One of the nicest things about coming home from our trip to Hawaii was that it was fall break the week after so I got to spend lots more time with both kids. Hooray for fall break!
I missed them so badly while we were gone, I think it really did help me appreciate them that much more once we got home and I didn’t want to do anything but hang out with them. One night, I realized that I haven’t taken pictures of our nightly ritual to read to the kids before going to bed in a very long time…it’s a ritual that I’ve cherished since Christian was a tiny baby. Here’s an old photo to prove it.
This photo is of Jared reading to Christian when he was a month old. This completely cracks me up to see how young Jared looks. 
Christian absolutely adores being read to and it’s a terrible punishment to him if we don’t read to him. Vivian on the other hand, is pretty ho-hum about being read to. I think she honestly insists on it just because it delays bedtime. This is why I think that:
Here she is with a pad of paper and a pencil.
Who knows if she’s even listening…
Oh, she glanced over.
I guess the book is still not that interesting. This is pretty much how every story time goes with her….or she asks a million questions and never really listens to the story. Sigh.
I was really hoping that both my kids would LOVE to be read to and that they would make me love reading to them too with lots of cuddles. Vivian will sit on my lap to read a book (when bribed) but I think she’s much more interested in “doing” something while Christian is happy to just sit and listen. I guess that shows their learning styles too. He’s more auditory and she’s more hands on. I love story time and I’m getting a little apprehensive about the thought that someday my kids will probably prefer to read to themselves at night. Especially since Christian has started reading his own chapter books lately.
You know, Kate is the same way. She doesn't sit still when we read to her and she's usually talking to herself or singing to herself or playing with something, whereas Lilly will sit still and listen for as long as you'll read. They both ask questions sometimes, but Kate is much worse about interrupting. I think it could be an age thing though. Lilly didn't always listen as closely a couple of years ago, though she wasn't as busy and talkative as Kate, she'd be quiet, but then we'd ask her what we'd read about and she'd have no idea. So, maybe Kate will improve if we keep it up. Plus, I'm sure the biggest issue right now is that we're reading more on Lilly's level and so it's kind of over Kate's head.
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