Gracen loves being read to, but more than anything these days, she wants to be asked to point out certain things while flipping through books. Mix that with the fact that she’s completely and totally obsessed with animals, and there’s really no reading books about animals. This is what happens instead.
Grandma Charlotte was in town this weekend doing some professional development and visiting a friend, so we got to spend afternoon with her today. Gracen kept her busy with colouring projects and countless storybook requests. Grandmas don’t need rest, do they?
Between talking and signing, Grae is a pretty awesome little communicator. But in instances like these, I wish she could tell me more. We were at home playing when she stopped, went to her room, got her fuzzy blanket, and laid it out on the floor just so. Then one-by-one, she started transferring her books from the baskets in the living room onto the blanket. She ensured that each book was fully on the blanket, and if one accidentally slid off a little bit, she’d go back and place it back on the pile until it stayed exactly where she wanted it. When the baskets in the living room were empty, she started retrieving more from the bookshelf in her room. By the end of it all, we had a mountain of books (and Sharpies) on a blanket in the middle of our house. What started this mission, I’m not sure…
Gracen adores the little family and friends photo book she got in her stocking while we were up in the Okanagan.
I’m fairly certain we’ve “read” it at least 5 times a day each day since she got it. She carefully points to each person’s face and either tells me the person’s name or waits for me to tell it to her.
“Manmaw” (Grandma) and “Ee-Doh” (Gido) are easy peasy.
Grandpa Dave still gets called “Ee-Doh” most of the time, but we’re working on fixing that.
Inevitably, someone in the book is always “pretty, pretty, pretty”. Today Grae ran her little finger over Auntie Rozi’s hair several times and announced, “pretty, pretty, pretty”. I asked her, “Grae, do you think Auntie Rozi is pretty?” and with big eyes, she gave me the biggest, most serious nod ever. Aw, Auntie Rozi – Grae thinks you’re pretty!
Here are a few of the other pages in Miss G’s book:
Making the book was super easy. All I did was round up some photos, add the text using Pixelmator (the photo editing program I use), and printed them out. I picked up the little album while grocery shopping, and it cost next to nothing.
We’re still waiting on a couple of photos of great grandparents, but Gracen loves this little book anyways. The best part is that Little G always has her loved ones close by. :)
Here’s a little peek at the project Gracen and I worked on yesterday and today… Since she LOVES books more than life itself, I thought it would be fun to make her a couple of photo books for the stocking she’ll open when we celebrate Christmas in Vernon in a couple of weeks. This one is all about body parts. You’ll have to excuse the cheesy name. I just couldn’t help myself. Here are a few of the pages:
I’d love to actually have an actual bound book printed, but I know that with the amount of “love” this little book is about to receive, it wouldn’t last as long as I’d like it to. For now, I’m going to get the photos printed and put them all in a pretty little album. Hopefully Miss G likes it as much as I expect her to.
My little bookworm was thrilled with the discovery of my Mr. Men and Little Miss book collection today. Frustration came about shortly after she’d neatly stacked the 50+ books and realized that she wasn’t able to carry them all at once. I offered to help her, but that absolutely wasn’t a viable option. She wanted to do it by herself. End of story. As a compromise, I offered her this little bag to make carrying them easier.
She accepted the bag, but absolutely did not want help putting the books inside the bag. Instead, she sat there, completely insulted, and put them in one by one all by herself. It took a painfully long time, but she got it all done. That’s my independent little lady.
Have I mentioned lately how obsessed with books this little one is? If at any point during the day things get quiet around here, I almost always find Grae snuggled in a little corner with a pillow and a pile of books. Today she discovered my Mr. Man and Little Miss book collection and from that point on, she carried at least one of them with her at all times. This Mama couldn’t be more thrilled that she has a little bookworm in the making. :)