We've tried to be attentive to Daniel's development throughout our time caring for him (even during pregnancy), and we've now begun to turn our minds toward exposing Daniel to the sorts of things that will nourish him throughout his adulthood. That takes a couple of forms. We've started doing The Daily Office from The Book of Common Prayer so that as he grows up, the spiritual tradition which nourishes us and into which he will be raised will not seem unapproachable to him. Likewise, we've been reading to him more and more. Reading to Daniel is turning out to be a lot of fun. We've been reading our own books out loud to him, as well as reading him the stories out of his Children's Bible, The Runaway Bunny, The Little Engine that Could, Welcome to Outer Space, Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy, and several others.
I'm reading a book called Baby Read-Aloud Basics: Fun and Interactive Ways to Help Your Little One Discover the World of Words by Caroline J. Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirez. I'm reading it because I really want to read to Daniel in a way that helps him to ENJOY reading. I tend to think kids learn what they want to learn; I certainly did. And they may learn the things they don't want to learn, too, but they don't love it, and when it becomes voluntary, they don't do it. I grew up reading, but I didn't carry that into my adulthood as much as I wish I had. Books, of course, are the key to learning almost anything else a person wants to learn, so I'm hoping we can make this reading thing unintimidating and fun for Daniel.
Daniel really enjoys it when we emphasize interactive reading. That's not my strength, really. The experts say it's good to embellish the text and to freely augment the language on the page, but I am naturally inclined to read the words on the page. I'm also not prone to using silly voices, or as the experts say, parentese. I tend to speak to Daniel as if he understands exactly what I'm saying, and I tend to read to him in a matter of fact tone. But I'm working on that. I've read that the goofy voices are good for him, and he definitely prefers them. So, I try. Rhett's great at this, though!
One of the most rewarding things that we share with Daniel continues to be our church community. The church we've chosen in which to raise our child is one which has nourished me and Rhett since our courtship, and I love being able to set Daniel in the arms of any of the wonderful people with whom we worship each Sunday and knowing that he's with someone safe, loving, and kind.
There are some things we don't yet have ways to offer Daniel, and that we want to be able to offer him. Chief among these is that neither Rhett nor I speak Spanish, and we really wish that we could enable our son to grow up bilingual. It's already pretty difficult to work as a social worker if you don't speak Spanish, and I think that's rapidly becoming the case in many professions. Besides, it's just crummy that America has done such a lousy job of welcoming the influences of other nations. It's really not okay for any of us to speak only one language. I don't know how we can offer him Spanish, though. I hope we can figure that out.)
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