Word Nerd

Pippa loves words. Words on paper. Words on tags. Words on bags. Words on cups. Words that rhyme. To be completely honest I'm a little surprised she has only said a couple of words. Mommy is not one of them. She babbles dada and said bye to Grandma once, but her true first word was book.

She has a few board books and soft books that we read all day long. Then when mom can't stand to say "Goodnight noises everywhere" one more time, I let Pippa play alone, with her words. This both excites and frustrates. She loves turning pages and touches the text, but some of those books are awkwardly large for her small little hands. The books get flipped and stuck with the pages plastered to the floor. And then begins the tantrum. Because this also leads to Pippa lying on her stomach and pushing herself backwards away from her books.

On Halloween I decided to interrupt the cycle and pulled her into my lap instead. Then I asked if she wanted her book. She smiled and repeated "book." Twice that happened. Now, a week later I returned to the living room to find her sprawled on the floor reading a magazine and talking about it with her new friend, the baby boy on the cover.