reading

finn has always liked to read. we've been reading books to him since he was born and it's one of his favorite things to do now. in an average day we'll read 10+ books, a habit that is helped by almost weekly trips to the library. 

for all of that reading, he has never been into "reading aloud" by himself. he loves to page through books and look at the pictures, but he has never pretended to read (as a baby/pre-words) nor will he recite any parts of books on his own.

i know he knows the words to many of his favorites. if i pause while reading to him, he will chime in with the proper words. similar to how he resisted speaking in general or shying away from tasks in which he was not totally sure of himself, he gets nervous and shuts down when i asks him to read to me. since i don't want reading to become a burden for him, i have never pushed it.

a few days ago he blew me away by reading an entire book, out loud, to me. after taking these pictures to remember this time when he flips through books (and looks adorable!), i started to get ready for our errands. he sat reading a short, simple book and i asked him if he'd tell me the story. typically this results in a whiny "no, no you read dis book to me.", but instead he started on the first page and said "sometimes you are happy"..."sometimes you are sad"... and until the end he remembered all of the lines matched with the pictures on the pages. on the last page he made up some silly ending because he's squirelly like that.

 

it was so sweet to see him recite a story using the pictures as a guide for the memorized words. i just cross my fingers that he'll continue to love books as much as i do (and his dad, whose bookshelves dominate the office) and that we'll continue to read to each other.

(in non-finn news, my gender ultrasound is tomorrow...boy or girl this time??!)