Childrens Book Reviews

For Christmas my parents got the kids two books that we LOVE. They are by far the favorite books in our house!

The Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett is so much fun! Graham loves it and he will actually sit through the whole book which has proven to be difficult with other books. The interactive part makes it fun and silly and we just love reading it. The illustrations are bright, fun and silly. It is such a good kids book. There is also a dance monster series with silly monster feet.

Wherever you are, my love will find you by Nancy Tillman is by far Peyton's favorite book. Here is what was written about it on Barnes and Noble to give an idea about the book....

. . . I wanted you more than you’ll ever know,

so I sent love to follow wherever you go. . . .

Love is the greatest gift we have to give our children. It’s the one thing they can carry with them each and every day.

If love could take shape it might look something like these heartfelt words and images from the inimitable Nancy Tillman. Here is a book to share with your loved ones, no matter how near or far, young or old, they are.

It is such a sweet book and has beautiful images and words. My parents wrote a note to both of the kids in the front about how no matter where we are, near or far, their love will always be there with us. Peyton just loves it and the first time we read it made me stay still so we could feel G and Papa's love in the room. She told me that it came with us in our suitcases and is all over Saudi Arabia! When I read it with her and Graham she tried to make him sit still as well and gave up shortly afterwards and just gave him a hug saying, "Here Graham, here is G and Papa's love for you." So sweet!

Thanks G and Papa for the books! We are enjoying them!

Love this book!

I didn't read many parenting/baby etc books this time around because I didn't have time and I had already read them the first time and hoped that I didn't forget everything! I did flip through what I had read before and got the main points.

After I had Graham, I was talking with a friend about some challenges I was having and she recommended the book, "Sippy Cups are Not for Chardonnay." My friend who recommended it doesn't have kids but she had many friends recommend this book to other new moms as a light hearted, real account of life as a new mom.

Well, I ordered the book on my Nook and finished it in a couple of days which is a feat with two kids! It was such an enjoyable, funny and real account of what it is like being a new mom. I will for sure be recommending this to new moms and might even add to my must give gifts at a baby shower and wish I read it the first time around.

So if you know someone about to have a baby, or you just had a baby, I highly recommend reading this and having a good laugh about life as a new mom!

My Addiction

Have you noticed my lack of blogging this week? Note the last time I posted something was on Tuesday...do you know what we did on Tuesday night? Well, we went to Mooyah's Hamburgers ...which has nothing to do with my lack of blogging but I wanted to share a cute Peyton picture and story.....

At the restaurant they cook the burgers behind some glass so you can pretty much see them doing everything. Lots of movement and people in silly hats. Well, Peyton was so fascinated by all of the commotion and this was her watching them so intently...what a silly girl!

After dinner John surprised me with a trip to Barnes and Noble to pick a non child related book! To know how much this meant to me you need to know some background info. First, I love reading! This has been a love of mine for sometime now. In Junior High you would find me in my closet or in bed with a light when I was supposed to be sleeping. I couldn't get enough and I read books super fast (like one a day sometimes). This lead to me getting the highest Accelerated Reader (a book reading program in school) points in the state. You were required to get like 60 or so a year and I got around 3,000 points and a really cool certificate! So you can pretty much say that I love to read.

So, I picked out the Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards to read and since Tuesday I could not put it down. It was so good! I love books! I love imagining what the characters are doing or what they look like and picturing the scene. It is better than movies to me.

Well in order to finish it in a couple of days I did NOTHING around the house...besides change diapers...no worries, Peyton's quality of care was not affected. Since I finished it pretty quickly John said he would go and get me another book but I told him that our house needed to be cleaned and laundry needed to be done so we should wait a couple of weeks.

Did I say that I love reading?!?

The Baby Whisperer

Just after Peyton was born someone recommended the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg. I just finished it the other day and I highly recommend it. 

It has some of the similar principles of the BabyWise books but were a couple of things in the BabyWise book  that I disagreed with and the Baby Whisperer was more in line with with my views on sleep and how to respond to crying during sleep time. Overall though this book implements a schedule called EASY (eat, activity, sleep and then your time) which is similar to BabyWise's Eat, Play, Sleep but beyond that has really great tips on bonding and interacting with your baby during those times. 

The book also has some interesting quizzes on helping you determine what kind of baby you have (angel, textbook, touchy, grumpy) and gives you personality profiles that help you respond appropriately to your infant. It also has a quiz to help you understand your personality and how it relates to schedules so that you can be aware of what level of structure you need in your life.

Overall a great read and I highly recommend!

Recommended Books

Prior to Peyton's arrival, I had several books recommended to me by a friend and a new parent. They were all very helpful and I have already implemented things from each of them with Peyton. Now that she is here I have recently bought two new books to read and am hoping they will be as equally helpful. 

Here are the books that I have already read:

• The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp - Peyton is not really a fussy baby so we haven't had to implement too much of his techniques but we have swaddled Peyton from the beginning and she loves it. When she does start fussy his techniques immediately calm her down.
• So That's What They're For! by Janet Tamaro- If you are planning on breast feeding this book is amazing. I found it to be so helpful and it made me so confident prior to Peyton's arrival and a great reference since. 
• What To Expect the First Year- A great resource for common questions. I read through month 2 prior to Peyton's birth and it was very helpful.
• On Becoming Baby Wise, Giving Your Infant the Gift of Newborn Sleep by Gary Ezzo- Although I don't agree with everything in his book it was a good read and has been helpful in gaining different perspectives.

Books I recently bought and are waiting to read:

• Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg
• The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by William Sears