Elias and Daddy Talk Board Books
Matthew made this fun video about some of the board books that we read to Elias. It cracked me up… especially because I do most of the reading. We have this sweet little basket filled with board books that sits on our coffee table. It has made a huge difference in how much I read to Elias. It helps just having them right there.
Just in the past few weeks Elias has really gotten into being read to. I love it. I pray that he grows up to be a big reader like his mom and dad.
Did you start reading to your kids as babies?
Oh – and be sure to stop at Sara’s blog before midnight tonight to enter to win another one of her fabulous canvases. Seriously. I think it may be her best yet. And, if you aren’t reading her blog on a regular basis, you should be. Her passion for people, life and Jesus, in spite of her circumstances is incredible. She inspires me every day.
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That cracked me up !
Loved the little thought "blurbs" that popped up.
It looked like to me, the name of the Monkey book was "Eight Silly Monkeys". You might want to inform Matthew. HA. (kidding).
I know the story & song is worded as "8 Little Monkeys".
Just wanted to add in a little jab there for Matthew.
Have a great day.
You guys are so entertaining. 🙂
i started reading to my kids the day they came home from the hospital. i really cherished that time. one is a reader for pleasure, one is a reader of technical stuff. guess it worked. read on!
I read all the time to my girls.
A note about the diapers…do not use Luvs. They smell awful even before my child peed or pooped in them. They are very stiff diapers too. Not sure you would like them.
I read to my kids from the time they were born and they both LOVE books. They are 2 now and will sit and look at books several times on their own throughout the day now or bring us books to read to them all the time. I think reading to them from the beginning is the best thing you can do! He will love them because your love of books will show through as well. 🙂
Loved the video! I started reading to my daughter while she was in utero…one night I read her a story about some duck that got lost and it was actually pretty sad. She really seemed to get upset by it in my tummy! To this day, she still gets all teary-eyed at sad parts of books or movies…
Elias has the best facial expressions x.
When I already had a zillion comments when I got up (really late) today this is the first place I knew to come. You are so kind with your words, friend. Thank you.
For the record, I’m still savoring getting to see your face last night… just wish I could find words big enough to tell you how much finding your friendship has meant to me. I’m so very blessed.
Loved the video … and your comments as Elias. So cute! I read to my 5 year as a baby and still do but my 2 year old couldn’t care less about books even though we have tried. Now what is super duper cute is the 5 year old reading her readers (from school) to him and he seems to like that!
I read to my son ALL the time from birth on. We had this neat tradition from the time he was 18 months until about age 8 that was sort of like an “Advent Calendar of Books.” I found (at bookstores, thrift shops, and sometimes even the local library) as many books as the number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Then I came up with some kind of activity related to each book, wrapped the books and needed materials, and placed everything in a giant box or basket. (I usually numbered the books, too, so that I knew which activity was being done on which day and could plan our time accordingly.)
Starting the day after Thanksgiving and up until Christmas Day, my son would unwrap one book a day. Then we would read it and do an activity related to it together. Sometimes the activity was as simple as singing a song; other times we baked and decorated cookies or delivered a gift to someone. He loved it!
Now, he’s a teenager and still enjoys reading. Much of his reading is done online now, but I still catch him often reading books like Twilight and Kite Runner or anything related to Japan.
A librarian with whom I used to work told me (when I was pregnant) not to think of reading out loud as only for little kids. She said her teenaged boys loved being read to–especially humorous books. She was so right! My son often wanders into my room around midnight to see if I’m reading and will crawl in and listen to anything I decide to read out loud. (Well, almost anything…)
As a former teacher, longtime homeschooling parent, and mom of seventeen years, I highly recommend reading as much as possible to your kids. It pays off in ways you cannot even imagine! :^)
While I don’t have children yet myself I know that in the future I will read to my children when they are infants. My dad would read the newspaper aloud to me when I was an infant and I attribute learning how to read at age four to him. I’m now in my mid-twenties and still love to read. It’s so worth it!
Both my parents are teachers, so we always had books in the house growing up. When I was 4 I was hospitalized for dehydration after having a stomach bug. My sister (older by 4 1/2 years)went into our room, got a tape recorder and a little bell, and read 3 or 4 of our books aloud on tape, ringing the bell at the turn of every page–just like the books-on-tape we had. I didn’t appreciate it then, but I do now.
That video was adorable!!
I began reading to my daughter when she was in the womb and continued from there.
I’ve been reading to Zeke since he was born. It was a good way to pass time together when he couldn’t really “play” yet. Now we go to baby story time at the library every week and he is the only kid who pays attention to the book! He absolutely loves books and I hope that continues through his life!
Hilarious video! The little pop up comments were the best! I have been reading to my almost-2-year-old (2 next month! Sigh! He’s getting too big) since he came home from the hospital. He’s just recently really started connecting with books. His favorite right now is “Love You Forever.” He calls it the “potty book” because of the cover! Ha! He loves the pages of the boy getting into trouble and says, “UH OH! NO NO!” and giggles when he reads them. Then when the mommy is rocking him he says, “Nigh nigh baby!” He also has one book that is all about the St. Louis Cardinals, and he calls it the “mowing book” because on one page the man is striping the field and he thinks it’s a mower! He’s fairly obscessed with mowers right now. You’ll have so much fun reading with Elias as he grows. I love how he is gumming on every book Matthew puts in his little hands. He is such a cutie pie!
I just stumbled across your blog for the first time and wanted to comment and let you know Elias’ is adorable, as are You and Your Husband! You have such a creative aproach to blogging and I look forward to “checking in” in the future!!
SUCH a cute video – loved the commentary, the sub-commentary and cute little Elias happy along for the ride. Well done!
Now that mine are teens, I have one that LOVES Shakespeare…and she did not get that from me!!! The other is an overachieving honor student in her sr. year taking college level European history for fun and that involves lots of reading!!!!
Thankfully we started early – their Dad does not like to read but when they were in elementary school he read through the C.S. Lewis books and the Peretti children’s books. Those were fun times!!!
For the record, Elias is just way cute!!!
Pamela in TX
Matthew, I love any video of Elias, and you too, and this one was very funny. I remember when Jessica would come to visit me when she was little, and she was always reading. As I was a voracious reader when I was a little girl, I hope that our little Elias likes to read as well. Thanks for making these videos, I love to see you both.
Aunt Sandy
That is hilarious. Love it, the popups made it even better. Yes, we’ve been reading to Miles since he was born and he loves it. He too loves to eat the books as well.
the blurbs are GREAT! Elias is a good sport, too.
I am blessed that all 3 of my nieces are voracious readers; have been even as infants. All they want to do is have auntie read them books… and more books… then have mama read the books… then memere read the books… then uncle read the same books… and none of them have any of the books that Elias has! However, one of them has the book with the caterpillars walking along that's like the monkeys book.
That black & white book is so radical. All 3 of my nieces got that in the "Raising Readers" program that their doctors do, but theirs are different pictures. Even as toddlers, they still love those black on white and white on black books. It's amazing the stories you can create with a book full of pictures!
I know that each of my siblings (2 sisters, 1 brother) are careful about what books to give their daughters; no cartoons and such other than Veggie Tales. Its hard to find good, quality material out there! One hint: they all LOVE Biscuit!
One day, Elias will be reading to us instead of Daddy narrating, although, I suspect he'll be correcting Daddy before he reads to Daddy! Thanks for sharing!