My Favorite Part of Motherhood

No one will be surprised, myself included, that one of my favorite things about being a mom is reading aloud.

Picture books was a whole new realm for me so I'm grateful for any book list or tips that I've received (thank you, Read-Aloud-Revival!) Maxing out on my library holds has become the norm because of it.

But what I didn't expect is how soon the joy and the connection would come. 

Dallin doesn't know the concept of an inside joke but we certainly have our own. When we're at the park, I say, while he's stirring with the stick in the dirt, "iggity, ziggity, zaggety, zoom!" He knows exactly what to do. 

On one late ride to Costco, he was having a melt down, I start, with my very best Gruffalo voice, "but who is this creature with terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws?" He stops crying immediately. 

We laugh over funny words like 'binko-gaga-whoopsie-goo' and 'nummy-wa-wa-do-be-do'. It's a favorite line from a poem. 

All of the sudden at the table he said 'bop'. It's from one of our favorite read alouds Bee-Bim Bop! Anytime I start, 'hurry mama hurry...' he will immediately start dancing.

We point upwards with our first fingers as 'we let go of our kite, sending it up, Up, Up for Moon.' He always snuggles up to me when he gets to the part where the 'boy tries to hug moon as his mother did whenever he was unhappy.' 

He learned to 'meow' for the first time today pointing at the kittens in Goodnight Moon. I also love when he finds the clocks. I didn't even know he knew where those were on the page. We've only showed in a handful of times. 

I laugh every time he tries to wiggle his pants when we read from The Old Lady who was Not Afraid of Anything.

I love these little connections we're making and it's only just the beginning! Another thing I love about reading aloud is you have to be present while doing it. There is no way to listen to a podcast or talk on the phone or scroll instagram while you're reading aloud. It's impossible. You have to be fully present. That's why I'm trying to write down all these memories because I can't capture it on a phone. 

Thank goodness for good books, right?