My baby is reading now

Yes, I know. I mentioned this already.

But it still blows me away. Not so long ago, I wondered if my only child would share my greatest passion: escaping into the world of books. She didn't seem interested in reading more than a picture book at bedtime, and even then it seemed more about the togetherness than about the story.

We would regularly take trips to bookstores and read together, but she seemed to gravitate toward all the gimmicky stuff they sell in bookstores these days. The Disney Fairies books got her interested in chapter books, which was more fun, but she was still not interested in doing the reading herself.

Then came the start of 1st Grade. Her teacher told the kids she expected THEM to read to US, their parents, for 20 minutes each night. We sat down with a Strawberry Shortcake early reader, and . . . she read the entire book to me. Gasp! Who knew?! The entire time I'd been reading slowly, following the words with my index finger, and despairing that she was even listening, she'd been taking it in.

Now she's devouring the Rainbow Fairies and the Magic Tree House books. Last week in the car, I asked her a question and she was reading so she ignored me. Ha! Like I said before, I know this will annoy me in a few years, but right now? I'm all verklempt.

In other news, I've finished a few projects--two baby sweaters, and four baby blankets, and probably some other things I've forgotten. Here are some:

Henry's Blanket:

Kate's Sweater:

Sally's Blanket:

Kate's Blanket (with Kate in it!):

Matthew's Blanket:

Sally's Sweater (with Sally in it!):