It has been such pure joy over these last few months to witness Campbell's love for reading grow.
We have been blessed to inherit several wonderful books from friends and family and I am so thankful when they choose to enrich his life with such a precious gift.
We read a few books together each night before bed and in fact, this is a tradition that we began the first night he came home from the hospital. He has always showed interest in books and I have been so pleased to see this continue as he has grown.
Now, it is common during our daily routine for him to go over and get out a book from our little book nook and sit down by himself to "read" it. Of course, he loves to turn the pages and look at the pictures and I know that this is the beginning stages of a love for reading.
He also brings books to me to read to him and I try, no matter what I'm doing, if possible, to stop and read to him when he does. This is one of those moments I don't want to take for granted, a fleeting second in time when my son wants me to draw him into my lap, and share with him a story that he can learn from, think about, and with which he can imagine wonderful worlds.
Of course, I have the old debate in my mind many times of technology vs. the old school approach. Because all though he knows how to go to the book nook and get a book, he also knows how to get the iPhone or iPad and get
on YouTube. He brings the iPad to me multiple times a day saying, "twinkle" while he holds his hands in a diamond shape, which means he wants to watch his favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or he says, "A-mo," which means he wants to watch Elmo. And most times I oblige him this as well, but I am cognitive of the balance that I believe must be struck with this generation. They already have the world literally at thier tiny fingertips and while I think this is amazing and an endless resource, I also want to be careful that he never takes for granted the way a book felt in his young hands. The thick cardboard pages of a baby book cumbersome to his grasp and hard to hold alone, the paperlight pages of a book for older children that I have to remind him to be extra careful when turning, the smell of the libraries and classrooms and bedrooms of friends or
relatives where these books we have inherited came from, all these are things I want him to cherish somewhere in the back of his mind despite where the advancements in technology might take education in his future.
He reminds me of my own love of books when I was young and I am inspired by him to take a moment for quiet reading myself, too. I am so thankful for the many moments like these when his child like wonder teaches me and when I can fall even more in love with him as I watch him learn and grow!
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