My son will be turning 2 on the 21st of June and I wanted to do some mommy posts leading up to his big day! I have a lot of fun with him so much so that my sister tells me I need to get some friends my own age. But I enjoy laughing with him, teaching him, and watching him learn. Since I've talked about my love for reading and HIS love for reading, which is why I had to buy him a bookshelf, I decided to share some of my his favorite books and CD's.
I requested MANY books for my son’s first birthday and Hungry Bunny was one of those books we received that he has fallen in love with. The book is a counting, shape, and color identifying board book about a bunny that is very, very, very, very hungry (go figure) and he names many different types of foods, that he cooks, as he plans to eat all of it. I thought the hungry bunny was greedy or perhaps he had a tapeworm condition but that’s beside the point. The sparkling book features foods such as artichokes, rutabagas, beets, and pink grapefruit salad that seems like a mouthful for a toddler but don’t let their small size fool you. I brought hungry bunny in the car one day (Scott was driving) and I was opening the pages for the kid to tell me what he knows, thinking that I’d have to guide him into the answers. To my surprise he not only shouted out “2 arti-scotes” but he could name every shape and food item in the book (We are still working on colors because green seems to be his favorite answer). I guess all of those nights reading hungry bunny over and over again paid off. None the less it’s a great book to read with your child while encouraging language development, identification of colors and shapes, and to teach your child to “read out loud” by telling you what they know. You’d be surprised at how much they’ve taken in from your reading time together.
First 100 Words is another book from my birthday request list and I’m a firm believer that it’s never too early to introduce your child to new words. Much of our dialogue with our children is usually standard being focused on everyday things in their immediate environment. I rarely see a tractor or a camel and those are some of the words/pictures listed in this book which is great because it expands my sons’ vocabulary and allows him to readily identify these items when he sees them. This book became our bed time book because he enjoyed the animals listed in the back of the book. Now he knows at least 96 of the words without me telling him what they are and that’s pretty exciting.
Duck Goes Potty was one of our library books because I am trying to teach my son that telling me you’ve pooped in your diaper is all good but let’s take those skills to the next level and use the potty. I’ve read that reading potty books to your child can help with the transition so when I saw this book I knew that because he loves ducks this might help him understand a little better how this thing is supposed to work. What I love about this book is that duck pees and poops on the floor and I would add my own adlib of ‘no, no duck. You pee pee in the...’ and my son would exclaim POTTY!!! After reading this book multiple times for 2 weeks I can’t explain to you why he peed on the rug, in the bathroom, in FRONT of his potty. *sigh* Rome wasn’t built in a day, right?
We love to travel with this book because again my son loves ducks and I love the counting aspect of the book. There are animals featured that he can easily recognize and there’s a section in the middle where Little Quack encounters some bumble bees and I LOVE to hear the kid scream BUMBLE BEES OH NOOOOO! It’s so cute!
We received this set as a gift and we keep the books split between both cars in the back pockets of the driver and passenger seats. Not only are these Christian books with Christian principles but they are lift a flap type of books. Under each flap are pictures of certain words in the sentence written on that particular page of the book. Titles such as All Things Bright and Beautiful, Noah’s Ark, The Good Shepherd, and my favorite Thank You, God—This set comes in a cardboard case with a handle making it an easy travel item.
My best friend bought this book last week for his birthday coming up on Friday. We’ve read it multiple times already and the fact it came with a matching stuffed pout, pout fish makes it even cuter! It’s not a board book so I keep these types of books in his closet along with his Dr. Seuss classic collection to maintain their great condition. This book has a repetitive message which makes it easier for him to join in and the final message of the book is sure to get you lots of smooches!
My son loves to flip the lights on and off. Every time we would pass a light switch he would want to touch it. I found this book and fell in love with it for obvious reasons. His own personal light switch AND it’s a Mickey Mouse book. We actually read this book last night and after the 3rd time of reading it I turned the lights off in his room because it was time to go to bed. He then turned on the light on the book to try to get me to continue reading it. Clever kids I tell ya!
The only children's Christian CD I own is an instrumental CD that we play at night. So I’ve been wanting a children’s Christian CD with familiar songs for him to listen to while we drive or while playing in his room. Back in May, Scott and I were randomly in Wal-Mart one night and in the electronic department we saw this display of children’s movies and CD's. On the shelf were these tin CD and puzzle sets for $5!!! He not only requests the CD when we are in the car but he has learned many of the songs already! His teachers at church, prior to getting this CD, told us that they could tell he loves Jesus because he was the only one in the toddler class who knew what to do during worship. Set the atmosphere in your home because your children are watching!
When we had our baby dedication at church this cd was one of the gifts our pastors gave to each parent. It is the kickoff to our bedtime routine and I usually turn it on 1 hour before bedtime. It’s a great CD to set the atmosphere as well as letting your kids know that it’s time to put the toys away, get ready for bath, pull out the books and head to bed. Since making this CD a part of our bedtime routine you can tell the classical conditioning that has occurred because either my son will hear the music and begin to put his toys away or, like he did last night, will yell out NOOOOOOO! Either way he knows what time it is before being able to tell time.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post. I would love to hear from you with your kid’s favorite books and cd’s as I'm always looking to expand our library and musical selection! At some point I need to purchase The Wiggles CD for their Hot Potato song because he sings it every day!
Thank you for the lovely post. I recently did one with my 16 month old as well since she just loves to read. btw found you on Bloggy Moms and just stopping by to show some love. You can check out my post here if you're interested. http://www.growingupmadison.com/2013/05/these-are-few-of-my-favorite-books_7.html
Thanks so much for sharing your son's favorite books and music. My first grandchild will be here the end of July and although he got a ton of books at the baby shower, I believe he needs Hungry Bunny.
A music suggestion for your son. Hide 'em in Your Heart 1 & 2 by Steve Green. They are fun songs which are actually scripture verses. I had them for my kids and I used them when I taught preschool. A great way to get the Bible into their little heads and hearts.
2 comments :
Thank you for the lovely post. I recently did one with my 16 month old as well since she just loves to read. btw found you on Bloggy Moms and just stopping by to show some love. You can check out my post here if you're interested. http://www.growingupmadison.com/2013/05/these-are-few-of-my-favorite-books_7.html
Thanks so much for sharing your son's favorite books and music. My first grandchild will be here the end of July and although he got a ton of books at the baby shower, I believe he needs Hungry Bunny.
A music suggestion for your son. Hide 'em in Your Heart 1 & 2 by Steve Green. They are fun songs which are actually scripture verses. I had them for my kids and I used them when I taught preschool. A great way to get the Bible into their little heads and hearts.
Happy Birthday, Little Man!
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