Reading with Layth ( The Little Lion)

Hello Readers!!
I hope you guys are enjoying the new year, as I mentioned in my previous post, ours has been to slow start. But hopefully, that will all change once this week is over and reality has set that we are no longer on vacation. Although one thing has not changed and continued throughout our vacation and that being, reading to Layth!! Ever since he was an infant, I was reading Dr. Suess to him and now it has evolved into a series of different books. Even though he still has a preference toward Dr. Suess. It was actually Dr. Suess as an author that helped to contribute to Layth learning his alphabet at the young age of 26 months. Every night he would fluctuate between Dr. Suess' ABC book, Ten Apples on Top and The Tooth Book, but it was the ABC book that always too precedence over the others. Every night Layth would have me read the book two or three times, acting out all the different letters and characters with different voices until one day, I realized he was reading some of the letters along with me. I thought I was hearing my own voice in my head repeating itself since I had read it so many times. It still remains one of Layth's favorite books before going to bed. Another book that surprisingly has become another one of his favorites is, Sandra Boynton's " Belly Button Book." Considering I had no intention of ever buying this book except that Layth has spilled his milk on it while enjoying some coffee at Barnes and Noble, I am shocked at how much he enjoys me reading it to him. I think he enjoys saying the word" beeboo" ( Boynton's hippo term for belly button), and pointing to his own belly button as we read the book. Tonight, in particular, Layth has me read the book three times, each time insisting, " again and again" before finally falling asleep. And on our cruise, since none of these two books were available, his favorite each night became, " Put me in a Zoo." Each night after a fun filled day exploring the ship and playing his cousins, Layth would wind down and insist either his grandfather or I read him the book. It melts my heart each evening, because for 20 minutes of each day, Layth and I have that special moment to connect and immerse ourselves into the story.