Sophie's Nightstand

Much like Arthur, Sophie's become quite the bookworm. Her favorites at the moment include Dr. Seuss's ABC Book, Arthur's Reading Race, Thomas the Tank Engine, I Spy: Little Animals, The Mitten and her bed-time standby, Sleepy Dog.

Her favorite passages are those with ducks or characters sneezing (which, if you're unfamiliar with The Mitten, is the main event of the book), which makes me think we should be on the lookout for books with sneezing ducks.

We recently took her to browse Barnes & Noble children's section for the first time, and it was a big hit. She found a Thomas board book at eye-level and ended up taking four copies off the shelves, then ran around looking for other familiar characters.

At home Sophie will sit by herself and read, pointing at different things and talking to herself. She prefers to be read to, but sometimes has trouble keeping her attention on one book at a time. A book is usually the first thing she wants in the morning after exiting her crib, even before having a bottle.