Pickings from my book basket...

Mmmmmm books! How I love a new book and the ability to dive in to my hearts content. I'm a fast reader but life with a toddler doesn't always lend itself to nightly reading like it use to. Most days I read a lot but it is done on the computer. I read the national, state, and local news several times a day in addition to watching it through out the day. I also read a lot of blogs on various topics.

So a week-long vacation = lots of reading for Katie. Here is what I read this past week:

A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin

A wonderful historic fiction piece set during the summer of 1893 in Chicago at the World's Fair. I have yet to read a piece by Lynn Austin that I didn't enjoy.

Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen

I stumbled across this particular title in the Barnes and Noble in Oahu. The backdrop is post World War 2 London with pieces of Pride and Prejudice woven into the story line. Most of the time I can zip right thru a book and this book required me to think and recall from Pride and Prejudice. (I think the last time I read it was in high school...after finishing it made me want to dust off my old copy and reread it.) This was a fabulous change of pace and the author did a phenomenal job for her debut novel. I'm just happy that I stumbled upon it while in Hawaii.

Take Three by Karen Kingsbury Above the Line Series

Always a quick read I enjoyed the newest book in this second spin off series from the original Redemption Series.

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella

My sister, Meg, and sister-in-law, Caroline, both are fans of Sophie...I hadn't read anything by her and decided to try a stand alone title before jumping in to the Shopaholic Series. Simple and very enjoyable "beach" read.

Words Unspoken by Elizabeth Musser

This book I started at the end of our trip on the flight home. Hopefully, I'll finish it in the next day or two. I LOVE Elizabeth Musser's books. Her story telling is perfection and I love that everything she writes takes place in and around Atlanta and North Georgia. This novel is set around Lookout Mountain which is fun for me since we live not too far from there. If you have never read anything by her start with The Swan House. I promise you'll be hooked.

In Search of Self-Governance by Scott Rasmussen

I'm about half way done with this title and read some while in Hawaii. It's a published essay and is very straightforward and no non-sense. In a day and age where we seem to have lost sight of what our forefathers created this is a refreshing read.

The rest of the Family...

-Andy has started reading the E-Myth series and is thoroughly enjoying it.

-AG...now that we are home I need to pull out a new wave of books from our home library for us to read. I've started pulling stuff in themes for us to read daily. I started this at Christmas and placed all our books in a basket. From there we read books from the basket before naps and bedtime. So far we've done Christmas, Winter Snow and Ice, Love, and then Spring/Easter. I'm thinking I might pull a bunch from a particular author for this next go round. Fortunately, we have quite the collection of childrens books and lots of options. I'm not going to lie I'm pretty picky on what we read to him...guess it can be attributed to my EDU classes at Berry and hearing the phrase "quality childrens literature" a million times. Since turning one AG has begun to develop a sense of humor and he will laugh when we read certain books. Usually it is a Mo Willems book and he always laughs in the appropriate place. Which makes Andy and me laugh.

Welcome to toddlerhood...

In the last two weeks Andy and I have seen a drastic change in our little man. He's still our little man but he's as independent as ever and testing the boundaries with every day that passes. He gets frustrated if you tell him no, when you try and remove him from a situation he's been known to throw his arms in the air and slide to the floor like a snake, and if we close an appliance (the dishwasher, the fridge, etc.) before he is "finished" with it then you might hear a defiant squawk erupt from his pint sized mouth.

I've pondered this, AG's behavior, for about a week or so now and what our game plan should be to handle this new stage. Here are a few of my thoughts...

Most toddlers begin exhibiting signs of "the terrible twos" around 15 months and it hits the full blown stage around 18 months till they are about 3 years of age. And most toddlers begin walking around their first birthday or within the next few months of their birthday. Once they begin walking it takes them a couple of months to really walk confidently and at a more natural pace/stride. This new found confidence opens up a world of independence. Usually around the time they have mastered walking they begin exhibiting signs of the terrible twos. Well in our case AG began walking shortly after he was 10 months. Since then he has become a confident walker and has mastered walking over objects, carrying multiple things at once, etc. In my opinion his early found independence has led us in to early toddlerhood. Not a bad thing--just means that Andy and I have spent a lot of time discussing behavior and discipline in the last week. :)

In the beginning I think it caught me off guard because he's only 13 months old. And then I was reminded about all those EDU classes and that every child is different. Each having a unique learning style and abilities. And that led me to my theory of AG hitting toddlerhood a little earlier. Now granted he is not completely in full blown toddlerhood, yet, because his vocabulary is still developing (and his retaliation methods are still simple) but we have definitely crossed over the great divide and no longer have a "baby". He's beginning to flex his muscles and test the waters to see what is acceptable. We are in the middle of a learning curve no doubt about it.

This week I started reading Dare to Discipline. Now this is not my first book on disciplining children because I did read several for my undergrad but it is my first with my own child. When Andy and I talked about our future family and our roles within our household when we were first married I would draw upon my teaching experience. Managing a household is quite similar to managing a classroom. And I've seen that first hand over the last few years and even more so in this last year with having a child. So why read another book? Why, because while I appreciate the theories taught in my college texts (and I do pull from that knowledge in our daily routine) I desire to read texts on rearing children from a biblical perspective too. I am sure this is the first of many that I will read over the years.

My very wise father once told me something that has always stuck with me...they raised us to be adults. When people would ask him (or my mom) about how to raise kids my dad would smile and say, "we aren't raising them to be kids. We are raising them to be adults." Adults who when they leave the nest have all the tools necessary to be successful all they have to do is apply them. We no longer have a baby. We have a child who we are starting to lay the foundation within for him to one day be an adult with all the tools necessary to be successful. It will have its ups and downs from this point on. Andy and I don't have it all figured out but as a team we will be able to figure it out together. And in the end I'm confident that we'll have given our children all the tools they need to be successful.