One of the things that I intended to do the second I got pregnant was read to my child every single day no matter what. Unfortunately, that hasn't come close to happening! First it was "Well, if he's in my lap, he's sleeping and I don't want to wake him up" and then it was "Hmm, he is not paying the least bit of attention and I might as well read my own book" (mom fail, I know) and now it's "Oh my gosh, stop crying because I won't let you stop the book shut on my fingers!!" but despite the newfound struggle, I'm definitely making a better effort!

I figured posting about what we're reading every week will help hold me accountable and give me that extra bit of motivation I need to win the battle of wills! I also figured I could sneak in some of my own reading stuff in here since lately, I've been tempted to start another blog just so I could talk about it! Nope, I'll throw it in here with Mason's adventures.

So to start us out, let me tell you about Mason's favorite book - it's a board book by John Deere about tractors. It has pages that flip open to become even longer and he LOVES it. It's really the only book he amuses himself with for more than a few minutes at a time and he smiles huge when anyone reads it to him! He loves it so much that he even ripped one of the flaps off (*sigh*) and drags it around the house with him (soooooo cute!!) I really must get a picture of this soon!

His other favorite books are 1, 2, 3 which he won in a giveaway his buddy, Cole, hosted,

The book Brown Bear, Brown Bear he really loves to look at by himself, but without fail,  he slams the book shut after about three pages when I try to read it to him. He also loves to flip the pages in a foam book about a friendly turtle. I picked up a whole series of simple foam books right before Christmas and they are all a hit, but not as much as the turtle book!

This week, we introduced Goodnight Moon (haven't been able to finish without him yanking it out of my hands unfortunately) and Horns to Toes and In Between (I didn't much care for this one). We also re- read Oh My Oh My Oh My Dinosaurs and Barnyard Dance. I'm a huge Sandra Boynton fan if you can't tell!!

Mason's Mom's Reading Corner

As for me, I realized in mid-January that last year, I read less  the entire year than I use to  read in month or two. I realize that the reason for a lot of that was  "Hello, tiny little newborn to care for!" but the other part of it was that I was spending ALLL of my downtime blogging and reading blogs. Which is awesome... but I miss reading books. So I declared that in 2011, I would read 40 books. Less than a book a week, but still a challenge (to this new "chasing a wee man around" lifestyle around anyway!) I'm calling it 40 books in 40 weeks, even though I have till the end of the year to accomplish my goal. I get 12 weeks of maternity leave, right? LOL

Since beginning my challenge, I've read four books and am in the middle of three others  Yes, I'm one of those annoying multi-tasking reader people. I read Life's Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets by Lisa Quinn, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and last night I finished The Cheapskate Next Door by Jeff Yeager.  The book that I'll probably finish next is The Great Penguin Rescue by Dyan DeNapoli.

I'm totally loving having this goal for myself. It forces me to take more time for myself and unplug and relax. And I think that deciding to dedicate most Tuesdays to Mason's reading updates will really help me realize that as he's trying to maim me with the board books, I need to soldier through because I want him to love reading like I do! Future updates shouldn't be so long and wordy, but I had to get you all caught up to date, right!?

So tell me, what are you reading with your little ones? And what are you reading when they're sleeping? I'd love to know!

*The links are not affiliate links because I was too lazy to do so. Maybe next time!*