Tucker and I were blessed Tuesday evening by a “Book Club” Baby Shower. And Tucker doubled his board book collection in one night!
I grew up in a family of readers, including both of my parents. My mother did a wonderful job of instilling a love of books in my brother and myself. She took us to the library to borrow books starting in the preschool years. And she encouraged nightly reading as our bedtime growing up was 8 p.m. but we could read until 8:30 p.m.
I already had a large collection of children’s books long before Tucker was conceived. My mother was a school secretary for 24 years and coordinated a lot of book fairs so every year she gave me books for her future grandchildren. I started reading to Tucker at 20 weeks gestation. The nightly ritual was a meaningful way for me to connect with my baby. When I traveled out of town during my pregnancy, I used an Ipad app called Farfaria to read his nightly story. Hundreds of digital storybooks at your fingertips – what a different relationship Tucker will have with books and technology.
As I have been driving around Texas for the last 10 years, I listened to books on audio CD from the library. But now I have app called Overdrive on my Iphone which allows me to digitally borrow books, both print or audio. At any given time, I might be reading a print book, reading a different book on my Ipad, and listening to a third novel in the car/walking the dogs. Yes, I get the stories a little confused sometimes!
Since I had been borrowing books digitally, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t been the physical library in over a year and I had to renew my card. So when Tucker was only 2 weeks old, we zipped in and out to the circulation desk so that I could continue to borrow audiobooks. (A very early visit to the library!) I have been reading nursery rhymes to Tucker ever since he started to stay awake between feedings. Now he will listen to stories too. And I’m looking forward to the days when he can help turn pages, chew on pages, point to pictures, and more. I’m certain that he will love the books as I do.