A few to share

Doctor Rabbit by Jan Wahl illustrated by Peter Parnall

Grover Sleeps Over by Elizabeth Winthrop illustrated by Maggie Swanson

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

In life people tend to stick to what they know. Growing up I knew books. My family makes fun of me for it. I used to read a lot. Now we've got a book shelf that's become too small to accommodate the reading material that the three of us have accumulated (even after several thinning out sessions). Last weekend Grandma and Jampa emptied the walk in closet in the north chamber and I was able to rediscover several old books that I haven't seen for years. One of these was Grover Sleeps Over, which for some reason left quite an impression on me. The illustrations really stuck in my memory. Somewhere between Grover trying to pack his begonia in a flowerpot and Betty Lou sharing her Blueberry Chew cereal I fell into a Sesame trance. (Doc and I watch Play with Me Sesame every morning during breakfast.)

Doctor Rabbit is a book I have no recollection of but am now a little smitten with. I've developed a real fondness for Peter Parnall. Line drawings using minimal color are one of my favorite styles so seeing kid's books illustrated like this is absolutely captivating (I really like books). I've also always really liked rabbits for some reason.

The Snowy Day is one that Doc and I picked out at Barnes and Noble one day. We've been slowly using the giftcard he got for Christmas by picking out one book and sharing a rice krispy treat in the cafe each time we go. This book is an award winner but I hadn't ever given it any notice until I saw it as a board book. The story is really sweet and entertaining and the illustrations are wonderful. Doc had one corner of the binding sucked off before we had even paid for it.

These days Doc is not really into sitting still for story time, but I'm sure he'll be there again soon. He's always so sweet and attentive but right now he just wants to chew everything.

P.S. After what seems like the whole month of a runny nose, sleepless nights, and a fever, there is a sliver of tooth number two showing through his gums now.

Baby Doc is still working on tooth number two; working too hard I think. He's got a runny nose and fever and is generally mad. He smacks his lips to let us know when he needs something to soothe his pain. We've been up for at least a couple of hours each night for about a week. Doc will wake up and start smacking his lips letting me know its time for more acetaminophen. He'll nurse for a while then want to play. Once the medicine kicks in he lets me know that he wants to nurse again and he eventually falls asleep in my arms. He has a hard time getting comfortable in his crib. Even if he's tired, I can't just lay him down like I normally do because he'll just toss and turn. The doctor's office is not much help so I think I'll just ask Dr. Google now until we really need to go in.

Baby safety is more of an issue now. Doc is really all over the place. He can make it all the way across our upstairs room in about thirty seconds and he stands up on anything that will bare his weight. After tubbies we go upstairs to get dressed and he does super speed laps around the room (sans clothes and diaper). In the bottom photo he's standing at his new/old school chair from Goodwill. I found a slab of walnut to make him a play table so G and I have some work to do.

Space jammies and window discovery

Baby Doc is 7 months now. His second tooth is on the way and he's started eating junk food already (baby junk food like rice puffs and yogurt melts). He does really well with bigger chunks of food already and really prefers table food and fruit to his baby food (let me know if you know someone who would like to partake in our baby food stockpile). He pulls himself to standing on anything stationary now and discovered the window early this morning. He stood propping himself on the windowsill watching the morning for about 10 minutes today. Tonight before bed we sat with the window open and listened to the cars and the rain falling. Then we read The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa (yes I know its like a week after Christmas) and Margaret Wise Brown's Wait Till the Moon is Full (my favorite for bedtime). When I laid him down he rolled over into Bunny Bun Bun and pulled his Little Giraffe up close to his face before falling asleep.