Padon and I Read Big Kid Books!

Oh my God, do I want to brag to every parent in the world about this!!!

Padon at three years old started reading grade school books with me! He isn't reading them to me but has the imagination and understanding to listen to me read the story and follow the story line, and talk to me about it. This blew me out of the water when in November our power went out. It was dark and we had already played a game of Uno Moo to the point that we didn't want to play anymore. I went in Padon's room and not feeling enthralled to read Parts or Molly Lou Melon again and just wondering grabbed Steward Little instead. I sat down with Padon, on the couch, gave him an overview, asked him if he wanted to read it, and he said yes. From there history was made! By December 6th we had finished Stewart Little and Padon was still interested. And this was with the offer, every night, of "do you want to pick out a book or do you want to read the mouse book?" To which he would yell "mouse book!" Thrilled that Padon might love books as much as I did growing up I ran to get and share Matilda by Rohal Dahl. We finished it around January 21st and Padon was enthralled with the magical little girl and her abusive headmistress (we had to read repeatedly about the little girl that got swung around by her pigtails and the little boy that was forced to eat a whole giant chocolate cake). After Matilda I was so excited to continue sharing my favorite stories with Padon, while I could still share them with him and before he started to independently read stories on his own. We moved onto Mouse and the Motorcycle and after that continued onto Ramona the Pest, Romana and Bezzus, started but stopped reading The Witches because it was too scary, The Enormous Crocodile, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Glass Elevator, and now Pippi Longstocking Goes to the South Seas (July 2011). After this one we will read Charlotte's Web and then The Wizard of Oz. And still this is all by his choice!

Who would have thought that I would get to read all these stories to my three and four year old and that he would happily snuggle at my side, finger in his mouth, blanket tag in hand, telling me "Mommy I so love you" and "Mommy I love you very much!" It will be a sad day when we don't read stories together anymore, but at this rate we will have read so many together that I will have tons of stories to dreamily gaze back upon. These are such special moments that just belong to Padon and I.