Book Lover!

Ava has always been surrounded by stories and books. Before her birth she could hear the stories I was sharing with children during storytimes and school visits. In the hospital she was cuddled close and heard about the adventure of Curious George only to arrive home to be surrounded by images from his stories. Since then Ava always has a pile of books within reach.

At her fingertips are picture books, board books, lift-the-flap books, pop-up books, touch & feel books, and more. We have subtly worked to encourage Print Motivation. And to my excitement Ava loves books! Yesterday she sat for 30 minutes on her own and looked through a pile of library books. I then joined her on the floor for an additional 30 minutes of reading.

As a mom, my heart skips a beat knowing that I am giving my girl a great head start. As a librarian, it just validates the work we are doing to spread the news about Ready to Read.

There are many favorite titles in our house but right now Ava is drawn to a nonfiction book, Face to Face with The Duck by Pascale Hedelin. Each time she turns the page she alternates with either "Duck!" or "Quack! Quack!"

Above is a video of her reading Touch & Feel Home. There is a mirror at the back which Ava gives a kiss to baby. Enjoy!

I Scream, You Scream, Ava Screams for Ice Cream

A couple of weeks ago we spent a beautiful weekend afternoon in Utica at the Velvet Ice Cream Factory & Olde Mill. Ava got to see goats, an 11-day old calf, a horse, and lots of ducks. There was a band playing and festive atmosphere.

We sat down to enjoy some ice cream - Kris had Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, I had Mint Chocolate Chip, and Vanilla for Ava. She loves ice cream! It is a treat she has very rarely so it is fun to see the excitement on her face as she rediscovers the taste. I gave her a taste of the Mint and she went crazy! Vanilla was a distant memory. Her focus shifted. Ava would take a bite, sit up straight, and very seriously signed for more.

It was a great afternoon!

First Steps!

Ava has been cruising around the furniture for months now. Recently she started taking a few steps here and there but remained pretty stubborn about just taking off. Tonight she finally took her first real steps. After bathtime Ava walked between Mommy and Daddy taking up to a dozen steps at a time. She was laughing the entire time and was visibly proud of her accomplishment. Daddy was able to catch the video below!

Go Bucks!

Today kicks off the College Football Season and the whole family is geeked out in their Buckeye gear. A couple weeks ago Kris took Ava to OSU to walk around and take pictures. They had a great time and it was a special day for daddy and daughter. Ava loved mirror lake and watching the ducks (see previous post for photo).

I think Kris' favorite part was the time they spent exploring the stadium. Above is a photo of Ava in front of Ohio Stadium ready for Game Day. Our hope is to try to attend a pre-game session with TBDBITL (Ava's second favorite thing is music) as a fun family outing.

Today will be a great day to introduce new vocabulary words - she is already familiar with "TOUCHDOWN!" Some fun Buckeye books we will be sharing: Go Buckeyes: My First Ohio State Words by Connie McNamara, Ohio State Buckeyes 123: My First Counting Book by Brad Epstein, Buckeyes Big Game by Tom Kearney, and It's Fun to Be a Buckeye by Amy Wurth Fowble.

Game Day Prediction: Ohio State 28 Youngstown State 3

Put Down the Duckie

Pigeon... Duck... Pigeon... Duck...

Recently I received a poll in my inbox asking the number of words my toddler recognizes - the choices were None, 1-5, 5-10, & More the 10. As I mentally began to list all the words she recognizes I was amazed at how vast her vocabulary has become. She use 2 and 3 word sentences with ease and seems to have little difficulty with comprehension. If you ask her to do something she responds, "I did."

Vocabulary size aside, the battle of words (better yet - wills) continues on when defining Ava's feathered friend. Pigeon has become a new favorite. We work very hard at giving her the words to define the world around her but she is stuck on the word duck. If you were to stumble on a typical conversation between mother and daughter, this is what you will undoubtedly hear:

"Duck?"

"Pigeon."

"Duck."

"Pigeon."

"Duck."

"Pigeon."

And on and on and on until one or the other finally gives up (truth be told it is usually me). If after all this banter I ask Ava to kiss the pigeon, she immediately gives Pigeon a kiss - complete with sound effects. I am comforted in her ability to associate the word to the object regardless of her unwillingness to cease with the word duck. Until then we will continue giving her the words to help build her skills as a pre-reader.

Our favorite Mo Willems Pigeon books include: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!, and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Ice Cream Truck!

Baby Laptime - SPLASH!

Since I had to work all weekend I wanted to have some special time with my little monkey this morning. So we made the trip to Main Library for Baby Laptime. The theme for today's storytime was SPLASH! and prominantly featured... you guessed it... DUCKS! Talk about creating experiences for your child! As soon as the duck puppet came out Ava started yelling "Duck!" She was in baby story heaven.

She of course loved the duck story and puppet but she relished in the chance to play and explore with the other babies at the end. I am always the proud mama when my child is interacting with others. Ava is such a happy child and it comes through with everything so does. She shares, doesn't throw tantrums, and takes back what is stolen from her.

We will be building our narrative skills as we repeat the fun duck fingerplay that we learned this morning!

Books we added to our duck collection: It's Quacking Time! by Martin Waddell, Do Like a Duck Does by Judy Hindley, and Ducks Like to Swim by Agnes Verboven.

Ducks! Ducks! Ducks!

As Ava's vocabulary continues to expand there are certain words that become favorites for a period of time. Currently she is obsessed with the word duck. Everything is a duck. Words that she is already proficient in using have been replaced with duck - any animal with a beak is a duck, the dog is a duck, the cat is a duck, even daddy is a duck.

Her obsession does not end with the word. Our house is overrun with small rubber ducks! Most times Ava has a duck in each hand as she cruises around the family room. Last week she was sitting on the couch with two ducks making them have a conversation, "Quack, Quack, Quack, Quack," was all that could be heard.

We look for opportunities to indulge Ava's interest in our feathered friends. Last friday I took her to the park and watched the ducks in the pond. She quacked and quacked and expressed great displeasure when it was time to leave. Then on Saturday her daddy took her to OSU and they watched the ducks at Mirror Lake (the above photo). These experiences allow her the chance to make connections between the work, the image she sees in books, and the real animal. You are able to increase reading readiness by simply creating experiences for you child!

Duck books currently on our shelf: Ducks Dunk by Lynne Berry, Quack, Quack! by mike Jolley & Emma Dodd, Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle, Find the Duck by Stephen Cartwright, What's Up, Duck? by Tad Hills.

Beach Baby Books

Recently we vacationed to the beach with all the babies - 12 month old Ava and her 9 month old cousins, Nora & Emilia. Along with our sand toys and swimsuits, we took along some of our favorite beach books!

The Smithsonian has recently published My Shell Book and My Beach Book by Ellen Kirk. These books have excellent photographs from the beach and help build Vocabulary skills. Ava was able to see the images in the books and make physical connections to words while we played in the sand and surf.

We also enjoyed Beach Babies Wear Shades by Michelle Sinclair Colman. Another addition to the Urban Babies series that shows the babies loving some beach experiences.

My beach baby refused to wear shades or a hat but she had a great time!