the good book

I've spent an hour or two at Barnes & Noble and Borders trying to find a good Bible for Eli. One that he could understand, one that didn't oversimplify but still communicated the point of the stories. Ideally, one that was good for toddlers and kids and parents. And one with pictures that would engage him- some of them have some seriously dry illustrations!

And then, some friends recommended this. We love it. It's beautiful, wise, humorous, tender and most important, accurately captures the heart of the stories. We'll be enjoying it for years.

The Truth About Cookies

Can I recommend a great book for the whole family?

Eli has been "reading" his books lately. He basically has all of this books memorized. There are a few words out of place here and there, and some that he can't quite pronounce, but it's funny to see his independent streak coming through here as well. He started by saying, "No, I talk to the book." Now he says, "No, I will read it." Sometimes, he opens the book, pauses, and asks, "What does it say?" but he only lets us get a word or two out before he is talking over us, reciting the book.

This book has super illustrations and uses cookies to talk about some great concepts and life lessons. For example "Trustworthy means, if you ask me to hold your cookie until you come back, when you come back, I will still be holding your cookie." I'm sure he doesn't understand most of it, but the other day, we had to wonder.

The book really says reads: Fair means, You get a bite, I get a bite.

Eli's two year old version? Fair means, I get a bite and I get a bite.

Well, at least he's honest.

Everyone Poops

There's common sense, and common knowledge- the stuff you hope most people know and agree on. Then there's this whole other category of information that you jump into when you have a baby and try to raise him or her into a semi-responsible adult. This is an example.

If you're a parent, I'm guessing you read the words "Everyone Poops" with an entirely different perspective than the rest of the world. Parents, they know this: It's a book title. It's popular. Very popular.

And we don't have this book merely to acknowledge the common knowledge that everyone poops. We want our kids to know this, and join us in idea that the toilet is the best place to, well, poop.

Potty training is on the horizon. I'm praying this will be Eli's idea soon enough, because I'd rather not make this a battle. I'd rather he just choose to join us in a little common sense.

(After nearly a month of not blogging, you were waiting for something more profound?)

Little Swimmy

One city-living privelege is that the library is just down the street. So we visit often. (Somehow we still manage to have overdue books.) On a recent trip, the children's librarian helped us find some new books. Little Swimmy was one of them.
We were inspired. Here's Eli's creation. (I added Swimmy with black a marker.)