Read, read, read.

Reading has always been an important part of my day with the girls since they were babies. Anything and everything was fair game. As they got older they liked picking the books out and while I thought I would go insane from reading the same book over and over, I didn't. I appreciated this even more when they began reciting the books from memory at young ages and I had the "this-is-why-we-read" moment.

So, the same has been done for my boy. From newborn, he has been read to and he's at a huge advantage now that there are 4 other readers in the house. Someone is usually willing to read to him one of his favorite books or even better, he'll sit through one of the books that his sister is presently flipping through. Good for her and good for him.

My girls pretty much 99.9% of the time always sat for me when reading.They were pretty interested in whatever was being read to them so imagine my surprise when at around one year old, little man would grab a book for me to read and bring it to me only to run off in the other direction. I was kind of hurt if I'm being honest. Did he not like how I read, was I not enthusiastic enough or did he not like being read to anymore? What a blow. I mentioned this to a very good friend and she said her kid sometime did the same but she continued reading anyway. He might be nearby with another toy but she read just the same.

So I have been doing just that since he's turned one. Continuing reading to him even if he's not cuddled on my lap or laying in bed with me. He'd ask for a book or I'll just start reading to him and he'll appear interested for a minute (if that long) and then run away to something else. I'll finish the book, maybe he'll ask for another one or I'll just grab one on my own and usually we get about 3-4 books in at a time. And you know what's begun happening this month again? Little man will ask for a book, bring it to me and get comfy on my lap. I'm not going to lie, I teared up the first time he did this and sat for the whole book.

Last week while I was putting clothes away in our bedroom, he grabbed a book and settled into his spot on our bed. He flipped through his little stack one page after another. It was amazing. After snapping up a few pictures, I settled into bed with him to read out loud to him.

Want to raise someone who might love books just as much as you do? Read to them everyday. Even if they're off playing with blocks, cars and dolls nearby. They're still listening.