Sharing books

As Leif was having his tummy time this morning, Augie came in and picked up a book to read to him. "Read" might be a slight exaggeration of what happened, but Augie did talk about what was happening on the pages, and Leif did seem to pay attention for at least a minute.

Augie's birthday weekend

I'm a bit sheepish to report that I don't really have good pictures from our party yesterday, or from much that we did this weekend. Leif barely napped all day yesterday, and when the party came around he was overtired and upset, so I wore him in the carrier all evening - which meant that I was a bit reserved from the action and wasn't able to move around and take pictures as I would have liked. Alas. It's also difficult as there's only enough natural light to take pictures for about 3 hours each day, and the lighting in this apartment is pretty bad (I'd guess the fixtures haven't been updated in fifty years - but that's just a guess).

But, I did get some pictures, so here they are.

Our big gift to Augie was a play kitchen. He loves it. All he wants to do now is cook and wash the dishes. He puts most of his toys in the oven and in the cupboard under the sink.

Shortly after opening his present, Augie decided his bedroom - on top of the bed - was the best place for his kitchen.

I love this (it was printed on the box):

Poring over the book our friend Julie gave him:

Cake! I made a pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting - it was delicious. I'm eating a piece now as I write this post.

It took him forever to go to sleep last night after the party, and he's taking a while again tonight. One day we won't be so exhausted, right?

Happy 2nd birthday, my love!

Augie turned two today! Wow! Two years of loving and being continually amazed by this beautiful little tyrant who runs circles around me, who exhausts me, who fills me with joy and wonder with his own joy and wonder. He's such a funny little boy - he's such a little boy. He's not a baby anymore (though of course he will always be my baby).

We've decided to spend the entire weekend celebrating him. Today was just the kick-off - a couple small presents to get him started. Tomorrow we'll do fun things and give him his big gift, and then Sunday we'll have a party with friends. I can't wait to share all the merriment with him (and with you!).

When he got home from dagis (where he ate 4 servings worth of lunch!) this afternoon he took a short nap, and then we cuddled on the couch to read.

After dinner we gave him a small gift - a star box (he is so into stars right now - or, as he calls them, twinkles) filled with dark chocolate squares: 

After dinner we went to his room to open a couple presents. The bag around his neck was a gift from Auntie Tina - he keeps growing like a tiger and pointing at the tiger on the front:

An airplane from Ah Mah and Granddad - he loved it!

(Email subscribers, click here to see a video of him playing with the airplane)

He knows that bags are for going out, so he picked up his airplane and ran for the front door. I helped him put on his boots and we went for a walk through the building:

My boys

Another day here of running errands, laying low, waiting for things to happen. It's probably a bit silly to be waiting around already - baby's not due for another week, and just because Augie was early doesn't mean this one will be.

James reading with Augie. Such beautiful boys have I:

It's funny, Augie tends not to focus on one thing for very long, including books. Board books are perfect for us because they're short. But I picked up Go Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman at a garage sale some months back, and even though it's 60+ pages long, Augie loves it! He almost always sits through the whole thing, absorbed. Makes me think we should get some more books like it, including some Dr. Suess titles. Can you believe that of all the children's books we have (probably around 100!), we don't have a single Dr. Seuss book?!?!

I love these pictures especially because Augie rarely lets James read to him - I'm usually the only one allowed to read books out loud. But sometimes Baba gets to, and I love it when they sit together and read.

Reading, reading, reading

This afternoon, Augie brought me a book to read. We'd been listening and dancing to a Music Together CD, so I said to him, "August, I have to turn the music off before we can read." He stood up from my lap, walked to the desk, climbed onto the chair, and turned off the music (by pushing the space bar on the computer). I was amazed! We hadn't ever taught him that - he'd figured it out himself during all the times he's sat at the desk and pounded on the keyboard.

It feels like we're always a step (or two or three) behind him - that he knows more and is more capable than we realize. It's so cool to have him surprise us like that.

Here are some pictures of today's post-prandial reading session with Baba.

And a goofy morning pic with Mama:

Getting back into the groove

I'm proud to announce that, after three days of training, I've passed the Music Together teacher training course! I count this as a huge accomplishment because I haven't done anything related to music since I was about eight years old, and I've been told more than once that I can't sing. But the creator, developer, and trainer for Music Together thinks I can (ahem, if I pick the right key)!

While I was off doing that, James and Augie were getting in trouble together, though I'm pleased to say that we all survived the weekend.

I'm amazed with Augie now: he's definitely in a language-learning phase. He seems to add a new word every day (today it was "rock", other new additions include his variations of "milk", "our car", and "more."). And he wants to read all the time, and when he brings us a book, we often have to read it 2, 3, 4 times before he's happy. While it can be tedious for us to read the same rhymes over and over, it's great brain food for him and it's obvious that he's soaking it all in.

Here are some shots from the days before and after my training:

Our first visitor

We have our first visitor to Stockholm! A friend from our California days, Joe, is passing through and spending a few nights with us. To welcome him, Augie sat down and read him a story.

11 months - Just readin'

This is Augie's old infant seat. We stopped using it months ago, well before we went to Sweden as he surpassed the weight limit. We brought it into the living room because we didn't have anywhere else to put it, and Augie's been climbing all over it ever since. Which, of course, is totally safe.

11 months - My little reader

Augie loves reading now. Even more than having us read to him, he likes to read to himself. He just picks up a book, sits down, and turns the pages. The book doesn't even have to be right-side-up for him to enjoy it.