Archive for February 27th, 2007

Books we read, February 27th

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

The first thing in the morning, we visited with an old friend at Violet’s House by Julie Aigner-Clark, a baby einstein  book that we have had for a long time. We can all pretty much recite the book, I think. There are many details in the illustrations as well as the textured segments, which give us much to discuss and this keeps us sane.

Aunty Amanda came for supper and Reid persuaded her to read Valentine by Carol Carrick. Amanda found the book scary and dark. The story is about a little girl and grandma who find a sick lamb in the barn and nurse it back to health on Valentine’s Day. I have to admit I have always liked it for because the sick lamb is brought into the kitchen and kept near the stove, just like we did with chicks sometimes when I was growing up.

We also read:

  • Skidamarink: The “I love you” song, illustrated by Jacqueline East with images of winter activities like ice skating, playing board games and eating hot cereal (I love you in the morning); and
  • Farmer Will by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. Reid and I love this book. The pastel drawings, the story, the little animals and Farmer Will are all beautiful.

I love rice!

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

We have been eating lots of meals with rice lately, I guess. There was that Chinese takeout not too long ago, stuffed chicken breasts with white rice on Sunday and salmon with whole grain rice last night. In each case, we have had to restrict the extra helpings of rice until Reid has eaten some non-rice food. When I had offered Ken the choice between chicken and salmon on Sunday, I’d told him I planned to serve rice. When I told Reid that we were having the salmon for supper, she grinned and said, “I love rice!” I had noticed ;+) I held my breath a bit when Reid served herself the rice since it was brownish, being whole grain and all. When we did the Heart and Stroke walk in the fall, we received single serving bowls of whole grain Cheerios. The only time I offered any to Reid, she carefully picked out the “dirty” ones and gave them to Grandma Joyce. I think Reid thought hey weren’t fit for her consumption but Grandma treasures everything Reid gives her.

Rice is a pretty messy thing for a two-year old to love (what isn’t?) and with carpeting in our dining room, well, we don’t need help being messy. At least Reid has decided using a spoon for rice is acceptable, making an exception to the anti-spoon stance she adopted recently for all food other than cereal.  It could be that spoons make getting lots of rice to her mouth in a short time but then why does she like a fork with ice cream?

I think spring may be on its way, though there will surely be more snow before summer in Ottawa.

What we read, February 26th

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Mondays are always a challenge and a change, as we move back to “daycare days”. To start the week off right, we read:

  • Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom, this might be the first book Reid can recite in it’s entirety; and
  • Cat, What Is That? by Tony Johnston and paintings by Wendell Minor, I love the illustrations in this book and the poems are fun, too. It captures the many moods of cats. Reid points out cats in the paintings that look like of our cats. The cover illustration reminds both of us of Leo and Mars and so it’s a bit tough to read but I think remembering Mars is good, too.

We also read:

  • My Red Mittens by Jane E. Gerver, with its fuzzy red mittens on each page;
  • There’s Only One of Me! by Pat Hutchins, read by Ken despite the fact that he hates books that repeat lines the way this one does;
  • 50 Below Zero by Robert Munsch about the Daddy that sleep walks. Daddies who have trouble sleeping are becoming common in our life; and
  • My Little Animal Book by Jo Rigg, which challenges me to bring inflection to what is essentially a picture dictionary. Reid, though, enjoys it.