She didn’t read the book!!

I can definitely relate to Hermione. When there’s a problem I go to the library and do some research.

I read “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” when we wanted to get pregnant. I read “Your Pregnancy Week by Week” (I like it so much better than the What to Expect book) and “A Child Is Born” when I was pregnant. We read “The Birth Partner” to get ready for the delivery. And I read “The Nursing Mother’s Companion” to prepare for breast feeding.

I felt as prepared as you can be. I just didn’t count on one thing.

Iddo didn’t read ANY of that.

The breast feeding book suggested a couple of different holds – the cross hold, the football hold, the cradle hold. Iddo preferred what we called “the monkey” hold. She liked to sit up on my lap, facing me, legs tucked in under her, with her hands up by her face. Brett said she looked like a little monkey. My mom said she’d never seen a baby eat like that. She’s a bit long to do it now and has settled on a modified cradle hold for the most part.

We should’ve known something was up though when she decided she preferred me laying on my right side during labor when all the books say it’s better for the baby if you lay on your left.

She hasn’t read the books about what babies generally find funny. Occasionally she laughs when we do something silly. Monday night this week she thought me blowing through my lips was hilarious, but only for about twenty minutes. Most of the times she laughs at jokes we tell, as if she understands what we’re saying.

She might get it from me. When I was a little bit older than she is now I hadn’t read the books that say a person is supposed to crawl before they walk. Nor did I read the books that say if you don’t learn to crawl first you aren’t supposed to be able to learn to read, a common belief back then. Now they say you won’t gain depth perception if you don’t learn how to crawl. It’s always something.

We probably aren’t helping any either. The books we are reading to her now are “Killing Kennedy,” “Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling,” “Wheelock’s Latin,” and the Prydain Chronicles (she’s already finished “The Book of Three” and “The Black Cauldron“). We apparently didn’t read where it said what books most people read to their babies.

As long as she enjoys reading, we’re fine letting her write her own book.