was the first flap book we showed him and so he didn't get it at first but now, like with the one above, he loves playing peek-a-boo with the animals. This book is short and sweet but teaches a little characteristic of each animal. Another great one for him to enjoy on his own.

Digger, Dozer, Dumper
This is the most recent book I have given him. I give him a new book on his monthly "birthdays" and so he got this when he was 11 months old. SUCH a creative book! Oh I can tell it will be a favorite for years to come. The author describes what each truck does very thoroughly in terms little kids can understand and a fun rhyme that is enjoyable to read aloud. There is a little dog that appears on each page and Easton loves to point at him and "woof". Highly recommend this one.






First 100 Words
First 100 Animals
Numbers Colors Shapes
These books are so fun! We use these as our car ride books for him. He stays quite content looking at the many pictures. When my husband reads them at home, if we also own that thing he will go and point to it side by side with the book. Lots of great vocabulary and fun pictures. My only complaint, the First 100 Animals repeats several of the animals across different pages. Example: the Owl is on the Birds and Forest pages.




Dinosaur Dance
This is such a cute silly book! I like to have fun with my voice and actions when reading this one. It teaches colors, dinosaur names, actions and onomatopoeia (sound words). This is a quick read so is great for before a nap as part of our routine.




My First Colors
I saw a friend's video on Facebook of her daughter (9 months older than my son) looking through this book and pointing at things she was asked to locate. I was so impressed by how many items she could identify and it seemed like a great I-Spy type book for learning lots of words. I immediately got on Amazon that same day and purchased it. Easton was very fascinated by this book initially and has since lost a bit of interest in it. I think perhaps since there are SO many random things on each page he doesn't focus like he would a scene in a story book. He has pointed to the basketball and bananas a couple times when I've asked. We will definitely continue to revisit this as he gets a little older. It does have some pretty odd items that would not be in a kid's vocabulary for a long time, such as egg timer haha, but I do love the organization by colors and there's questions to prompt searching and word association.

I'm Going to Give You a Bear Hug

Grandma bought this book for him and it stays at her house. It is SO cute! The little boy looks just like my son with his crazy hair. Again, fun rhyme and cleverly written. I love the little bear that goes with the boy on every page.

I hope this has inspired you and provided some good recommendations of books to buy for your child or as a gift for someone else's kid. And if you have other suggestions of excellent kids' books, I would love to know! Please share in the comments. Happy Reading!

March Goals

Happy March!

I am so excited for this month! First, because it is the month in which winter is NO more. I like all the seasons but winter just sticks around for waaaaay too long in these parts. And most likely even when it is officially spring, I am sure it will still look and feel like winter. But somehow, "the first day of spring" helps me mentally start getting over the freezing cold and never ending snow.

Second--this month ends with the start of spring break! Unfortunately that also means another set of report cards to get done. But this month, I will have loads of motivation! Two days after the quarter ends, we are headed to

 IRELAND!!!

Isn't that beautiful?!?!

Those are the Cliffs of Moher and I will be there!!! I am preparing myself to be wet and cold but taking tons of pictures and soaking up all the amazing landscapes. This will also be my first time to Europe so I'm pretty excited to add another continent (and country) to my (very short) list.

Here were my February goals:

1. Go to the gym 5 times
2. Read 2 books kinda
3. Blog 2 times
4. Cook 1 new recipe
5. Get my Project Life out of the closet and start working on it again
6. Narrow down an idea for the curtains for my living room

While basketball and report cards were not an issue this month, I had so many sick/absent students that it created lots of extra work for me to keep them on top of their work and then I got sick too and lost all energy and motivation to do anything. I did make it to the gym 5 times but my workouts were pretty mild as it would wipe me of all my energy. I finished 1 book and am currently reading 2 different books "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth and "Love Does" by Bob Goff so that kinds counts as read 2 books since I didn't say "finish". :) I blogged once and have another post 90% done but it just didn't get finished before March. I did cook something new and it was very yummy. I made Balsamic Glazed Lamb Chops. Thanks to Kayley at "The Kitchen McCabe" for the recipe. Sadly, I never did get my Project Life out. I planned to do it last night after Wyldlife but we decided to hang out with some friends and I'm glad we did. Depending on your definition of narrow, I have narrowed down my ideas for curtains. It's actually the blog post in progress so you will hear and see more about it soon! So not amazing but not terrible! And hey, in my defense....February shorted me by 2 days!

Here are my March Goals:
1. Go to the gym 6 times
2. Finish "Allegiant" and "Love Does"
3. Brush up on my photography skills and how to use my camera beyond Auto so that I can fully capture Ireland with awesome picutres
4. Get my Project Life out and start working on it again
5. Make a March Madness Bracket
6. Blog 2 times other than this post
7. Make 1 new recipe
8. Really narrow down curtain options and buy some--or the fabric to make some.
9. Do 1 crafty thing! March is National Craft Month and I feel like I should partake even if it's in a small way.
10. Decorate my house for spring!

Wow, way more goals than previously. But I'm feeling motivated and 80% of my lesson planning is already done for the next 6 weeks since I'll be out of the country for all of break and don't want to come home and write lesson plans. We'll see how I do!

Any tips for international travel? 

What to pack? (I HATE packing and tend to over-pack every trip) 

How to survive the looooong overnight flight? (I will NOT be watching the new movie "Nonstop" despite how much my husband wants to see it!)
Do you have any goals for this month?
Do you decorate your house for spring?
Do you watch March Madness at all?
Will you be crafting at all for National Craft Month?

February Goals

We are one twelfth of the way through 2014, woot!

How was your January? Mine went by so fast, but was great. Disneyland was a blast! We were so exhausted each day and didn't ever stay til closing, but we did make it on every ride! I plan to post pictures and more about our fun adventures this month so stay tuned. :)

Once we got home and school started again it was go, go go. We finished the second quarter so the last two weeks I have been crazy busy with catching up on grades, report cards, half of my conferences, and trying to plan lessons at least a month out. My students finished their semester strong with awesome reports about an animal of their choice accompanied by a model of it's food web and a presentation. I love seeing what they are capable of doing!

When I haven't been stuck in teacher mode, I have been the videographer, biggest fan (read loudest screamer), and sugar supplier for my husband's basketball team. Last year, I started this thing where I would bake a dessert for the team whenever they won a game. This was a) my way to get involved and b) an excuse to bake and eat only 1 of whatever it was since my husband doesn't care for sweets and I could but shouldn't eat a whole batch of anything alone. Well, last year it was all fine and dandy. I baked every other week or so. This year...not so easy. They have been winning maniacs! They just finished the regular season yesterday and have a 11-3 win-loss record! They are second place going into the tournament next weekend. It has been SO much fun to watch and cheer for the team and they have played some amazing ball. However...all this winning has caused a bit of dilemma because I can't keep up with the baking! Guys, I'm 4 wins behind and the season is almost over. It has been a lot of fun to be involved more with the team this year. I've gone along on all the van rides, attended both out-of-town trips, and became a team favorite as made apparent by walking into practice with a plate full of warm cookies and not a single player can focus on what Coach is saying anymore. :)

Last night was senior night. It's so bittersweet (especially more so for my husband than me) to recognize the guys who won't be back next year. Two of them have been in the program since my husband started coaching so this year is even more significant as he says goodbye to his first batch of 4-year players. This year has just been so much fun and it will be hard to not have those four guys around. After a particularly rowdy game the other day where I had to sit in the other team's fan section for the best filming angle, I told my husband about how annoyed I was with some of their comments and cheers. I realized that it bothered me so much because I've almost adopted those 11 guys and feel protective and proud of them. When, I first met my husband, coaching and basketball was HIS thing. I had no desire or intention for it becoming MY thing. But it just goes to show that when your spouse is so passionate, invested, and good at something, you can't help but come along side them and support, cheer, and invest in it yourself. We are having the whole team over for dinner and a movie ("Glory Road") on Wednesday night and while I am a little bit daunted by the idea of cooking for 11 teenage boys (that's a lot of spaghetti!), I am excited to host them and know that the moments they spend with my husband and the other coach will remain as some of their favorite memories from basketball and even high school. We have high hopes for the tournament next weekend and a good end to this incredible season.

Well.....I certainly didn't intend to get all sentimental when I sat down to blog tonight. I was just going to tell you how I met and failed my January Goals and move on to this month. Ahh but that's the fun of writing...you never know where one thought will lead you.

So without further ado thought, let's recap on my January Goals:

1. Go to the gym 4 times
2. Read 1 book
3. Blog 2 times (other than this post)
4. Cook 1 new recipe

I barely accomplished the first goal, but made it for the fourth time yesterday morning. I read "Divergent" by Veronica Roth in 5 days (SOOO GOOD! I cannot wait for the movie). I (barely) got even 1 blog post in for the whole month (11pm last night). The new recipe was a cookie for the basketball team, which they loved so much they asked for it a second time. Thank you to Taylor at Trendy Schmendy for these easy and delicious cookies.

Here are my goals for February:
1. Go to the gym 5 times--with no report cards to worry about and the basketball season ending in one week, I think I can increase my presence in the gym.

2. Read 2 books--I'm already half way through "Insurgent" and have a few other books in mind to read.

3. Blog 2 times (other than this post)--since I didn't meet this one, we'll try again.

4. Cook 1 new recipe--I like cooking so I like challenging myself to try something new every so often

5. Get my Project Life out of the closet and start working on it again--I'm not setting a goal for how much gets done as long as SOMETHING gets done, I will be happy :)

6. Narrow down an idea for the curtains for my living room--I have NO idea what I even want

Did you have any goals for January? How did you do? What are your goals for February?

A Weekend in the Emerald City

Last weekend, I went back to Seattle for a shower for my roommate Esther. It was nice to be back "living" with my roommates and enjoying Seattle life. The weather was SO nice while I was there and I was able to soak in the sun in many ways.

A walk to Fremont with Esther and Emily for Starbucks Frappucino Happy Hour!

So nice to be able to read what I want now--no more college required reading.

 I love being able to wear my Rainbows again!

Laying by the canal enjoying the nice weather and warmth.

Dislike Seattle gridlock traffic...but at least I could have my sunroof open and window down while I'm sitting on the city streets bumper to bumper.

Maybe I should have been an English major

...or maybe an emphasis is enough. At any rate, everytime I take an English class, I love it! Partially because the professors are always my favorite. There are 4 here at SPU that I just love and wish I could take more classes from. I am currently in British Literature from the Restoration to Victorian. We discussed Arnold's "Dover Beach", and parts of Mill's "Autobiography" and E.B. Browning's "Aurora Leigh" today. The part of me that could NOT be an English major is the part that reads these pieces and has no idea what they are saying. But then I get to class and we discuss and it all becomes so clear and I think 'yeah I could do this.' What exactly is "this" though? A profession of reading? Well yes partly. Everyone we've read bases their writings off of ideas from previous authors. Arnold references Milton, Mill talks about Wordsworth and Browning hints at ideals of Wollstonecraft. So, I read, take ideas, and then write something new. Sounds easy right? I'm not convinced. I want to keep reading, and start writing. But I'm not sure what to write, who for, and to what purpose? This uncertainty often leads me to just push it aside and say 'nah, it's not for me.' But then I get so excited in class and LOVE discovering the ideas and connections between authors and even pop culture today. I'm a nerd that way (along with the fact that I could diagram sentences or factor binomials in Algebra all day long :D)

Maybe someday. At any rate, for the time being I need to read some excerpts from "David Copperfield". Oh and I have discovered the best study snack item: dark chocolate covered cranberries! They are sweet, chocolatey, but also healthy! yuuuum. Thank you Trader Joe's.