BIET'S FIRST BOOK SIGNING

The other morning we headed over to one of my all time favorite shops in the city, the MOMA Store, for a reading and book signing by the one and only Mo Willems.  If you're not familiar with his work, you should check out his Pigeon Presents series- they are so much fun for kids to read!  Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus was one of Biet's first favorite books, and really one of the most innovative children's stories I've read. And if you're raising a little one in NYC, Knuffle Bunny, one of his less popular but absolutely amazing earlier works, is a must too.

The downstairs level of the store, with its beautiful rows of literature, Eames display furniture, limited edition prints, and hanging modern art pieces, was spilling over with eager children of all ages, running and yelling and clutching their hard-cover books waiting to meet Mo.  Never have I seen such a collision of culture, art, mayhem, and diapers.  Biet ran the aisles, tried to eat the receipt from the newest addition to her home library, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, and made a few friends.  Mo was super sweet.  He drew a little Pigeon inside the front page of her book and posed with us for a picture.  I'm not sure that Biet really grasped the concept of it all, but she certainly had fun (the kids' section, which she loved, is uhhhmazing- I know where I'm shopping for new toys when Biet's second birthday rolls around!). After we left and stepped back out into the chilly morning, we decided to do the only thing that seemed appropriate after such a momentous occasion: go to the park to let Biet chase the pigeons.

Fairytales + 10 Months Old

Biet and I have been reading up a storm. While the baby books are still in heavy rotation, we've begun to delve into the real children's' books and novels now, and she loves them. It's funny how much fun it actually is for me to read through her collection of fairytales too. It brings me right back to being a kid and living through those magical stories. Biet so enjoys turning the pages, looking at the pictures, and feeling the paper in between her little fingers. Occasionally she gets a little excited and rips a page out, but this- this is all worth it.

Oh and by the way, today Biet is 10 months old! {here she is at 19 days old, 8 weeks old, 3 months, 5 months, & 6 months, if you want to look back}. I feel that every day she is less of a baby and more of a little girl. My, do I love her.


*SIDE NOTE: You can now follow me on Pinterest! The button is on the top of this page**

The Library

While running errands last week, we found ourselves passing by the lovely New York Public Library. She is a beauty. Where else can you walk, past the lion statues guarding the front, away from the buzzing and honking and rushing of the streets, through a sparkling revolving glass door, to find yourself in marble-walled silence? Within the library exists a certain stillness which is so elusive in the city.  Time slows down, knowledge and wisdom overcome movement and schedules, and all is calm. I immediately discovered two things upon entering the grand ol' library. {1} I still love it, & {2} it may be the most stroller-unfriendly building in all of New York. 
The place is made of wraparound staircases, not an elevator to be found. Majestic, breathtaking, shiny, inconvenient staircases. Staircases & books. Of course I never noticed this before I had a bambino. So we didn't make it all the way up together or stay long (Biet was sleeping anyway), but I did leave the husband and the child to wander through the building on my own for a little while. I so look forward to bringing Biet to story time here in a few months (when she is big enough to both walk and grasp the concept of storytelling). 
The NY Public Library always reminds me of my late Grandfather, my Mother's father, Horace. He used to take me and my sisters, when we were tiny, to the downtown Portland library every week. He would teach me how the books were organized with their secret codes of numbers and letters. He signed me up for my very own (!) library card, and showed me how, with it, I could take home all the books that I wanted. I remember coming to him, after joyously perusing the children's' section for close to an hour, with arms spilling over with of all the magical storybooks I could carry. He would help me sift through to find the very best ones to carry home that week. And we would check them out and drive home, and he would read them to me. 
We called him Grampy, and, as I remember, he was the smartest man in the world. He used to tell me that he had read every single book in the library, and that if I kept at it, I would one day accomplish the same. I remember that seeming like a very exciting and reasonable challenge. Grampy sparked my lifelong fascination with storytelling and love of literature, and for this I am grateful. I'm sure he would have loved the New York Public Library. I know he would have loved the fact that I bring Biet here, and that I will teach her, also, to search through the vast rows and rows of books and to discover her favorites. I hope to instill in her the same wonder that Grampy fostered in me so many years ago. He was a well-traveled man, and I often wonder if he ever stepped foot inside the great New York Public Library. I hope so. 

reading

Biet has been loving books lately. She begins to sing and flail her arms about each time I sit down with her to read a story. She tries to read along herself in her baby babble voice & turns the pages until the end, sometimes in a frenzy and sometimes slowing down to observe the pictures.  It brings me so very much joy to see her discovering something which I love so dearly.  They say that children become readers on the laps of their parents.  If that is true, then baby girl is set.

I never realized how entertaining some of those children's books are! I always loved certain authors as a child (my #1 favorite being Dr. Seuss), and now, returning back to those stories, I see that they really had substance!  Our reading time is as thrilling for me as it is for Biet, and I am always excited to begin a new book we haven't read before.  I feel that she can sense this excitement about reading, and I hope it will help her to build a healthy long-term love of reading.  If she is anything like me, she will be devouring novels by the time she can walk.

Sometimes I think about writing and illustrating our very own children's book, starring Baby Biet and Nico the Dog, chronicling all of their adventures about town {ok, this was actually Gaby's brilliant idea}, for her to read now and as she grows. Perhaps this will be our winter project..

Christmas Morning

Biet slept in on her first Christmas morning until - get ready for it - 11 o' clock!  Of course that meant that we all slept in, which was the best Christmas gift we could have asked for from our dear daughter (or so we thought). Although we had planned to be up and out of the house much earlier (baby girl's 8am alarm clock skills had never failed us before!), we decided that since we were already running a bit behind schedule, why not enjoy it?  So before heading out to volunteer and celebrate in the city, we leisurely showered & had coffees & lounged around in our pajamas for a bit.  We snuggled on the bed and I gave Biet her sole gift from her Mama. I thought carefully about my gift to my daughter, and chose to give her, on her first Christmas, a poem. Sarah Kay, a student of our friend Sacha, wrote this beautiful poem. I was enamored and deeply moved when I first heard it, and thrilled when I heard she was turning it into an illustrated book. Appropriately for little Biet, the poem is titled "B." I read it to Biet later that evening, and plan on reading it to her many, many more times.  Just when we thought the morning couldn't get any better, Biet looked up from her seated spot on the bed, turned to Gaby, and said, clear as day, "Papá." I gasped, unsure of what I had just heard. I almost brushed it off as a fluke, until Gaby turned the corner to leave the room and she called after him "Papá, Papá!" He came back and she smiled, looked him in the eye, and calmly thanked him for returning with a cheerful "Papá." She speaks. And, so far, she speaks {her single word} with a perfect spanish accent.  What a Christmas surprise!